It’s well worth traveling to this quiet outlying neighborhood of Madrid to sample the delicious traditional Andalucian cooking of Úbeda, which is named after a town in the Jaén province of Andalucia, where the cooking is influenced by Moorish and Jewish culinary traditions. Andalucia was also where the foodstuffs brought home by the Spanish conquistadores from the New World—tomatoes, potatoes, and other produce—were first used in local recipes. The hospitality at this intimate rustic taberna is sincere and friendly, and the earthy food made with Spain’s best olive oil is succulent, full of flavor, and generously served. Don’t miss the grilled artichokes, lamb sweetbreads with garlic shoots, hake-and-leek omelette, and cheesecake. —Alexander Lobrano

Alexander Lobrano is a Writer at Large at AIR MAIL. His latest book is the gastronomic coming-of-age story My Place at the Table: A Recipe for a Delicious Life in Paris