Zaragoza Tapas: Bar Estudios

If you like cheese (and you particularly don't mind the smell of it), Bar Estudios has the best tapas Zaragoza can offer. Just don't say to anyone in the bar "You know, cheese really isn't that good for you" if you want to get out alive.

Hey, someone forgot to slice the cheese! In Bar Estudios, there is no skimping on the toppings - this is the place to indulge in brie, camembert, manchego and dozens of other great cheeses. Bread, who needs lots of bread? It just distracts from the taste of the cheese.

Bar Estudios is just off the main Calle Mayor street, making it very central but not over-run with tourists - it's just the right amount of hidden to make you still feel like you're discovering a local secret without the need of a map.

Anyone who doesn't like the smell of cheese should keep away from here as the first thing you notice when you enter is that it really reeks of cheese. But by the time I left, I was accustomed to the smell and had started to feel that the rest of Zaragoza was sadly lacking in cheesy odours.

The staff are all friendly enough, though they reminded me of a frustrating Spanish quirk - a reluctance to provide recommendations. I wasn't the only person to say "Which cheese do you recommend?" in the hour or so I was there - but we both got a vacuous "They're all good!" in response.

And when you've had enough cheese? They have some great pates, various fish-based products and excellent cecina - a Leonese specialty that is like ham, but made with beef (or beef jerky, to you and me, just don't tell anyone I called it that).

The French may make half the cheeses here, but the Spanish know how to serve it.