Northern Spain

[RaisaB]

I will be in Donostia Spain and the surrounding Basque area in about 8 weeks. I also plan on visiting Rioja. Does anyone have any recent experience in this area? Any thoughts on restaurants, vineyards, etc?

Thanks!

[ol_ironstomach]

I will be in Donestia Spain and the surrounding Basque area in about 8 weeks. I also plan on visiting Rioja. Does anyone have any recent experience in this area? Any thoughts on restaurants, vineyards, etc?
Thanks!

It has been observed that San Sebastian ("Donostia" in Euskara, the Basque language) has the highest number of Michelin stars (15+) per person (pop. 180k) of anywhere in the world. Gubeen and I detoured from Catalunya to the Pais Vasco for a long weekend last September. You can experience some amazing high-end food there, but honestly I was still more impressed by a few of the places where we dined in Barcelona. Still, it's a great dining destination.

There are probably three main categories of foodie destinations in San Sebastian - fine dining, pintxos bars, and the local market in the old part of town.

Your top two fine dining picks should probably be Arzak, and Ak�lare. I am embarassed to say that we were so fooded out by San Sebasti�n that we cancelled our Arzak reservation on our last day, but I still regret it...absolutely everyone we encountered who had been there said it was amazing. Part of our disability stemmed from having taken on the tasting menu (with a full set of wine pairings) at Ak�lare the night before. At the latter, Chef Pedro Subijana was awarded his third Michelin star about a month after we were there, and I'm not surprised. He and Juan Mari Arzak (who already holds three) are considered to be the leading exponents of the new avant garde cuisine in the Basque country, but unlike the young and highly experimental chefs practicing molecular gastronomy in this country, they and the Catalans prefer to merge their new kitchen tools with classic technique. Familiar flavors emerge in unfamiliar new forms, but the food remains the focus of attention, not the science that made it. Whole oysters and their liquor are encased in thin hard butter shells, so for the first time, you can bite into the oyster whole and let it explode in your mouth. A single beautiful squid is married with an unusual and colorful patchwork of seasoned salts and dehydrated god-knows-what-protein granules in a "surf and turf". A hock of suckling Iberico pig is perfectly roasted to a crispy exterior and tender interior, and plated with dabs of various gelatinized fruits and...oh heck, I'm not even sure how to describe the crunchy bits anymore. Just pick one and go. Both restaurants are somewhat removed from the main town, so expect a lengthy cab ride.

Pintxos ["PEEN-cho's"] are the Basque take on tapas, and are where the real action is. Even the Spaniards acknowledge the excellence of the Basques in innovating small-plate dishes, and frankly it's downright fun to go hopping pintxos bars in the Parte Vieja (old town) neighborhood, where most of the action is. If you don't find one to your liking, just hop over to the next one; you're probably paying no more than 1 or 2 euros per plate anyway, and dozens of places literally line the streets of the Parte Vieja. Many of them are mediocre dives which you'll quickly punt on, but a few are truly exceptional...try Bar La Cepa and Casa Vergara. The standard accompaniment is a cylindrical glass of txakol�["CHOCK-oh-lee"], a light, very dry white wine poured (with the help of a diverter spout) from a height of several feet above the glass to aerate it.

With its unbelievably picturesque and well-sheltered bay off the Atlantic, the town still has a small but active fishing fleet. The old mercat, also in the Parte Vieja, may be miniscule compared to Barcelona's Boqueria, but boasts its own proud little fish market, a small section dedicated to native Basque produce, and the "Gaztelv gozotegia" baked-goods shop which sells a variety of Basque sweets including the pastel vasco, a traditional short-crust pastry filled with an almond cream custard.

Whew. I'm too tired to say or remember more. Have a great time!

[RaisaB]

Dave, thank you for taking the time to post such an informative reply! So I should make reservations at Arzak? I also do not want to be fooded out. We are driving while in the region so distances are not a problem. We will be staying in a few areas in the Basque and Rioja region.

BTW. I noticed I spelled Donostia wrong, thank you for correcting. My husband's family is Basque as is part of mine. We both still have family in the region. We plan to visit our namesake town (Berriz).

