San Sebastian Restaurants: Recommendations

[PhilD]

In another pocket I was armed with a list of approximately 80 tapas bars with a description of what was supposedly their “speciality” in English and also the Castellano version so that I could make a fool of myself to the Spanish barman.

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Matthew,

A few questions:

Do you have addresses for the ones you visited (or at least old town, new town type of thing)?

which were your top picks?

Do you know if they are open on Sunday nights (lunch at Mugaritz but will need to graze)?

Heading down for a day from Biarritz and keen to make the most of it. We have been a few times but I have a similar inability to order small beers so memories are very hazy....! Although I think I went to Alona Berri (New Town?) and it was superb.

Thanks,

Phil

[Matthew Grant]

For addresses try this fantastic site: Todos Pintxos

I'm not sure which are open on a Sunday night, you might want to book a table at Rekondo, the food is OK and the winelist/prices are incredible.

La Mejillonera, Gandarias, Tamboril , Le cepa, La Cuchara de san telmo and Ganbara are all in the Old town. The others are across the bridge in Gros.

I have a list of approximately 60 Tapas places including the apparent specialities in English along with the name in Castellano (it was cribbed from the site posted above), it was invaluable in helping us to order things that we would otherwise never have seen. If you would like a copy drop me your email address.

[BryanZ]

I spent three days in San Sebastian recently and am blogging about it on eG. The fun starts here.

Lots of barhopping, then meals at Mugaritz, Akelare, Etxebarri, and Alona Berri.

Lots of detailed pictures and information for those researching a trip to the region.

[PhilD]

For addresses try this fantastic site: Todos Pintxos

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Matthew - thanks for the link to the site. We failed to do the tapas justice. First mistake was to think we could tour the bars after a long lunch at Mugaritz....even a palette cleaning ale was a struggle.

Second mistake: we chose the week of San Sebastians fiesta (culminates on the 15th Aug) which doubles up as an international fireworks competition. The town was packed with everyone trying to get into the bars...! However, the fireworks are superb, we saw the French display which was huge, lasting a full 15 minutes. They have a display every-night for a week, so worth timing a trip around this (I think it is an annual event), the displays start at 10:45 so plenty of time to do a tapas crawl and the atmosphere is really good.

[malacitana]

We ate at both Mugaritz and Akelare last week, and in our opinion Mugaritz wins hands down.

All the savoury dishes at Mugaritz were very good to excellent, except two big dissapointments: The flowers starter of fried, shaved artichokes and flower petals has the quality of a snack rather than a proper dish. There were tons of shaved, fried artichokes and very little flower petals, giving the impression of munching away on a bag of crisps. But who wants to eat a bag of crisps prior to a proper meal at Mugaritz? We didn't like the second dish (crisp bites of taro and coconut with a frozen stock of grilled sardines and sweet oil) much either. At first I imagined coconut and grilled sardine to go with each other really well, similar to the ajo blanco soups with coconut and caviar at Dani Garcia's restaurant Calima. The stock had a strong smoked flavour, almost identical to a dashi broth flavoured with shaved bonito flakes and was chilled by pouring it over a slush of ice. The overall effect was dash slush with two tiny paper thin disks of (not young) coconut flesh. Boring.

Mugaritz really excelled with the desserts. The pain perdu is the best version I have ever tasted. This year the accompanying ice cream had a new twist by infusing the milk it is made from with fig leaves. Great stuff. We also really enjoyed the pumpkin, coffee and boniato dessert. Pumpkin and coffee is a great flavour combination, and the boniato really strikes a harmonious chord with the other two ingredeients. We were also offered a complimentary dessert of excellent peach with a vanilla almibar and green almonds.

At the end of the meal we were invited to the kitchen, and the cooks very warmly recommended a restaurant in San Sebastian called IBAI. We tried to make reservations, but nobody ever picked up the phone. Has anyone been there?

At Akelare, the overall impression was a total reign of “form” over “function”. The dover sole and the red mullet dishes looked really pretty, but the fish was so salty that any of the other flavours on the plate were hardly perceptible (in any case, the fusili that came with the red mullet are only filled with homeopathic quantities of various sauces). We additionally ordered some plain dover sole for our six year old daughter. The fish , for which they charged an amazing €50, was way overcooked. That really left an unpleasant aftertaste. The peach dessert was a joke. Clearly very labour intensive, but precisely the same taste can be easily assembled at home by serving plain white chocolate, an ordinary ready-made peach puree, some cherries, almonds, pistachoes and an inferior pain perdu.

