Merienda (Afternoon snack): 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. This is often a little sweet snack eaten at a cafe with friends. One of my favorites is pan con chocolate (just a piece of chocolate on a baguette--yum!).
Cena (Dinner): 9:00 p.m. - 11 p.m. This is generally a lighter meal. If you're out to eat with friends, it's common to go from restaurant to restaurant and get one order of tapas (small plates) at each place. Common tapas include croquettes with potato, pimientos de padrón (small green fried peppers), all sorts of seafood, and my favorite, patatas bravas (fried potatoes in a spicy sauce).
But Madrid is such an international city that it's super common for people to eat outside of what we typically view as the "Spanish diet." There are many international and Spanish fusion restaurants around Madrid, and many are run by first-generation immigrants making dishes from their home country. The neighborhood that I live in is famous for having some of the best South Asian food in all of Spain! Some common cuisines include Ethiopian, Chinese and Italian. I also recently visited an American restaurant run by an American immigrant from Georgia--it was nice to get a taste of home.
Read on to hear about when I tried a famous Madrid dish!