[Joe H]

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...amp;hl=mugaritz is the link to a particularly good thread with photos on eG. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/364776 is a thread with somewhat differing opinions on Chowhound but of particular importance for me are the comments from "Estufarian" whose taste, values and opinions are very similar to mine. He is from Toronto and has literally eaten his way through Europe. Arguably both Barcelona and San Sebastian are the most exciting cities on earth right now for dining. Carol and I were actually going there in January or February of '05 literally just to eat with dinner at all four two and three stars-I'd made reservations for all of them with the tickets purchased, etc. (All of these have websites with numerous photos, Raisa.) A month before we cancelled and went back to Italy investing our calories there. I should note that what may be the best meal I have ever had was at El Raco de Can Fabes, the Michelin three star 75 km west of Barcelona. We went twice in four days. On our first visit we were seated next to two men who received an incredible amount of attention from the staff and Santimaria, the chef-owner. Santimaria actually came to the table and-through our waiter's broken English-we understood that he was going to cook specifically for them. I asked if we could have the same dinner, regardless of cost, and Santimaria then came over to meet us. I had brought a bottle of Leonetti Reserve as a gift for him. I suggested that he open it over the course of the dinner believing that he would like it and we would benefit in some way from this. Anyway, he agreed to cook the same dinner for us. Later I asked one of the staff who the two men were that Santimaria was cooking for and they told me that one was "the chef at a two star in San Sebastian" that Santamaria knew and had been trying to talk him into coming to his restaurant for a long time!

And we were served the same meal!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Five hours and seventeen courses later Santamaria came out and walked over to their table and poured them each a small glass of red wine FROM THE BOTTLE I HAD BROUGHT HIM! They all looked over at us and toasted us. Santamaria liked the wine!! They did, too. All of them asked where they could buy it, if it was available in Spain! (Leonetti Reserve has a three bottle limit in the years it is offered; I believe this was the '99 which is the best Washington state wine I have ever had.) Anyway, it was an incredible meal and I have no idea what half of the courses were (i.e. "soup of frog").

We returned four nights later with two other couples that I talked into joining us again for dinner. (This was a social function for my industry in Barcelona.) Santimaria was there but he said that he couldn't duplicate the meal from the earlier night because he didn't have many of the ingredients. We did end up with twelve or so courses that were outstanding. Had I never have had the first dinner I would have thought El Raco was one of the best restaurants I'd been to. But, because of Santimaria wanting to impress the two star chef from San Sebastian and his willingness to let us share, it paled in comparison. I believe the chef was from Akelare but I am not certain. (Note that "Estufarian" on Chowhound called Akelare the best meal of his life!) Carol and I had wanted to visit him at his restaurant and see if he remembered us from that night. I had planned on taking another bottle of the Leonetti Reserve with me as a gift.

We ended up in Venice but I still wish that we had gone to San Sebastian instead. You and Bob should go to both Akelare and Arzak although as you do more research you'll find that it will be hard to not visit several other restaurants also.

[ol_ironstomach]

Great story Joe, although the lengthy Can Fabes recollection would be great in the Barcelona thread, as it is located nowhere near the Basque country. That would be an awesome side-trip from Barcelona though - Santi Santimaria is considered the other godfather of modern Catalan cuisine, alongside Ferran Adrìa.

For Raisa, I would think that either destination would be fabulous. I obviously can't compare Arzak because we bailed, but he is considered the most important chef of the Basque fine dining renaissance. As for being fooded out, I mean that we should have tried harder to pace ourselves, and probably should have planned more downtime following each of our big tasting menus. For instance, our tasting dinner at Akélare consisted of one amuse, two seafood courses, a vegetable course, two meat courses, two dessert courses, and a final plate of sweets. There was a reasonable progression of food "weights" but it did add up. Incidentally, you can see a picture of a picture of Arzak and Subijana standing together, greeting Adria's audience in the eGullet thread that Anna Blume linked to here. That's Arzak on the left. The third chef who gets a lot of attention, although perhaps less than these two, is three-star chef Martín Berasategui, whose restaurant is eponymous.

Gubeen is the real San Sebastian enthusiast, so I'll try to encourage her to post some details.

On a final note, it's worth reiterating that the Basques are exceptionally proud of their culture and would prefer not to be referred to as Spain. After all, they've been living there for over 5000 years, long before other Europeans expanded into the area.