The fish at Elkano was another major dissapointment. It started well with a starter of very nice chipirones, grilled and with onions. Then we had a 1.2kg dover sole. Although the fish was certainly super fresh and perfectly grilled, I had considerable problems with the preparation of the dish. The fish arrived at the table on a big plate swimming in a fairly salty lemon vinaigrette. The waiter who carved the fish inevitably doused the fish in the vinaigrette thereby ruining it for me. I like fried crispy chili squid with lime zest. But why serve such a strong lemon vinaigrette with such a nice dover sole?! Puzzles me.

[drosendorf]

Since I had recent meals at both Arzak and Akelare, this thread seemed as likely a place as any to post them. First, Arzak. A more detailed description of our meal is here on my blog.

The tasting menu offered two options for all but one of the courses, so we got to try 13 dishes plus apertivos and post-desserts. There was a good dose of modern technique (spherification, fat powders, etc.) but for the most part it was integrated into the dishes rather than standing out as gimmickry for the sake of it. Here's the quick rundown.

apertivos - "puding de kabrarroka con fideos fritos" (scorpionfish mouuse w/ a crispy coating, apparently a take-off on a traditional Basque dish); lotus root chips w/ a mousse of "arraitxiki", some local fish; spherified wild mushroom topped with crunchy corn dust; crispy rice crackers with a mushroom filling; and a soup of black alubia beans topped with a frothy liquified white cheese, this in particular being the real standout.

manzana con aceite de foie - really nice, slices of apple topped with an "oil of foie" and then spinkled with sugar that gets bruleed.

ostras vegetales - two plump oysters bathing in a tartly citric sauce, with briny sea beans and capers.

bogavante con aceite de olive "extra blanco" - perfectly tender lobster tail with a powdered olive oil which gets re-emulsified tableside with a pour of a broth.

cigalas - langoustine tails, also wonderfully fresh and tender, with a yellow sauce with a whiff of vanilla.

"del huevo a la gallina" - another twist on the classic "Arzak egg", this one wrapped first in a translucent sheet of yellow egg yolk standing up like a cylindrical tent, over which is poured a chicken broth which melts the sheet and turns it into a sauce; the egg also generously flecked with flesh black truffle shavings.

rape bonceado - monkfish "bronzed" with a sauce that gives the fish's exterior a reddish twang, plated with a medium-brown jus over which another sauce is spooned tableside which produces beautiful iridescent bronze pools. Edible abstract-origami paper, also a brilliant bronze, accompanied.

lenguado con aceite de jengibre y pan de coco - sole filets with a ginger-y sauce plated with little discs of melon and a scatter of tiny sprouts. Pretty and elegant.

pato azulon con perdigones dulces - seared duck (not partiuclarly blue to my eyes) with shiny pink and silver spheres; the pink seemed flavored with sherry vinegar, the silver somewhat indistinct.

foie con tejote - seared foie gras, with a great combination of a corn sauce, little crispy chocolate bits, and little round pools of jelled raspberry sauce.

sopa y chocolate "entre vinedos" - chocolate spheres arranged in a triangle shape, with a red wine soup and a scoop of delicious, bright green basil ice cream.

esmeraldas de chocolate con laminas de rosquillas - another treat for the eyes, little hockey pucks with a dark green iridescent coating (made using spinach, we were advised), chocolate within, and powdered sweet crumbs in a ring around them. Thought the chocolate flavor was a little too muted.

bizcocho esponjoso de yogur - a fluffy sponge cake (probably using the Adria microwave method) with pools of coconut pudding, thin shards of dried pineapple, and little branches of chocolate, arranged to look like a coral reef. Beautiful and tasty.

dulce lunatico - little nuggets that looked like caramel turtle candies, but just a fragile caramel shell and gushing tart citrus liquid inside.

When they had heard that this was something of an anniversary dinner for us, they brought out a beautiful chocolate box encapsulating a little cake, a really generous and unbidden gesture.

Color was, as the notes above indicate, a recurring theme in the meal, and some of the presentations really were quite remarkable. Flavorwise, though a couple things were somewhat muted to my tastes, several were real standouts - the black bean soup, the apple with foie oil, the egg, the foie, the sponge cake.

