Eight years ago, we visited Barcelona, during which time I shared a few thoughts on the paella, mixed cone snacks, and tapas that we tried. This year, we paid a visit to Madrid, during which we took a 10 Tastings tour through WithLocals.

Our local guide Marianissa started us off at Taberna Angel Sierra, a popular vintage tavern in Chueca, established in 1908. Here, we tried the local vermut (vermouth), a smooth, quintessential Madrid aperitif, served by tap at this tavern. Unassumingly sweet and potentially potent. It was quite lovely, and went well with the plump Spanish olives that were served.

We also enjoyed the much-loved local cocktail sticks known as banderillas picantes or gilda pintxos – usually comprising of pickled gherkin/olive with anchovy and bell pepper. (I must apologise for the angle at which I have taken the picture below, for the anchovy is completely obscured!) The Galician tuna empanada is another popular snack in Madrid, and was quite good, too.

Next, we headed over to the recently redone Mercado San Antón, a food market that also offers a gastronomic experience of various cuisines. The Iberian ham and manchego cheese that we tasted from La Charcuteria de Octavio made for a perfect combination, with the savoury and umami characteristics of the cheese and ham balancing each other off beautifully.

The oxtail croquetas done by La Manuela were delicious, with a tastily seasoned minced meat filling waiting to be savoured within the crisp outer shell. We also tasted Spanish tortilla here, which was essentially like a yummy potato omelette.

On to El Respiro, a bustling bar where we tried Spain’s beloved San Miguel beer (including a 0.0% variant) and red wine, patatas bravas with spicy sauce and aioli dips, and chicken seasoned with parsley and garlic and grilled potato – pub favourites, as we were told.

We finished our food tour at Manosanta, where we had some delightful churros with a chocolate dip that would have made a fabulous hot chocolate! What was great was that the churros were not oily, or excessively sugar-coated, and were fresh and crisp, and the chocolate dip was not too sweet either. A perfect finish to the tastings tour.

While on another excursion through the city, our local guide Víctor made a stop at Casa Ciriaco we tried another popular snack in this part of the world – montaditos de bacalao, open-faced cod sandwiches which were delicious, as well as a slightly different, less egg-y version of tortilla which was also delicious. (On a side note, if ever you visit this spot, be sure to ask the staff to show you around the historical underground wine cellar.)

Jacinta restaurant at Plaza Mayor offered a comprehensive tapas menu, off which we tried gambas al ajillo (garlic prawns), croquetas de jamón Iberico (Iberian ham croquettes), ensaladilla Rusa con vestresca (creamy potato and tuna Russian salad), chistorra (fried spicy sausage), and pan tumaca (bread with tomato paste). Everything tasted great, but if I were to pick favourites, I’d probably go with the salad and prawns. Good stuff! We washed it all down with a glass of sangria, because well, when in Spain…!

Another restaurant that impressed at Plaza Mayor was Museo del Jamón, where we enjoyed their signature paella on more than one occasion. We also tried their Iberian pork secreto with chimichurri sauce and fries, artichoke flowers with Iberian ham, and Duroc pork ribs with nut sauce. There was nothing to fault with any of the dishes and, of course, we enjoyed them with a pitcher of sangria.

Finally, we dug into Madrid’s popular bocadillo de calamares on our last night – a rather simple version of battered calamari rings sandwiched in bread, along with a portion of potatas bravas – fried potato dices with spicy bravas sauce, from La Campana.