Bar Cock

Malasaña / Chueca, Madrid –

Infantile English speakers might snicker at the name, but with its chocolate wood walls and moldings that rise up and give way to vanilla-white surfaces extending to the high vaulted ceiling, Bar Cock’s single spacious room is the very picture of opulence.

Masterful mood lighting, ornate pillars, and a fireplace of classical design conjure images of an aristocratic 20th-century drawing room, and the 20s-era bar’s motif was in fact inspired by London’s more upscale pubs.

Now refurbished, but with the original details intact, the venue also includes a collection of paintings of roosters created in tribute to the bar’s name.

A magnet for Spanish celebrities in the 40s and 50s, it still attracts a few known names, though most of the modern patrons tend to be from Madrid’s social set.

Famous or not, customers arrive at Bar Cock decked out in little black dresses and suits to gather at the sparkling corner bar or at the tables and leather banquettes that line the walls, settling in for an evening of conversation over Manhattans and dry martinis.