The Arzaks, Juan Mari and daughter Elena, were tremendously gracious and charming, coming by all the tables multiple times to check on the diners, answer questions on the dishes and so on. The whole experience had a really pleasantly unstuffy vibe.

[Simon_S]

Does anyone have any recent reports on Fagollaga? I know it dropped a star a year or two ago, and obviously that's not a great sign, but I'm looking for a high(ish) end restaurant option that isn't uber-creative. I have nothing against the lotions and potions at all, I'm just looking for something a little different this time, and I keep coming up with the usual names.

Obviously Etxebarri is an obvious choice, but the menu listed on Fagollaga's website also appeals to me.

[pedro]

Does anyone have any recent reports on Fagollaga? I know it dropped a star a year or two ago, and obviously that's not a great sign, but I'm looking for a high(ish) end restaurant option that isn't uber-creative. I have nothing against the lotions and potions at all, I'm just looking for something a little different this time, and I keep coming up with the usual names.

Obviously Etxebarri is an obvious choice, but the menu listed on Fagollaga's website also appeals to me.

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Have you considered Zuberoa? They lost one of their two stars this year, but I can assure you that they're as solid and consistent as ever.

[kathryn]

Can I ask, is it possible to have a good Pintxos crawl in San Sebastian on a Sunday evening?

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Simon, the internet tells me that La Cepa is at (the very least) open every day:

http://www.barlacepa.com/Paginas/paginas%2...les/indicei.htm

[Simon_S]

Have you considered Zuberoa? They lost one of their two stars this year, but I can assure you that they're as solid and consistent as ever.

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This is good to know. Thanks Pedro, it's definitely on my short-list.

Simon, the internet tells me that La Cepa is at (the very least) open every day:

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Actually, that was a query from a previous trip, and I can confirm that it's eminently possible to eat your fill of pintxos on a Sunday night!

[kathryn]

Ah, excellent, I somehow missed that was some 2008.

We're going to be there from Thursday through Tuesday in July, and I'm wondering if we're going to be out of luck on a Monday aside from La Cepa.

Edited May 10, 2009 by kathryn (log)

[kathryn]

Alona Berri's hours weren't clear to me, so I emailed to ask. They are currently:

12:30-15:00 and 19:00-23:00, closed Mondays all day and Sunday evening

And Bar Bergara's hours are:

9:30 to 23:00 everyday, non stop

[TomHall]

I'm off to San Seb for my birthday in August and planning on a visit to Mugaritz and Arzak. I'm thinking one for lunch, one for dinner.

Any thoughts on which would be best to do for lunch?

[pedro]

If you're driving, Mugaritz for lunch.

[PhilD]

If you're driving, Mugaritz for lunch.

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Cabs are not too expensive, and easy to get even for the return journey; and far safer than driving. Especialy as the Sommelier at Mugaritz is worth testing, she often gives very interesting recommendations.

[TomHall]

If you're driving, Mugaritz for lunch.

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I won't be driving - far too interested in the wine list for that. I don't mind getting a cab though.

[bobag87]

If you're driving, Mugaritz for lunch.

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Cabs are not too expensive, and easy to get even for the return journey; and far safer than driving. Especialy as the Sommelier at Mugaritz is worth testing, she often gives very interesting recommendations.

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I completely agree with the cab suggestion. I would not have wanted to drive after our meal and wine at Mugaritz.

[Simon_S]

I'm recently back from a trip that included 5 days in San Sebastian, so I thought I might share some thoughts as best I can remember them. With budget a little tighter than ideal we kept mainly to pintxos, although we took in Mugaritz as well.

First things first, I insisted on a return visit to Gandarias. On my stag trip to San Seb last year we spent a silly amount of time in Gandarias, and I wanted to see if it was as good as I remembered. Of course, I also wanted to introduce it to my wife. We started with 2 glasses of Belondrade y Lurton and a plate of ham. The wine was everything I had been led to believe it would be, and such a bargain at just over €5 a glass. That ham was, to my palate, as delicious as ever, although Hazel was less convinced. She thought it was certainly very good, but maybe not as good as she'd been expecting. We had a quick foie gras a la plancha (good, but I've had better foie there) and a solomillo (just the one, for now...) and we were off! However, over our 5 days there we returned to Gandarias for at least one solomillo each per day, generally washed down with a glass of Emilio Moro. We just couldn't resist those little tastes of heaven. The little piece of sirloin, salt, thin slice of jalapeno and bread just packs so much delicious flavour into a small package. Simple but so so effective.

