Since you are adjusting your time zones anyway, can’t you just adjust 2 hours earlier, so that she thinks 9 is 7?
Not saying anything is wrong your plan, just that 9 PM isn’t an absolute if you’re already changing timezones significantly.
I was thinking about one night in Bilbao and four nights in San Sebastián for our trip at the end of July. Maybe we won’t based on the comments… How long is the drive to Bilbao? Heard the restaurant at the museum is quite good - anyone been there?
Worth driving up to Biaritz for a day trip?
Sarah,
She is finicky woman when it comes to eating. I would love to do another nice restaurant for dinner.
Any personal choice between Akelare or Rekondo?
I would go to Rekondo for the wine list (food is also good, of course) if you are looking to book one other dinner.
Eh. You’re going to get really, really good food regardless. It’s more about the experience. If one is at all familiar with what basic pintxos are, it’s not hard to look at a menu and see if it’s just a patatas braves and gambas a la plancha, yeah you can probably pass. Just like any foreign land, find the crowded spot full of locals.
Yeah common sense is all you need…
Generally great advice. Interestingly, the place I have found this to be completely NOT true is southern Spain. In Sevilla, for instance, we were really struck by how this usually reliable method of finding a good hole-in-the-wall failed us.
We ended up talking to a really nice guy at a wine store who had just opened a higher-end restaurant and he explained that, in that part of Spain, most people want their 5-6 different tapas standards and they want them cheap. There is little interest in more innovative food for the local population, he said, especially if it is more expensive. So he was even finding it hard to find good produce sources, even though most things are grown locally, because they are shipped to parts of Spain where there is more interest. It made total sense and explained to us why, unlike most other places we’ve been, the places teeming with locals were terrible and some of the best food we found was aimed at tourists!
interesting sarah, thanks
The drive to Bilbao is just a little over an hour. The restaurant at the museum is good, but I would not “spend” the meal slot there. In addition to Azurmendi and Etxebarri, there is an exciting restaurant about another hour west from Bilbao called Cenador de Amos. So if you spend a night in the Bilbao area, with those and the Old Town, you certainly won’t suffer.
Sarah - thanks for the comments - very helpful!! Sounds like a day trip is doable (plus since I am using SPG pts to stay for free at Hotel Maria Christina in San Sebastian, I don’t mind the extra night there).
We have done this and it has worked well: leave San Sebastian in the morning and drive to Bilbao. Visit the museum right when it opens at 10 or 10:30. Leave Bilbao around 12:30 and drive to Cenador de Amos for a 1:30 lunch. Linger over the end of the meal and let the wine metabolize. Drive back to Bilbao and walk the Old Quarter, nibbling when we get hungry through the early evening. Drive back to San Sebastian and close the evening with a last round at Ganbara. That way, I don’t have to be behind the wheel for more than an hour at a time, with plenty of time to enjoy and absorb both food and alcohol.
yes, THIS is better advice.
i stand by my original comment - if you’re coming from the states and you’re interested in food, you do need to do some work. whether it’s research online or luckily finding interesting locals that care.
i mean, think of it in the reverse: someone is coming from spain to NYC - the locals line up at carmine’s in times square.
Couldn’t agree more. Every other door is a pintxos bar, but most of them are dull and commonplace. We always ask for advice in a gourmet store or good wine store or in a restaurant we enjoy. We found Ganbara the first time (we’d already read about it, but hadn’t sought it out yet) by following a delivery guy. We were exploring a gourmet market and saw the most beautiful, enormous porcinis you can imagine. We wanted to buy them to cook at our rental apartment, but the store owner said they were bound for a restaurant. When the delivery person went out, we trailed behind and went into the restaurant (not yet open) where he made his delivery. We then asked the guy cleaning the bar when they opened and how they would prepare the mushrooms. We ended up talking until opening time, and were soon enjoying some of the most exquisite “hongos” I’ve ever had.
People who work in special food generally care about food and know where to go. Most locals in any given place aren’t foodies. The Carmine’s example is apt.
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Thanks for the suggestions!
Don,
Any updates on where you went or places you missed or would want to go back to?
Michael.
I am taking off for this one in September. Reporting back then.
Hope you have a great trip too!
Indeed the guggenheim resto is not worth the trip. Mugaritz is my preferred resto ever, it is really that great and they had a nice list with reasonable priced drc (fwiw) last time (3y ago). Try the turbot in elkano, it’s the best.
Don, my son who is 19 is heading to Spain in June with a friend for a couple of weeks. They’re spending 4 nights in San Sebastian so I’ll give you their take when they return. I’m going to make sure they include at least one really good restaurant, but they’re mostly on their own.
Thanks Joe.
Hello all,
my wife and I (and another couple) are heading over to San Sebastian for a few days and this thread has been extremely helpful in narrowing down the dining choices.
We have two full days and another half day together there. On the first night we are booked for Mugaritz. From the places that you all wrote up, I am pondering how to allocate some of these for one more dinner and three lunches: Elkano, Rekondo, Ganbara, Bar Ibai, Mirador de Ulia, and Akelare. Both couples are into wine, but if say Rekondo is all about the great wine list, then it becomes slightly less of a priority.
Sadly, Etxebarri is closed in August.
Also, since my wife and I will also have an evening and a lunch just ourselves, I was wondering if it is worth trying to go to Bilbao and dine at Azurmendi or Azurmendi Pret-a-Porter?
Thanks for your input!