If you’ve ever gone searching for a truly Madrid part of Madrid—with a bit of history, a decent serving of grit, and lots of character—look no further than the heart of Malasaña. There you’ll find the storied Plaza del Dos de Mayo, which, from its tumultuous beginnings two centuries ago to its infamous recent history, has been home to plenty of unrest. During a drug-ridden period in the 80s, my madrileña Spanish teacher says she wouldn’t have dared cross the square alone.

But these days it is one of the most enjoyably authentic places to go in the city. In summer, terrazas fill the plaza with metal tables and chairs, and chances are that you will have to wait for a seat. To offset all those dobles you’ll be pouring into your gut, grab something to eat at one of the two pizzerias opposite each other on the square, the inventive Maravillas or the more traditional Sandos.

The gem of the plaza is Pepe Botella, a cozy café with low lighting and seats covered in red velvet. Not only does Pepe serve great drinks all day (and night) long, it has a free WiFi connection. Since they don’t serve food, the staff doesn’t mind if you bring your own. I recommend the pine nut tarts (2.10 euros) from the bakery cater-corner on the plaza.

See map below for the places mentioned above:

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The mindless graffiti and affable goths seem a lukewarm legacy of La Movida Madrileña (the capital’s post-Franco wild years) which kicked off in Malasaña in the Seventies. However, some of Spain’s cultural revolutionaries (the ones who didn’t die of heroine overdoses) are still to be spotted slinking around the barrio, ensuring that the party spirit lives on. Meanwhile, gentrification has led to some great shopping and eating options.

Drinking: In summer, the Plaza Dos de Mayo is the perfect spot for a caña. In colder weather, try the bars in its vicinity, such as El Maño (C/ Palma 64), which serves good wine in art(y) deco surroundings. For those craving a taste of the Malasaña celebrated in Almodóvar’s early films, La Vía Láctea (C/ Velarde 18) provides a dose of historical hedonism.

Eating: Tasty modern tapas can be gorged at a decent price at Ojalá; but the barrio also boasts some fine international restaurants, such as La Granja de Said (Moroccan; C/ San Andrés 11), La Catrina (Mexican; C/ Corredera Alta de San Pablo 13), Xin (Asian), and Palermo Viejo (Argentinean; C/ San Joaquín 5).

Shopping: One of Malasaña’s main arteries, C/ Corredera Alta de San Pablo heaves with everything from wool (at no. 12) to state-of-the-art trainers (Tabula Rasa, at no. 33); while on nearby streets, quirky boutiques like Ioli (bespoke shoes) and Corachan y Delgado (vintage designer clothes; C/ Valverde 42) are popping up all the time. C/ Manuela Malasaña is great for gifts, and C/ Palma is the street for record shopping.

See map below for the addresses mentioned above (click on the markers!):

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Walk into this tiny boutique in the heart of Malasaña and you face a back wall stacked with rainbow-coloured leather, and fabric featuring every pattern from classic gingham to golden flies. When you’ve achieved the daunting task of settling on a tonal combination, you choose – with the help of some plastic models – your heel.

Whether the end result is a pair of funky pumps or foxy stilettos, your next challenge will be to resist commissioning a handbag and gloves to match. You could always treat your boyfriend to a trip to the recently opened men’s shop just around the corner on C/ San Andrés instead.

Yeah, like that’s going to happen.

Open Mon-Sat 11-14:30, 17:30-21:00. Tel: 91 521 00 22. Shoes from around 160€
Metro Tribunal. Calle Espiritu Santo, 1. See map below:

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In bygone centuries I would have been sainted for my altruism, because I’m going to let you into one of Madrid’s best culinary secrets: the menu del día at Ojalá. The restaurant itself (along with its sisters in La Latina and upper Malasaña) is well known for its innovative tapas; but the lunch menu is in a different league.

Starters tend to take the form of a soup or salad. Among the latter, I’ve been most impressed by pistachio with goat’s cheese, and smoked duck with orange. They also vary their leaves (rocket, fennel – even cactus) – a rare thing in this city.

Main dishes are equally exotic. The fish is usually an excellent choice – the other day I was more than satisfied with my mackerel with yellow curry sauce. But I’ve also had fantastic buey (ox) steak – and if you should ever catch the magret de canard, don’t even look at the other option.

Puddings are a bit more of a gamble. Luminous minty pears might be straining the boundaries of creative cooking – and whoever deemed a ‘prepared orange’ to be on a par with cheesecake? If in doubt, go for the profiteroles.

Menu available Mon – Fri, 1:30 – 4pm.
Metro: Tribunal/Noviciado. Tel: 91 523 2747. Calle San Andrés, 1. See map below:

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Still, the place has a certain charm. The leatherette seats and the framed watercolours make for an atmosphere that’s half-American diner, half-Granny’s sitting-room. The music – a jangling stream of Iberian pop – may not be to everyone’s tastes; but the pool table is a welcome rarity on the landscape of Spanish drinking establishments.

On the unpretentious (ahem) outskirts of Malasaña, Pub Prada is the perfect place for a relaxed highball before you head off into the land of disco glitz and garrafón. Or for spotting a supermullet. Bring your own crowd.

Open until 2am every night, including Sundays. Copas 4.50€, dobles 2€.
Metro: Gran Vía. Calle Ballesta, 24. See map below:

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Taking the camera everywhere is definitely a good idea. This shot (large version here) comes from Malasaña. Many new building projects are forced to maintain original facades, gutting the middle of an old building, and building from the inside out, temporarily revealing these fascinating empty shells.

The question is, did this portrait artist have a ladder?

Zinc bar top and vermut on tap. Marvelous. How long can this sort of place last? As long as the owners I suppose, and it looks like this lot have a few years behind the bar in them yet, thank goodness.

Get down to Calle San Andrés 4 (map) ASAP and order that vermut. Oh, and going to the toilet is quite an experience… I’ll let you find that out for yourself!

I’ve noticed an increasing amount of graffiti all over the capital recently. I don’t even know if the tags scrawled all over every bare surface can be dignified with the term ‘graffiti’ – there certainly isn’t any art to most of it. The worse cases are found in the barrio of Malasaña (as in the photo above), where streets like Calle de la Palma are plastered from one end to the other with these horrible scrawls. The result is that one of the nicest old quarters in the city is starting to look a like scene from a distopic-future video game.

What do you do with these people? How have other cities stopped them? The problem is clearly out of control in Madrid.

More photos after the jump:

One bar, however, specialises in the drink most guaranteed to end your night with memory loss, and render the rest of your weekend utterly useless. And in style. Manuelas is a very cool bar. I was in there last Friday around 8pm and the basic make up of the crowd was: canoodling couples, groups sitting around the large marble tables playing board games (piles of which sit up against one wall in the middle the room), a lone man sipping a very large whiskey and proof reading photocopied poetry, a photographer, chess players, and one very attractive waitress. All surrounded by oil paintings, fluted pillars, decorous mirrors, and a gold-embroidered ceiling. No one was sipping absynth, yet. That mad pursuit begins long past midnight…

Address: San Vicente Ferrer, 29, Malasaña (Map)