Okay, here are some other pintxo bars that we sampled and my thoughts. Details may be scant (a LOT of txacoli was consumed!)

We'll start with the Old Town:

A Fuego Negro: hands down my favourite pintxo bar, and one we returned to again and again. It was our goal to eat our way through the entire menu, and while we didn't quite accomplish that, we sampled a healthy (unhealthy?) proportion of it. We also found the friendliest service in here, and by the end of our 5 days were getting comped glasses of wine and various other concoctions. A Fuego Negro has the honour of providing me with the most memorable bite of the entire trip: Ham and almond "coffee" with sweetbread crisps. The "coffee" was a thick soup tasting the very essence of iberico ham and topped up with steamed milk to look like a latte. Chunks of sweetbread were coated in corn-flakes and fried to make crisps to be dipped into the "coffee" and eaten. Which I did. With relish. Repeatedly. Other triumphs here were thinly-sliced scallops with black truffle crumbled on top (there was another ingredient which I have annoyingly forgotten) and a dish involving a cauliflower curry cream. The foie terrine was delicious here also. In fact, the only thing that did nothing for me was the "baca-bits" dish. Deep-fried, uber-greasy, chewy, the effect not unlike day-old prawn crackers. Everything else? Fab.

La Cepa: Had the ham. Lovely, better than Gandarias. Nothing else floated our boat. We left.

La Cuchara de San Telmo: This place had been recommended to us before we left by people I trust. It's recommended regularly on eGullet. It's recommended on the pintxo sites. Random strangers, quite literally, recommended it to us regularly in San Sebastian. However, for some reason it just wasn't for us. Thinking our first experience was not representative, we went again. Still didn't really get it. The food wasn't in any way bad, quite the contrary, but we found it more expensive than warranted, and it seemed that many of the dishes were covered in the same generic brown sauce. Certainly, there were good moments, don't get me wrong, but it didn't really suit us. Others love it, and I wouldn't argue. We did, however, get the slight feeling that the place knows it's firmly on the raider and thinks it's a little too cool for school. Maybe that's unfair, but we just didn't find it as welcoming as some of the other pintxo bars.

Borda Berri: This is, according to something I read somewhere, a sister bar to Cuchara de San Telmo, but strangely we loved this place. We had the veal cheeks (gelatinous, rich and lip-smacking, even if that generic brown sauce looked familiar...), meat croquetas, pig's ear, any amount of chorizo/blood sausage, octopus, foie gras etc. Basically, we liked this place. One of Hazel's favourites of the trip.

La Mejillonera: We went for patatas bravas. They were pretty good, nothing to write home about. We left.

Txondorra: We found this place pretty late in the trip, but had a great time here. The menu looked pretty extensive, and I was sorry we couldn't sample more than we did. In the end we had Crunchy Katafi of leek, a volcano of rice with foie gras and ceps (?), some form of deep fried something that we pointed to at the bar that seemed to contain cod and a prawn, and then there was another dish that I can't remember at all. Could have eaten far more here. Strangely, the place was inundated with tourists who genuinely hadn't a clue what they were doing. We were like seasoned pros in comparison, even with our pathetic attempts at pronunciation of the menu items! Still, we seemed to entertain the bar staff with our efforts.

Zeruko: I don't know what to tell you about Zeruko. Some of the best pintxos I had all week were here. I was loving the place, thinking it one of the best bars of the lot, when Hazel was served a chicken dish whose insides weren't just undercooked, they were downright raw. So raw, I just can't quite get over how it could have happened. We didn't have the Spanish to explain the problem, and detailed communication had been difficult here anyway (although the smiles were genuine) but I was very surprised when we left it, opened but uneaten, suggestively displayed on the counter in front of us and nothing was said, even when they cleared it. So confusing. Anyway, it's a one-off that I feel compelled to tell you to disregard, because everything else was so worthwhile. The famous pintxo here is "La Horguera" (the bonfire) which is a piece of fish (cod again?) over a smoking grille. You decide how much you want to smoke it and then assemble the rest of the dish (bread, a sauce) and eat. Great fun, very tasty, totally worthwhile. Other great pintxos were: crumbled blood sausage on a deep-fried basket, topped with a quail egg; a cracking foie gras terrine on a sweet crisp that just blended seamlessly (a photo may follow!), excellent solomillo de buey with seared foie gras. In fact, the foie gras here was some of the best I had. Go to this place, just watch out for the chicken!

