More than just bars
© Federico Oldenburg
Madrid
882

The historical bars and taverns of Madrid sum up the city’s everyday life, spirit and essence. The book El bar, inspired by the film of the same name, pays them tribute.

Determined to explore every corner of the human soul, Álex de la Iglesia often resorts to scenes of everyday life, situating his stories in settings that filmgoers find familiar, recognizable and, for that same reason, a bit troubling. Casting a glance at his extensive filmography –he has already directed 16 feature films–, it’s clear that this Basque film maker has a certain predilection for apparently ordinary urban locations that reveal their peculiar charm beneath his gaze.   

That’s why it’s not surprising that Alex de la Iglesia set his latest-but-one film, El bar, in just that – a bar. A bar like all the others abounding in the streets of Madrid.

Without realizing it, this film has turned out to be a homage to the city’s traditional bars and it has given rise to a book: El bar. Historias y misterios de los bares míticos de Madrid (Lunwerg, 2017), with photographs by Javier Sánchez. Its publication coincided with the film’s premiere in March 2017.

“Bars aren’t just bars: they’re universes”, says Álex de la Iglesia in the book’s prologue. “They enclose a microcosm – who I am, where I’m heading, what I’m longing for (...) And if we look closely, we can also discover the dark reflection of the macrocosm, concealed amidst the patrons’ shadows (...) In El bar, our film, we travel to one of these closed universes smelling of sandwiches and coffee with milk.”

Taverns with personality
The ten bars included in this report have been selected from the book and even though they’ve got widely differing styles and offerings, they all represent the essence of the bars that Madrid is known for.

Some are century-old establishments like Casa Ciriaco, which opened back in 1897 as a wine cellar and started serving meals in 1929. Standing near the Royal Palace, this tavern was the scene of literary and bullfight conversation groups in which the painter Ignacio Zuloaga, the sculptor Sebastián Miranda and the author Ramón María del Valle-Inclán took part. Today, its charming dining room still has its blue wall tiles, its old wooden coat racks and its celebrated dish: ‘cocido madrileño’, which is served on Tuesdays.

A contemporary of Ciriaco is La Ardosa, the first of the four cellars founded by Rafael Fernández Bagena to sell in Madrid the wine from his vineyards in Toledo. Since it opened in 1892, this establishment has changed its offering and owners while preserving its traditional appearance. In the 1980s it became the first bar in Spain to serve Pilsner-Urquell, among other beers from abroad. Ever since then it has also been the Malasaña district’s best place for ‘tapas’: omelette, ‘salmorejo’, broad beans with squid...

Whoever wishes to enjoy delicious croquettes in Madrid should head towards the Teatro de la Zarzuela – just across from it lies Casa Manolo, which opened in 1896 as Casa Isaac and has been popular among the members of the adjacent House of Congress since 1929. Spanish presidents, ministers and secretaries of state have leaned an elbow on its long counter while enjoying a snack of croquettes.  

Somewhat older than the foregoing establishments is Casa Labra, which has been in business since 1860 just a few steps away from the lively Puerta del Sol. It has always been a very popular place and its venerable premises fill up daily with people who come to stand by its counter and eat its most famous delicacy: fried cod.

A king and flamenco
Two 20th-century bars should not be missed. One is El Anciano Rey de los Vinos, which has served wine, stewed tripe and French toast since 1909. It stands opposite La Almudena Cathedral and King Alfonso XII was once a patron. The other is Bodegas Alfaro, which opened in 1929 and is one of the vintage bars in the Lavapies district. A simple place with a flamenco atmosphere, it’s popular for draft beer accompanied by canapés with anchovies, sardines in vinegar marinade and other snacks.

If you’re really feeling hungry, a good place is Casa Amadeo-Los Caracoles, at Plaza del Cascorro, where for more than seven decades Amadeo Lázaro has been serving generous helpings of tripe, salt cod, French toast and his famous stewed escargots with ham, ‘chorizo’, paprika, chilli and croutons.

A lot bigger than Amadeo’s modest tavern is El Brillante, a monument to genuine Madrid street food that opened in 1961 and came to have seven branches in the city. Today only the original headquarters remains, across from the Atocha railway station. This bar has a plain appearance with stainless steel counters and neon lights, but it’s visited every day by countless Madrilenians and tourists who order its superb fried squid-ring sandwiches.

Pedegri cocktail bars
No tour of Madrid’s most interesting bars is complete without a mention of two cocktail establishments: Cock and Museo Chicote. Cock is the oldest – from 1921 although its days of glory began only once it was acquired in 1945 by the legendary Perico Chicote. Perico had already made it big in 1931 with his Museo Chicote in the Gran Vía. If Cock has a more British style with a brightly lighted bar counter, soft sofas and wood panelling, Museo Chicote is an example of the American-style bar that went into fashion in the 1930s: furniture with curved lines, revolving door, discreet booths... All that, together with the cocktail alchemy of Perico himself, made this cocktail bar the favourite spot of the American stars who visited Madrid in the Golden ‘50s: Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck... and some Spaniards as well: Luis Buñuel once said that Museo Chicote was “the Sixtine Chapel of the dry martini”, his favourite drink.

Other indispensable taverns
The universe of Madrid taverns  is too big to fit in just one book. That’s surely why El bar left out some notable establishments that every connoisseur of the capital’s bars should be familiar with. One of these is Asturianos, which has been run for over half a century by the Fernández Bombín family in the Chamberí district with the irreplaceable Julia doing the cooking and her sons Alberto and Belarmino attending to customers with friendliness and efficiency. Its hearty ‘fabada’, stewed beef cheek and selection of fantastic wines have made this establishment a ‘must’ for visiting chefs, gourmets and sommeliers in Madrid. Another indispensable place to visit is La Venencia, a century-old bar at Calle Echegaray, where time seems to have stood still. Absolutely wonderful sherries are the speciality here. Don’t miss out on them.

Gran Clavel, essential Madrid
The bar culture  and the superb gastronomic identity of Madrid don’t come to an end in the city’s venerable old taverns. Madrid also has some very interesting new establishments that pay tribute to the culinary tradition of Spain’s capital. One of the foremost of these is the elegant Gran Clavel, which opened in December of 2017 at the Hotel IBEROSTAR Las Letras Gran Vía. It presents its offering in three different spaces: Vermouth Bar, Wine Bar and Eatery. They all highlight the quality of the food products of local craft producers and the tastes of genuine Madrid cuisine, which master chef Rafa Cordón skilfully reinterprets with a contemporary approach.

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