[RaisaB]

I was in Barcelona last year so I won't be returning this year, but thanks for the links Joe. I may try both places. Perhaps one at the beginning and one toward the end of the trip. Another restaurant which I have heard quite a bit about is Etxebarri near Donostia also. I am pretty sure it is not starred, but if you go on ChezPim.com she gives an excellent review of it.

Being married into an almost pure Basque family and being part Basque myself, I learned long ago, that there are three languages in the Iberian Peninsula. Castellano, Catalan, and Euskera. I would NEVER ask anyone in the northern part of Spain if they spoke Spanish, as there is no such language. Sad for me I am not familiar at all with Euskera. It is unlike any other language.

[brr]

Its a wonderful wonderful area and a food lovers dream. We were at a wedding there in 2005 and were blown away by the quality of the food and the pride even the smallest places have in what they serve.

We were only in San Seb for a day but made time for lunch at Arzak - superb.

We also spent some time in Getaria, a little village to the west of SS, featuring lots of great little seafood restaurants - nothing too fancy, just good grilled fish.

The tapas/pintxos were excellent in both SS and Bilbao - the Casa Viejo in Bilbao is an old square with 10-15 different tapas bars.

We also enjoyed the cheap local wine Txakoli, nothing fancy but great on a hot summers day.

[Gubeen]

I would definite make reservations for Akelare and Arzak. Each only has a limited number of tables and they fill up quickly with locals and culinary tourists.

Arzak -- Avda. Alcalde Jose Elosegui, 273, San Sebastián-Guipúzcoa, Spain 20015 • +34 943 278 465

Akelarre -- Paseo Padre Orkola, 56, San Sebastián-Guipúzcoa, Spain 20008 • 34 94-321-2052

Martin Berasategui is considered among the triumvirate of key Basque chefs and I would be interested to hear from someone who has been to his restaurant. Information is available at www.martinberasategui.com. Martin Berasategui, Loidi Kalea, 20160 Lasarte, 943.36.64.71 – See Jancis Robinson’s article (http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/nick050319) Everything I have read about him is stellar.

I loved both of my trips to San Sebastian precisely because it was such a foodie friendly place. Everywhere you turn in the old city there are great little bars. I found that I enjoyed wandering, eating and meeting people more than the formal sit down dinners but 3 or 4 great dinners or lunches are definitely worth it. It is the kind of place where you stroll for a bit, stop have a few pinxtos and small glass of beer or wine or txaoli(sp?). It is so charming.

Some really good pinxtos bars:

Alona Berri -- Bermingham, 24, San Sebastián-Guipúzcoa, Spain 20002 • 94-329-0818

Bar Begarra -- General Artetxe, 8, San Sebastián-Guipúzcoa, Spain 20002 • 94-327-5026

La Cuchara de San Telmo – Calle 31 de Agosto, 28

Bar Txepetxa -- Pescaderia 5 42 22 27

Goiz-Bargi-- Fermin Calbeton, 4 – Donostia, T. 943 425 204

Meson Martin- Elcano, 7 – Donostia, T. 943422866

If you head to Pamplona, I would suggest checking out Baserri Pamplona which is run by Maria Augustina Ostiz. I have heard great things about her food.

I also have a book of Tapas of San Sebastian in English. I am happy to lend you a copy and you can see what interests you.

Hope this helps. Now I am really hungry. Hmm, maybe I will venture out into the wetness for some nibbles -- a new tapas bar just opened about 4 blocks away.

[mtpleasanteater]

[E Bulli]

I have reservations in August and neither my wife or I drive, does anyone have any sense of how hard it will be for us to get there from San Sebastian & how much we can expect to pay for travel? Thanks.

[jpschust]

I have reservations in August and neither my wife or I drive, does anyone have any sense of how hard it will be for us to get there from San Sebastian & how much we can expect to pay for travel? Thanks.

Out of curiosity when did you submit for your reservations? I am going to try and get in for next year as a surprise to my other half

[Heather]

It's several hours. Were you planning to take a train?

Your best bet is probably to talk to a travel agent. It's approximately 80km from Perpignan, and 75 from Girona, so you could probably hop a flight from San Sebastian to either of those airports and then cab. Or check out the Renfe site for train information.

