Will places like this still exist in 10, 20 or 30 years time? Family run, a little rough round the edges, good old-fashioned food – already these ‘typical’ mesones are increasingly rare in Madrid, and you’ll have to get here early (pre-2pm) or late (post-3pm) to get a seat on a weekday lunchtime. The 10 Euro menu del dia is so Castillian that you know what the deserts are even before they run through them at the end of the meal – Arroz con Leche, Flan, Natillas, Cuajada – mostly homemade, all delicious. Before that you’ll get the staple platos de cucharra (first courses you eat with a spoon – lentils, sopa castellana, potaje), followed by big slabs of meat and fish, all washed down with good, cheap red wine.

If you know of any other ‘typically Spanish’ places to get a good old fashioned menu del dia in Madrid, please let us know. Places as good as this are a dying breed, and they need all the support they can get. Trendy new eateries and franchises are already sweeping through the city like wildfire, and it may not be long until the only place you can get good home cooked food is, god forbid, at home!

Restaurante Marsot is (hopefully still!) in Chueca at Calle Pelayo, 6 (map)