One of the best things about Barrio Salamanca is the Mercado de La Paz which is only four blocks away from the Hotel Centro at 28 Calle Ayala (also hard-to-see side entrances on Calle Lagasca and Calle Coello).
Time Out says that La Boulette, the cheese store there, has the largest cheese selection in Spain with over 400 varieties.
Please see my ‘Buying Cheese in Spain’ post for more info.
Of course there are plenty of other excellent stalls in the market for such things as these lovely cakes…
…seafood…
… and charcuterie from all over the country like this Sobrasada from the Balearic Islands.
I also like to stock up on legumes, usually butter beans for a Galician fabada or some lentillas for a chorizo and lentil soup.
There are also some good tapas bars at the Calle Ayala side of the market where you can sit outside.
For a spot of wine shopping, head two blocks north from the market to Lavinia www.lavinia.com at 16 Calle Jose Ortega y Gasset which apparently has the biggest wine selection in Europe. See my ‘Eating in Castellana’ post for a review of their restaurant.
Finally, the basement of the El Corte Inglés at 47 Calle Serrano, www.elcorteingles.es has a gourmet food court that shouldn’t be missed.
Salamanca can be divided in to six wards all of which are walkable from from Goya as it’s the most central. For lots more restaurants, please see my other posts for Goya and also Recoletes, Castellana and Lista in Salamanca , and also posts on El Retiro and Ibiza which are in the Retiro district to the south of Salamanca. Map of Barrio Salamanca here.
Pics uploaded April 2011, May 2012, Feb 2017, Feb 2019.