[mtpleasanteater]

I guess the policy is that you email them in the second week of october for the following year. I sent them three email, one of which said "I'll come anytime you are open" and two that said anytime in august. They responded to the anytime one in november saying that they were full, and they offered me one day in August about a month later. I think I emailed the on the 14th, I was unable to find anything more specific than "mid october" as the time to email them.

Thanks for the train website, that's probably what we'll do.

[Joe H]

It has been five years but then I called in early January and was told they began accepting reservations on a specific date in the middle of January for when they opened which was around the first of April-then. I was also told they would probably book up for the year (they are open for six or seven months or so) within several days of this. On the date that they began to accept resevations I started calling AND FAXING at 4:00AM which is 10:00AM El Bulli time. I also FED Exed a letter to them also asking for a reservation referencing the phone calls and fax. I got through on the phone about three hours after starting; their fax line was busy for almost an hour before I got through on that.

Please note that all of this was about five years ago and before he began to consult and participate with other restaurants and projects in Spain. I am not certain how often he is physically in El Bulli today. It was also when it was at its height of popularity.

Having said all this I would stay in San Sebastian. I could not/would not pick El Bulli over Arzak or Akelare. Also, I believe that El Raco de Can Fabes in Sant Celoni east of Barcelona is truly outstanding. There are a lot of people who are not fans of El Bulli; there are many others who consider it a one time experience. Still, there are a legion of food writers and enthusiasts on boards like eGullet (there is a 100 page thread on El Bulli alone!) that consider it THE shrine and Temple on the face of the earth. There are still others who believe somewhat similar creative experiences are now available at The Fat Duck and elsewhere.

If you do go I would be really interested in your thoughts on El Bulli vs. Arzak and Akelare. I also would not dismiss Barcelona which, for some, now competes with San Sebastian for what may be the most exciting "foodie" destination on earth. Note that a number who served in El Bulli's kitchen now run their own kitchens there. For myself, Barcelona is my favorite larger city in all of Europe.

[ol_ironstomach]

Thanks for the train website, that's probably what we'll do.

I don't believe there's rail service to Roses; from Barcelona you can get up the coast as far as Blanes, but the rest of the Costa Brava is accessed via roads. More likely, you'll have to catch a flight to Girona and from there, a regional bus to Roses. Once in town, hop a taxi up and over the hill to the restaurant.

Roses itself is a scenic but touristy beach town; it seems like half of the people there are visiting from France. If you decide to spend the night, and somehow find you have room for a meal the next day, I highly recommend looking for Rafa's, located in a back alley in town. It's a tiny place, but serves some of the greatest friggin' seafood in the world, absolutely minimally cooked. The cockles are so fresh and local that you'll immediately recognize their flavor as an intensified version of the sea air in town. I can't even begin to describe the prawns and cigales...they were excellent at la Boqueria, but magnificent in Roses. This is reputed to be Ferran Adria's favorite "regular" restaurant anywhere.

[qwertyy]

After a tour of Muga in Haro, we thought we were culinarily out of luck, but my brother persisted, walking around the city by himself until he stumbled on Las Duelas, which was so excellent that we went back the next day for lunch. It has apparently moved into a hotel since I've been, and there's not much online about it, but the menu is available HERE. And there's a short description on the Gilded Fork:

Another chef using the traditional ingredients of Rioja to create haute cuisine is Juan Nales at Las Duelas restaurant in the Hotel Los Augustinos in Haro, located at the crossroads of Rioja’s wine routes. He starts with good quality products and sensitivity to their native qualities, applying the techniques he learned while studying in Madrid and in San Sebastian. While the focus is again on traditional Riojana dishes, there were some surprises in store: I had a starter of thinly sliced toro tuna with wasabi ice cream -- something you’d expect to see in a Japanese restaurant in New York, but which showcases the local tuna found just off the coast to the north.

