Mar y Ola

Mar y Ola is Spanish for Sea & Wave, as the name suggests it's a seafood bar. Seafood is hugely popular in Spain and there are literally hundreds of restaurants dedicated to it but as far as bars go this place is relatively unique. The outside of the bar comes across as being a bit of a traditional bar with old wooden shutters but the inside is simple, modern and clean.

Mar y Ola is not content to be a great seafood bar, it’s one of the best places that I know for cocktails. They really take pride in them. It’s great to watch the mojitos being made with fresh fruit, the glasses being lightly scented with oils from freshly cut peels or the mint being delicately hand crushed in order to just release the flavours without bruising the mint itself.

As if great seafood and cocktails was not enough this bar has many more things going on. They project films on the wall and often have micro theater or bands to attract customers throughout the week. Strangely enough these are almost common in Madrid whereas the pub quizzes that they organise are pretty rare but be warned they are in Spanish.