Taberna de Conspiradores

Situated in the heart of the fantastic Calle de Cava Baja, the Taberna de Conspiradores was undoubtedly our favourite discovery in Old Madrid. We stumbled across this place quite by accident on our first night in the city and it was the only bar we visited on more than one occasion during the holiday.

Serving ‘raciones’ (large tapas dishes for sharing), this place offers a fantastic and unique atmosphere in which to have a decent bottle of wine and a bite to eat. The first time we came here, we ordered a racion of chorizo in red wine, along a racion of patatas con ajo (potatoes with garlic). The portions were generous, tasty and at around €6-8, excellent value for money. The wine we had here was fantastic too – the Eqqus Rioja at €11 per bottle. When we went back here for our second bottle of Eqqus three days later, we were served a little bowl of bread and chorizo along with a portion of olives. This is another thing about Spain that I loved: whenever you order a drink you get a little snack-sized portion of food along with it.

As I mentioned, the Taberna has the most unique atmosphere. Divided into three narrow rooms (the bar leads through to two more areas), we nestled ourselves in the tiny back room, which we had to ourselves on both visits. In here, the walls are covered from floor to ceiling in Spanish political graffiti which I thought was fantastic, even though I had absolutely no idea what any of it meant. Where the walls aren’t covered in writing, they’re full of unusual little and paintings. I could see a little place like this being right at home in Brighton’s Lanes – and it would be the coolest place there. A fantastic home-from-home for any Brightonian, you have simply got to head to this place for a drink if you ever visit Madrid. I can't recommend it enough.