A 24-hour chocolate-and-churros institution tucked into a small alley off Calle del Arenal, open since 1894. The order is always the same — a porcelain cup of thick dark chocolate so rich it borders on pudding, plus a wicker basket of fresh-fried churros (or the heavier porras) to dunk in it. Around €5.
The clientele rotates through the night: families and tourists at breakfast, after-work crowds in the afternoon, and from midnight onwards a steady stream of Madrid clubgoers using the chocolate as a hangover prophylactic on the way home. The walls are lined with framed photos of celebrities who have stopped by — a real cross-section of who has passed through Madrid in the last century. Cash or card. Always open, always crowded.