This post is getting too long. I'll continue with the Gros pintxos bars in the next.

[kathryn]

Great report! I look forward to your recap of the Gros pintxos bars. I think I ended up feeling the same way about La Cuchara de San Telmo (perhaps I went in with insanely high expectations given the number of good reviews) and La Mejillonera (our patatas bravas were overdressed and couldn't hold a candle to Inopia's) as you did.

[Simon_S]

So, over the river in Gros, we found a different kind of atmosphere to the old town, less obviously "touristy" in many ways and certainly more spread out, but with a wide variety of pintxos on offer. Crawling in Gros just isn't as much fun as the old town, so you need to be committed to it. Speaking honestly, the first time we ventured across the river (to Alona Berri) we had pretty much decided we wouldn't bother returning. I'm glad we changed our minds.

Alona Berri: This is THE place I was adamant we were taking in on this trip, having missed it last time myself, and having read so much about it here. I knew in advance we were going to do the sit-down pintxo taster, and we did, but I can't help feeling that we may have missed something in taking this approach. Not a bad start, but probably not what you'd do if you were a regular or a local. In any case, there were lots and lots of really good dishes here. I won't go through the list (it's online anyway I think). I don't want to grumble, but I think I may have expected too much. I went in expecting something approaching 3-michelin-star food and, with all due respect, it's not that. Still, for creative pintxos it's a must-do.

Okay, the rest of the Gros pintxos were consumed in one mammoth lunch crawl. This crawl started with 3 pintxo bars in the old town (see La Mejillonera, Zuruko and Txondorra from previous post) so I'm really going to struggle to remember what was what here. It doesn't help that we had a txacoli in every bar either...

Garbola: The todopintxos site told me to have the shark so I had the shark. 'Twas fine, not earth-shattering to my palate.

Hidalgo 56: I had the volcano of black pudding which was seriously rich, quite large, but pretty damn good. Hazel had prawns in the lightest batter imaginable, and she claims that they constituted her most memorable "simple" pintxo outside of Gandarias' solomillo. Praise indeed since she craved those solomillos like crack cocaine. Anyway, while I recovered from my black pudding volcano, she valiantly made her way through the stuffed squid. Lovely dish, but large and rich again. I was flagging, she was getting her second wind.

Bergara: With Casa Senra mercifully closed I got to walk a few more paces before our attack on Bergara. Hazel had Txalupa, I had gratinada de pisto (a kind of ratatouille). Then I ordered a dish called "duck delights" on the English version of the menu, which turned out to be little pieces of duck breast and apple on a pastry base. It didn't work for me, tasting like apple pie sprinkled with diced duckbreast. Still, nothing if not interesting. Hazel had something else that I believe we have a photo of somewhere. We also have a photo of me looking twice my age at this point. I was REALLY struggling.

We had been recommended Narru and the barman at Bergara pointed us in the direction. Or at least, we thought he did. Instead we found

El Lagar: I'm sorry we didn't find this place earlier as it had lots of interesting-looking menu items. I had the Salmorejo Cordoba, a cold tomato soup with ham and sliced boiled egg. It was lovely, but it was also the final nail in the coffin for my eating ability. I can't remember what Hazel had, I'm sorry to say, but I remember she was also impressed. We asked our extremely helpful barmaid where Narru was, and she pointed us in the right direction. Or so we thought. We once again couldn't find it, although by that stage it was probably just as well. A brief stroll across the river led us back to the old town and one last solomillo and glass of Emilio Moro for old times' sake at Gandarias. What a day.

Please note, most of the pintxos mentioned here can be seen on the most excellent Todo Pintxos site. I'd strongly recommend this site as an aid to planning. I remembered to check it far too late in proceedings, but when I return to San Seb I'll know exactly what I'm doing.

