Madrid has become the new New York, a bit cheaper but not a place to squander.
We can find similarities with the Great Apple: Chueca could be Chelsea, Alonso Martínez could be Soho, Malasaña could be the Greenwich and Chamberi could be Upper West Side. And then we have Ibiza or Salamanca that could stand for Upper East Side and the surrounds of Five Avenue.
Then we have Broadway, that could be Gran Via, full of theaters and light.
Plaza Mayor must be Time Square, but instead of lights we have ancient stones which make atmosphere magic too
And the booming of new grocery markets packed of small restaurants is already a fact, we recomend Chamberi Market and not further from this, also in Chamberi, we have Mercado Vallehermoso.
We are not going to speak about food inside old town, but we are going to speak of the amount of new florishing restaurant and tapa´s concept in the next tire such as Patio by Sonys, near Bilbao Station. Also not far, in Malasaña, you have the most outstanding vegan restaurant, small and pretty, Landareak. In Ibiza area, next to Retiro park, you can find in Castelo street, three top ones: La raquetista, La Montería and La Castela. crowded in weekends.
In Salamanca, the highest rent per capita area in Madrid, you can find the best flavor of Galicia, a restaurant that deserves 5 stars just over the base of an excellent tortilla de patatas, empanada gallega or pulpo. Do not forget a tapa in El Cañadío, with many tasting offers and also a perfect tortilla de patatas flavor too.
Chueca, watered by few healthy food places, such as Poke and also by a high end gastronomy with a decent price.
Fine decoration is replacing old fashion aluminium tables and chairs where still some local people get around, but their score in Google Map shows that just few of them hit the 4 stars.
All in all, Madrid gathers an offer which can scale up to 4,5 stars in many places and one week is not enough to enjoy them all. Enjoy