Just wrapping up 4 days here and reminded yet again of why we keep coming back. With the possible exception of Kyoto, this is, for me, the best food city in the world. The seafood is amazingly fresh, coming either from local fishermen, or from Galica, which is difficult to beat. The produce - right now, porcini mushrooms and white asparagus and baby peas - is pure and beautiful and needs little done to it save a bit of olive oil and salt. From the highest end Michelin starred restaurants to the corner pintxos bars, San Sebastian shines.
We started with lunch at Etxebarri on Thursday, driving directly from the airport in Bilbao, then on to San Sebastian where we rented an apartment. It was more than we could stand to be here again without a kitchen! As I write this, Jonathan is frying up peppers and laying out Iberico ham and pickled anchovies for breakfast…Lunch yesterday at Mugartiz (splendid as always), and today we will end with lunch at Azurmendi. In between, we’ve hit numerous local spots, including our favorite, Gambara, where we’ve been at least once every day. Last night, at almost midnight, it was hake cheeks, percebes (goose barnacles), squid a la plancha, and hongos (porcini mushrooms) carpaccio.
If you love food, especially seafood (though Galician beef is excellent, not to mention the various cured meats) and have never been here, you need to change that.
Sounds amazing and thanks for sharing. Will need to research San Sebastian further, my wife and I are planning on taking a trip to Spain or Italy in 2015.
Azurmendi is the most impressive restaurant I’ve ever been to. Great food and service, but the setting and layout of the restaurant is what sets it apart. The atrium, the kitchen, the spaciousness of the dining room (w/o any coldness) and the views are unique.
Hope you and Jonathan are enjoying your lunch!
The space is indeed special - I loved the room and the views, despite the rain, were gorgeous. It is so nice to have plenty of space around you, and a table large enough to feel that you aren’t crowded and can talk without disturbing your neighbors. The atrium is great, and it’s fun to begin the meal out there. The dining room was modern and clean of line without being cold, as you say, Ray. The natural light is a treat, too. We found the service to be a little unpolished and unsure of itself, certainly in comparison to the perfect balance of friendliness and formality we always find at Mugaritz, and there were some things that were clearly a lack of strong training and message from above - for instance, our glasses were often empty, and when they did pour, they only splashed a tiny bit in, so what was in the glass was usually too cold; and also for the first 4 courses or so, the food was put down without a word, no explanation at all, until we asked if someone could please explain what we were about to eat when the food was presented (no menus on the table to refer to), but no real missteps. We had a lovely bottle of '08 Emrich Schoenleber Halenberg GG which was very reasonably priced. When we tried for a glass of red with the last course, things got a bit more difficult as it became clear that the somm didn’t have anything by the glass that hadn’t spent at least 12 months in new oak…The food was strong, with a few very strong dishes. Some temperature problems plagued the meal throughout, and we got the sense that the chef didn’t have a cohesive thread to the meal overall. A few techniques were very impressive, and the quality of the ingredients came through loud and clear. Overall, we really enjoyed the experience and will be interested to follow his career.
Please tell me you went to Ibai and Elkano?!?!?!? We thought so highly of Elkano that we went twice in 3 days. I preferred these two to Mugaritz, though the styles are wildly different. They are more in the style of Extebarri, which is one of the finest meals I have ever had.
Not this time, as we only had 4 days. Mugaritz is a favorite and has special meaning for us, so we can’t miss that, and we are big fans of Etxebarri (that was our twice in two days place a couple of years ago), which also got a spot, though this time the meal was off a bit from what we’ve come to expect. Only had space for one other significant meal, and wanted to try Azurmendi, which rounded out the list. We like, but don’t love, Elkano, so skipped it this trip. Haven’t been to Ibal. There are so many great places here, and we need to hit local joints, especially those where we’ve made friends, as well as cook some meals, so choices had to be made! We’ll be back, never fear!! Just shows again that it is one of the greatest food cities in the world!
Have to mention that we are now, at 10:00 PM, in our tiny room at the Holiday Inn Express Bilbao Airport (proximity before a 6:00 AM flight wins over a fancy room any day) eating divine sardines and anchovies, procured from our favorite place in San Sebastian yesterday in anticipation of needing a snack tonight, along with the end of a fine manzanilla sherry similarly saved ---- and loving it.
We had a great, great lunch at picturesque Etxebarri in late March.
I wasn’t expecting much from the foodie front, but was very pleasantly surprised with the fine Basque dishes at Rekondo. The very, very robust wine list with plenty of gems at giveaway prices wasn’t a surprise, though.
2 visits within the last 3 years cemented my view that this city is one of the best food city in the world today. Almost any small bar anywhere in the city will offer some very good high quality dishes to serve. We loved patronizing the locals bars in the Gros district.
San Sebastián is awesome. I hit Mugaritz, Arzak, Elkano, a ton of Pintxos and some great seaside seafood spots. Mugaritz was truly incredible as was all the Turbot. I can’t wait to return. I also loved the Maria Cristina.
Plenty of rain all year around, but more so during the winter, plus very strong cold winds that gusts in from the North Atlantic. SS is a walking town and being wet is almost a given, but I’d avoid if I can by going during the summer months.
We went for 3 days a few years back and it never stopped raining but did not deter at all. Hired a guide that took us to a private kitchen with chef for a 4 hour food and wine extravaganza, dined at Mugaritz, did a few pinxtos crawls in old town (AMAZING food), toured the Guggenheim in Bilbao for the day and ate at Etxebarri for lunch on way back, visited the basque portion of France, went to sculpture gardens…
Always finished our nights off with a Gin & Tonic with grated burnished almond - a local favorite. Amazing city/region and am always hankering to get back. Soon for sure.
Sounds fantasiazko*, Sarah. San Sebastián has been on my shortest of lists of Places I Must Go for a long time. It sounds like this will have been a truly memorable trip. Wonderful!
Yes! San Sebastian is a great place for food, wine and beauty. I guess I got lucky because the weather was perfect when I was there last year in June. I loved Elkano, Azurmendi, Rekondo, and all the little places in between. We had some amazing aged Riojas off the list at Rekondo and I loved the feel of the history there. The fish at Elkano with the aged champagne off the list with the locals filling the restaurant left me feeling very warm. Sorry to hear that the service lacked the polish that we experienced at Azurmendi. San Sebastian is mecca.
