Where to eat, drink and stay in Madrid

Sun-blasted plazas, fine-dining powerhouses and a revived cocktail scene – this is your ultimate hit list for Spain's elegant capital.

Ernest Hemingway kept coming back to Madrid throughout the 1920s and 30s, eventually calling it "the most Spanish of all cities, the best to live in." He joined a lineage of artists drawn to the city, most notably Goya, whose eerie, proto-expressionist Black Paintings paved the way for figures like Dalí and Buñuel. In recent years, creativity in hospitality has caught up with the prestige of that art history. After decades of Catalan dominance, Madrid has arguably become Spain's new centre of culinary gravity, while homegrown cocktail bars are spreading beyond the country's borders, and international hotel groups are planting flags from Gran Vía to Salamanca. Here's where to eat, drink, and sleep your way through Madrid's rise.

Where to eat

Diverxo


One of the great temples of contemporary Spanish fine-dining, a meal at Diverxo is simply unforgettable. Sat in a Barbie-pink chair in your own private booth, you enter the mind of Dabiz Muñoz – a whirlwind of culinary hyperactivity. Muñoz stitches together techniques from East and Southeast Asia and channels them through a profound, soulful expression of Spanish cuisine. It's also fun: eating with your hands or a panoply of utensils, surf and turf, and a deftly balanced use of sweetness. There isn't a stronger case for fusion food on the planet.

DStage


Diego Guerrero's molecular cooking is focused and purposeful but always offset by playfulness. He has an unprecedented understanding of flavour and form, which is precisely what's needed to inject layers of optical illusion with humour and charm. Expect unusual combinations that will make you reassess the boundaries of flavour, such as pork skin and hazelnut, a roasted koji dessert with a cacao-like profile, or strawberry and piquillo served with beef fat. But Guerrero understands that generosity must meet wit and follows the latter with a piece of blushing pink veal fillet, seasoned only with salt. A playlist of Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and other feel-good 70s rock seals the deal.

Emi

Chef Rubén Mosquero cooked at Noma, Geranium, and Atomix, and here, Korean, Japanese, Spanish and Nordic flavours meld into something distinctly his own – often delicate, very pure, and, like Smoked Room (another superb chef's counter in the city), fire is at the heart of everything. Expect combinations like morels, fresh peas and caviar tied together with a meat jus, or a candidate for the world's best snack: raw tuna, fermented cherries, daikon and a gossamer-thin kombu shell that shatters in the mouth like glass. Wine lovers, take note: sommelier Miguel Ángel Millán has packed in over 1,300 references and serves 200 by Coravin, many of them rare finds. 

Sacha

Housed inside a brutalist apartment block, the setting of Madrid's definitive take on bistronomy is as warmly eccentric as its host, Sacha Hormaechea. Focused on Galician and Basque cuisine, slight twists permeate a menu that reads, on the surface, very traditional. Lemon balm is the herb of choice on a fig wrapped in jamón; red mullet escabeche gains sherry, white vermouth and ham fat, making for a subtler, less sharp experience. If the spider crab pasta is on the menu, don't miss it: thin sheets of near-translucent dough wrap tender crab enriched in its own stock. The signature lazy omelette with morcilla and guindillas is nothing short of a marvel.

Where to drink

Savas


Run by Lithuanian couple Gintas Arlauskas and Dovi Krauzante, the name sounds Spanish but is in fact Lithuanian for "cosy" – appropriate for a minuscule bar that has become an industry favourite. There's no high-tech wizardry here, just classics with a twist. The Smoky Sour, a menu fixture since they opened, coaxes out deep complexity using a house-made syrup infused with Lapsang Souchong tea. If you have a personal favourite that isn't on the menu, Gintas likely has an iteration.

Salmon Guru


If you like your cocktails with a side of tropical fantasy, this is the place. A maximalist, neo-tiki bar where staff wear grey uniforms with a trademark lightning bolt on the neckline. Legendary mixologist Diego Cabrera's menu is whimsical, with categories like "What the f**k?" and "Untouchables". Drinks are elaborately presented, such as the Ultramarino which mixes mezcal, manzanilla, lime cordial and rhubarb, rested in a clay amphora submerged in seawater for 72 hours – served alongside a Parmesan tuile in an earthy barnacle bowl. 

La Venencia

A sherry bar and hangout for anti-fascists and communists since the Spanish Civil War, this place has stood the test of time and changed little since. The sherry comes straight from the barrel to your glass – manzanilla or palo cortado, your call – alongside absurdly reasonable and excellent tapas like mojama, chorizo, and salchichón. The weathered posters are beautiful, but try to photograph them and you might be asked to leave before finishing your glass. 

1862 Dry Bar


Named after the year Jerry Thomas published the first ever printed guide to cocktail, 1862 Dry Bar leans into an old-school feel with a swing-jazz playlist that occasionally shifts into salsa. Sherry-based heritage cocktails are a big focus – a well-executed cobbler or the Albarizas, a bright combination of fino sherry, elderflower and ginger beer that's been on the menu for twelve years. The bottle selection behind the bar is worth a browse, where you'll find the likes of double-proof Cynar and rarer cuvées of Chartreuse.

Where to stay

Four Seasons Madrid


In its warmth and grandeur, the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid may be the most authentic representation of the city's spirit. No two rooms are alike, with the hotel stitched together from seven historic buildings, and its 200 rooms coming in 118 different layouts, ranging from double-height split-level suites with bronze-toned marble bathrooms to quieter courtyard-facing rooms. An indulgent breakfast awaits on the rooftop terrace at Dani Brasserie, with sweeping views of zinc-tiled rooftops and the copper-and-gold cupola of the neighbouring La Equitativa building, a view equally mesmerising at twilight over langoustine carpaccio or agnolotti dei plin.

Rosewood Villa Magna
 
Steeped in a century and a half of elite Madrid history, Rosewood Villa Magna carries an immediate buzz. The lobby's dimly lit elegance – anchored by breathtaking stained-glass windows and tasteful art – sets the tone. Expertly crafted cocktails can be enjoyed in the vibrant lounge or serene courtyard, while Sense Spa pairs world-class therapists with an authentic hammam. At Amós, the hotel's signature restaurant from Jesús Sánchez, one of Spain's finest chefs, you'll find impressive Cantabrian cuisine, including Sánchez's famous Gilda and an exquisite stuffed baby squid in ink-darkened pil pil sauce.

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