San Sebastian food & drink
Discussion
Hi all.
We're heading to San Sebastian (Spain) in a couple of weeks for 7 nights.
Does anyone have any food and drink recommendations? We eat pretty much anything, with seafood a particular favourite. We're especially interested if anyone has experienced any of the cider houses.
Thanks in advance - David.
We're heading to San Sebastian (Spain) in a couple of weeks for 7 nights.
Does anyone have any food and drink recommendations? We eat pretty much anything, with seafood a particular favourite. We're especially interested if anyone has experienced any of the cider houses.
Thanks in advance - David.
We had a fabulous seafood meal here last year:
https://www.restaurantelarampa.com/en/index.php
Relaxed and friendly, quite informal, but fabulous food. Highly recommended and it’s easy to find - just look for the Aquarium!
https://www.restaurantelarampa.com/en/index.php
Relaxed and friendly, quite informal, but fabulous food. Highly recommended and it’s easy to find - just look for the Aquarium!
I may be mistaken, but I don't think Cider houses are a thing in San Sebastian - we've been multiple times and have never seen one. We tried Cidre in Gijon and my main observation was that I'm sure it tastes the same coming up as it does going down. Really not my thing.
There are three Michelin 3* restaurants - we've never been to any of them - it works out around €900 for 2 for food and wine (probably more now)
We have had one sit down dinner, following recommendations on here, at Bodegon Alejandro. It was a very pleasant evening, and the food was very good, but personally I much prefer the Pintxos. When doing a Pintxos crawl remember that each bar generally has it's own speciality and the freshly prepared food from the blackboard is much better than the stuff in the cabinets in front of you.
Places I would definitely visit:
Atari - there's a fabulous rice dish and also one with egg and potatoes (not tortilla). Both very simple, but much much more than the sum of the parts
Borda Berri - staff are normally as miserable as sin, but the "kebab" and the "risotto" are both outstanding. This place is generally rammed.
Bar Sport - my favourite place on earth. We've had numerous fantastic fun evenings here. Best food is Foie a la Plancha.
Bar Nestor - find the video of "Fantastic Places to Eat" with Fred Sirreaux where they go here. Watch it, then visit and get your name down for the Tortilla. It is fabulous, but you'll probably only want to do it once (maybe twice). The steak is also pretty good.
La Vina - for the cheesecake. Go late. It will be heaving, but that's part of the fun.
If you turn up at a bar and it's too busy for your liking, find another bar and then re-visit 20 mins later.
Really, you can't go wrong just wandering round the old town. I would suggest avoiding anywhere that gives you a paper menu with checkboxes and a pencil but I am quite fussy.
You may get more response in Holidays and Travel than in Food, Drink and Restaurants.
There are three Michelin 3* restaurants - we've never been to any of them - it works out around €900 for 2 for food and wine (probably more now)
We have had one sit down dinner, following recommendations on here, at Bodegon Alejandro. It was a very pleasant evening, and the food was very good, but personally I much prefer the Pintxos. When doing a Pintxos crawl remember that each bar generally has it's own speciality and the freshly prepared food from the blackboard is much better than the stuff in the cabinets in front of you.
Places I would definitely visit:
Atari - there's a fabulous rice dish and also one with egg and potatoes (not tortilla). Both very simple, but much much more than the sum of the parts
Borda Berri - staff are normally as miserable as sin, but the "kebab" and the "risotto" are both outstanding. This place is generally rammed.
Bar Sport - my favourite place on earth. We've had numerous fantastic fun evenings here. Best food is Foie a la Plancha.
Bar Nestor - find the video of "Fantastic Places to Eat" with Fred Sirreaux where they go here. Watch it, then visit and get your name down for the Tortilla. It is fabulous, but you'll probably only want to do it once (maybe twice). The steak is also pretty good.
La Vina - for the cheesecake. Go late. It will be heaving, but that's part of the fun.
If you turn up at a bar and it's too busy for your liking, find another bar and then re-visit 20 mins later.
Really, you can't go wrong just wandering round the old town. I would suggest avoiding anywhere that gives you a paper menu with checkboxes and a pencil but I am quite fussy.
You may get more response in Holidays and Travel than in Food, Drink and Restaurants.
Edited by omniflow on Monday 26th May 14:18
I spent a week munching there a few years ago you’ll have an awesome time!
We hired a guide and it was money well spent. Get in touch with Eskerne if you fancy that:
https://www.discoversansebastian.com/
Worth driving to a restaurant called Elkano, not far away, for the turbot over coals thing- been doing it there since way before it became trendy.
Enjoy!
We hired a guide and it was money well spent. Get in touch with Eskerne if you fancy that:
https://www.discoversansebastian.com/
Worth driving to a restaurant called Elkano, not far away, for the turbot over coals thing- been doing it there since way before it became trendy.
Enjoy!
Just picking up on an earlier response, cider is still very much ‘a thing’ in the Basque region (often signposted as ‘sagardo’ in Basque) but as mentioned above, I’m also not a huge fan of it. There is fierce competition between the Basques, Asturianas and Galicians, all of whom proclaim theirs to be the best but to be honest I couldn’t actually tell much difference between the three (although my Asturian friend says it’s because I’m English and we have no palate!)
They all do the ‘pour from above your head into a glass held below your waist’ thing, which can get messy, and you are supposed to drink ‘little and often’, ie: drink it almost as a shot whilst it is still frothing a bit. To me it all tastes a bit like vinegar, but don’t point that out, wherever you are!
They all do the ‘pour from above your head into a glass held below your waist’ thing, which can get messy, and you are supposed to drink ‘little and often’, ie: drink it almost as a shot whilst it is still frothing a bit. To me it all tastes a bit like vinegar, but don’t point that out, wherever you are!
There's plenty of fine dining available but it's pricey. As others have said, I'd be looking at local busy places that catch your eye. Note the dinner service doesn't really start before 9 or 10; it's the tourists that eat early.
My experience of the cidreias (sp?) was further west, but they're worth a visit wherever you see them.
My experience of the cidreias (sp?) was further west, but they're worth a visit wherever you see them.
bennno said:
Shaoxter said:
Just wander around the old town eating pintxos, it's all part of the experience.
Don't waste your money going to Arzak, easily the worst 3* restaurant I've been to.
Which of the other 86 Michelin 3* restaurants do you prefer? Don't waste your money going to Arzak, easily the worst 3* restaurant I've been to.
If I had went in blind, I'd wouldn't have said it was even a 1* place.
Gville said:
I spent a week munching there a few years ago you ll have an awesome time!
We hired a guide and it was money well spent. Get in touch with Eskerne if you fancy that:
https://www.discoversansebastian.com/
Worth driving to a restaurant called Elkano, not far away, for the turbot over coals thing- been doing it there since way before it became trendy.
Enjoy!
Eskerne is amazing, we had such a great time with her.We hired a guide and it was money well spent. Get in touch with Eskerne if you fancy that:
https://www.discoversansebastian.com/
Worth driving to a restaurant called Elkano, not far away, for the turbot over coals thing- been doing it there since way before it became trendy.
Enjoy!
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