Merluza confitada sobre Espárragos Verdes y pil-pil de Berberechos is Nales’ nod to a traditional Basque dish, using their famous pil-pil sauce with a lightly fried and oil-marinated hake over green asparagus. Venison with chestnut croquetas and a sauce of wild berries is an example of Nales’ take on a typical dish served in high style, which of course went very well with a Torre Muga 2001, a new-world style wine whose black fruit aroma underscored with spicy hints of minerals matched the sauce perfectly. (It was also nice to be drinking this wine with Juan Muga, who had given us a tour of his family-owned winery earlier in the day, and who bought us to meet his friend Chef Nales.)

And, oh my yes, please do go to Arzak. Homina.

[RaisaB]

You guys are fabulous! I am definately going to Arzak, for my anniversary on the 13th June. I made reservation for 10PM. In San Sebastian, I will probably be going to Pinxtos bars for the most part. I will be making a detour for ExteBarri as his cooking culture appeals to me.

I also want to go clothes and shoe shopping so I am going to limit the gastronomic 12 course meals to Arzak. I will still probably gain a bit...

[Joe H]

With the Euro @ $1.365 and Amex actually charging US $1.395 (!!!) along with Visa and MC charging 2% surcharges shopping ain't what it used to be in Europe. On a positive note you'll find Arzak to be a great deal LESS expensive than, say, a Parisian three star.

Have a great trip!

....I'm jealous.....

[Robert Rymarz]

You guys are fabulous! I am definately going to Arzak, for my anniversary on the 13th June. I made reservation for 10PM. In San Sebastian, I will probably be going to Pinxtos bars for the most part. I will be making a detour for ExteBarri as his cooking culture appeals to me.

I also want to go clothes and shoe shopping so I am going to limit the gastronomic 12 course meals to Arzak. I will still probably gain a bit...

If I could only pick three restaurants in the world that I would love to visit, Extebarri would be included. I'm also jealous.

http://www.mensvogue.com/food/articles/200...i?currentPage=1

[RaisaB]

I have been here since Sunday, I left LaGuardia Alvaja, La Rioja today. I am in love with it's wine, passion, and people.Today I arrived in Axpe Atxondo, Pais Vasco. The landscape and it's people, absolutely stunning. I went to Extebarri tonight, the food was good, but it wasn't all that. I was expecting more from this restaurant, but I did not recieve it) More on Extebarri. There was nothing basically wrong with his food, it was all well done. Homemade butter, chorizo, salmon. It was all good but to me it became boring after a while. I love great ingredients, simply made, but tasting smoked everything got boring after 4 courses not to mention 9! He did have some awesome shrimp, lightly grilled, they were very suculent, they still tasted of the sea, (with smoke of course). I also felt the service was quite off, polite but hurried. Would I recommend anyone make the trip there for the restaurant? Well if you love smoked, sure! It is a beautiful area which seems more like Switzerland than Spain. I also have to add that I was there at dinner. Lunch is the big meal here in Spain, so maybe the chef just wanted to get home....

[silentbob]

Your top two fine dining picks should probably be Arzak, and Akélare. I am embarassed to say that we were so fooded out by San Sebastián that we cancelled our Arzak reservation on our last day, but I still regret it...absolutely everyone we encountered who had been there said it was amazing. Part of our disability stemmed from having taken on the tasting menu (with a full set of wine pairings) at Akélare the night before.

We are planning to be in Donostia and other parts of Basque country during our honeymoon in May. But due to our other travel plans, we have only three full days in the area. Given the above, is it unrealistic to expect that we could pull off (1) Arzak, (2) Akélare, (3) Mugaritz, and (4) Asador Etxebarri during that time?

This is how I envisioned spacing things out:

Day 1 - pintxos for lunch, early tasting dinner at Akélare

Day 2 - late lunch at Etxebarri, super-late dinner at Mugaritz

Day 3 - pintxos for lunch, early tasting dinner at Arzak

[And]

Honeymoon stop number number two was a couple of days in Bilbao to see the Guggenheim.

The museum had some great snacks and sandwiches for when you needed a break from the amazing collection of art. The old section of town had fantastic pintxos. I've lost the names of the places we hit up, unfortunately. Worth wandering

First dinner was at Restaurant Mina, which had a tiny dining room and open kitchen. Amazing service and cocktail skills by the staff (the latter was something we found to be very rare in Spain) they served best negroni my wife has ever had.

The tasting menu was fantastic, and had some true standouts, including: homemade blood sausage, partridge ravioli with pork belly, hake in a dashi soup, and a confit suckling pig.

