Taberna Tempranillo Tapas
Friday night, 10pm – dinnertime in Madrid and the cheek-by-jowl tapas bars along Calle Cava Baja are heaving. Escape the tyranny of choice within the boisterous brick walls of tumbledown El Tempranillo, a culinary rock that does – alongside more elaborate dishes – a top-notch selection of pinchos (slices of baguette topped with everything from foie with roast apple to cuttlefish with caramelised onions, from €2.80-€5.50). “Solo vinos españoles” – only Spanish wines – is scrawled in a defiant hand atop the excellent wine list, and the vino is stockpiled in a gloriously ramshackle wall-to-wall wine rack. There are only a few tables, so go early if you’d like to sit.