If you want good tapas, then pick your bar carefully...even in Madrid.

We took a walk around the back streets of central Madrid, just off Princesa, in search of a decent bar. We were sick of those plastic, trendy, off-the-shelf franchise tapas bars that are becoming popular even in Spain. Why is this happening? More to the point, how is this happening? Particularly when you can still find places like the Bodega Central.

There's not much to the Bodega Central, which is little more than a corridor with a bar that runs almost the length of the room, ancient tiled walls and shelves lined with bottles of spirits. On tap they had beer and vermouth with soda water. 

We asked for red wine. "What will you serve?" asked one of our party. "Cune," came back the answer, in a 'what else would I serve?' kind of tone. The voice belonged to one of two men tending bar, both wearing black trousers and neatly pressed shirts. One of them focused on the back-bar business, collecting empties and ensuring the front guy had all he needed. The other patrolled the length of the bar like a sentry on the wire, monitoring his clientele, attentive to their every need. 

He poured our wines and, without us asking for them, served up a bowl of olives and some pickled anchovies. That's real tapas for you. With round two came more olives and a plate of salted anchovies, enough for a mouthful each. With the third round came a plate of alioli potatoes. 

And then, when it came time to pay, they saved the best surprise for last. Twelve glasses of wine, plus the tapas, came to 13 Euros. What can I say?

Compare that to one of the fast-food tapas outlets we inadvertently ventured into, where the traditional Madrid dish huevos rotos came on a bed of frozen chips. Enough said.