Okay, what about Mugaritz? It was great, but we're just not sure it's for us. We had the menu Naturan and sure enough the cooking and execution were faultless, the conception incredible, the techniques seriously impressive, the ideas boundless. But it just didn't excite me. It had all the hallmarks of an excellent meal, but I didn't go away with that sense of joy that an excellent meal normally engenders in me. I can only put it down to a question of taste. I know Mugaritz polarises people, and I was almost intrigued to see on which side I'd fall. Well, now I know. I'm still very glad I went, still very glad I experienced this cooking, but I think I know more about myself now.

One other thing, we had some misgivings about the service and the atmosphere conjured up in the room. On arrival, we were asked if we'd like an aperitif, we said yes, and we were ushered toward the garden. Except we weren't seated in the garden due to the changeable weather, we were instead shown into a bar area in a separate building on the grounds.

This was not a comfortable room, benches and chairs were laid out in a way that left no privacy whatsoever, and the magazines scattered around sealed the impression of a high-end dentist's waiting room. We got our drinks, we got our potato rock appetisers (which I thought were very poor, by the way) and we got our menus. Then we were neglected for 35 or 40 minutes. Another lone diner had been there on our arrival, his glass already empty, and he only received his menus and appetisers when we did, and was only shown to his table when we were. I don't know how long he had waited, but he was obviously growing pretty impatient by then. I felt sorry for him, but after a while I started to feel sorry for us too, as the tension spread across all the waiting parties. Annoyingly, when we were eventually rescued and led to the dining room, the garden was filled with couples enjoying their pre-dinner drinks in the very areas we had been told they wouldn't use due to the weather.

Once we got into the dining room, the atmosphere from the staff was reverent, cold and clinical. They certainly loosened up a little as the evening continued, but it was really very strange at the beginning. Since I'm carping, the envelopes left on our table to "submit" or "rebel" didn't mean much to us as they were in French. When I asked about them, one member of staff brought us English ones, but I thought this was an odd lapse.

There we are then, 5 glorious days in San Sebastian, a lot of eating, a lot less room in the waistband of my trousers, and it goes without saying that I can't wait for my next visit.

[sbb1979]

We're heading to San Sebastian in a few weeks for 4 days. During this time, we're going to be taking in many of the small local places to try all of the specialities, however, we'll also be able to make it to one of the big names in the area...

I've been reading about them all for years, and am therefore very much looking forward to getting there finally, but am having difficulty choosing which.

Budget is unfortunately a factor in this, but we're happy to push it if it's worth it. Can any of you who've been recently to SS please let me know roughly what a decent lunch for 4 would set you back at each of the big names? Also, what my chances are of getting a table for four on a weekday with three weeks to go?

[biskuit]

We were there back in September. Full report at

The pintxos are incredible and an incredible bargain as well. We hit Akelare for lunch and it was fabulous. It will set you back a lot of cash though, the exchange rate is a lot better now, but we spent $600+ per couple for lunch with some nice wine. I believe the menu is roughly 150 euros per person. It was great, but there is no doubt that the pintxos bars offer a MUCH better value. We had a really fabulous lunch over the border at L'auberge Basque, about an hour away, and also a very nice bargain.

[ScottyBoy]

Wheee! I'm off to San Sebastian today for 2 weeks and this thread is like the holy grail 9 pages of help, thanks everyone! Adios!

[melissafitz]

We're going to san sebastian in june & i'm thrilled to have this thread of recs! Anyone out there with more recent tales of feasting in San Seb?

[olicollett]

I literally just got back from San Sebastian. Aside from the obvious, I'd highly recommend:

Zeruko - A new, highly innovative pintxos bar in the old town. You have to try the smoke cod & the squid souffle. It's good fun too. There's tons of other deccent Pintxos bars as i'm sure you know as well!

Kaia-Kaipe & Elkano - Over in Geteria up the coast, these are both fantastic for fresh, whole fish. We went to Kaia and had a whole turbot between two of us. It was some of the nicest fish i'd ever eaten - cooked whole over coals to perfection.

I also went to Arzak, Etxebarri & Mugaritz. If you have to chose between Arzak and Mugaritz, personally I'd recommend the former. Mugaritz is certainly innovative and in a fantastic setting, but for me a few dishes failed to shine and overall it was a bit of a letdown given the high hopes I had - I'll write a full report up later when I get the chance.