El Boñar de León

Never ever go here. It should be closed down!!! We went as a party of six and we all got very serious food poisoning.

In search of somthing typical of Madrid's free tapas culture, we visited El Bonar De Leon, near Noviciado metro, for a drink. We were invited to sit down in a very large restaurant, with tables already set for about 100 people, although we were the only people there.

There were bits of dried food already on the plates, and the knives and forks also looked like they hadn't been washed properly, which is quite off putting when sitting in an empty restaurant!

We ordered a 500ml Mahou beer each and, as expected, were also given two massive plates of tapas. The paella with chicken was edible, but we decided not to touch the dried fish.

We asked for the bill, and it turned out each beer was €6, so the "free" tapas were actually just included in the price.

With tapas, you get get what you pay for, but if you are looking for somewhere with large plates of free tapas, try El Tigre in Chueca instead.

This is a no-fuss restaurant. Cheap, homemade, authentic, no-fuss Madrid food. They make a mean cocido and paella, and do plan to arrive hungry as their servings are absolutely huge. There is a rumor that the owner will pay you a free trip to the Canaries if you are able to eat a number of plates of paella. Ask him about it.. the only problem is that you might not live to see the Canaries…