The wine pairings were also a real treat for us, lots of things that pushed our palates. The Nates 2012 Cantabria Albarino we are currently on the hunt for a case of...and trying to get to Indianapolis. We really loved this white.

If you are in Bilbao, you better have a meal here.

Second evening we went to Restaurante Arbolagana for a friday night dinner, as they touted themselves as a slow food restaurant. The place was dead and in a strange location above the Bilbao Art Museum (the other one in town). Great view of the city. We regretted getting the tasting menu after watching another table order a more meat-centric meal. The best thing we had there was the blood sausage (again!) truffles coated in crushed up chicharones under a bed of fried peppers (the spanish version of shishito). They had a tough act to follow after Mina the night before.

We really loved Bilbao...it was like a spanish Pittsburgh with the way the city was nestled next to the hills and wedged between multiple rivers. Although I wouldn't recommend a stay longer than a couple of days, it's a good stopover on your way to Donostia / San Sebastian.

[DonRocks]

We really loved Bilbao...it was like a spanish Pittsburgh with the way the city was nestled next to the hills and wedged between multiple rivers. Although I wouldn't recommend a stay longer than a couple of days, it's a good stopover on your way to Donostia / San Sebastian.

What did you think of San Sebastian? I think it's one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen - it reminds me of a small version of Nice, but its 80,000 times cleaner.

[And]

If we loved Bilbao, San Sebastian was....whatever word is bigger than love.   We were there during a rainy spell, however the few days of sunshine we got were amazing.

The combs of the wind, the beaches, the bridges and tiny streets in the old part of the city, it was a unbelievably memorable experience.

Some of our favorite tapas stops: A Fuego Negro, Bar Tamboril, La Cuchara de San Telmo, Ganbara, I could go on and on. I'll note that during certain peak times it was hard to get some pintxos, I'm 6'4" 280 and I was getting pushed around by little old ladies.

We were bored with estrella, txakoli, wine and cidre one night and found this hole in the wall craft beer bar called Never Stop. It was a nice taste of home after 10 days away, I sampled 4-5 Basque craft beers as well as some excellent belgian sours.

Our first three star experience, Arzak was brilliant. We got a chance to meet Juan Mari and Elena, she actually took our order and checked in on our likes and dislikes.

I'll go into our meal with detail later.

On new years eve we went to Eme Be Garrote, a new restaurant of Martin Berasategui located in the district of Ibaeta in an old cider mill. Great way to kick in the new year.

For the record, I love me some salt cod any anything cooked in pil pil oil.

[DonRocks]

If we loved Bilbao, San Sebastian was....whatever word is bigger than love.   We were there during a rainy spell, however the few days of sunshine we got were amazing.

The combs of the wind, the beaches, the bridges and tiny streets in the old part of the city, it was a unbelievably memorable experience.

Some of our favorite tapas stops: A Fuego Negro, Bar Tamboril, La Cuchara de San Telmo, Ganbara, I could go on and on. I'll note that during certain peak times it was hard to get some pintxos, I'm 6'4" 280 and I was getting pushed around by little old ladies.

We were bored with estrella, txakoli, wine and cidre one night and found this hole in the wall craft beer bar called Never Stop. It was a nice taste of home after 10 days away, I sampled 4-5 Basque craft beers as well as some excellent belgian sours.

Our first three star experience, Arzak was brilliant. We got a chance to meet Juan Mari and Elena, she actually took our order and checked in on our likes and dislikes.

I'll go into our meal with detail later.

On new years eve we went to Eme Be Garrote, a new restaurant of Martin Berasategui located in the district of Ibaeta in an old cider mill. Great way to kick in the new year.

For the record, I love me some salt cod any anything cooked in pil pil oil.

San Sebastian thread

Basque Country thread

(porcupine, can you cut/paste/divide/merge/split?)

And then, there would be Arzak. <--- This will amuse you.

(You know what? We have a *shitload* of content on this website. Sometimes, I lose perspective about this, but a friend - a new member - mentioned it the other night, and I was like, 'Yeah, I think we really do.')

[And]

Sorry, I spaced on the other thread locations.  I'll try to fix it tonight.

There shit-ton of content on this board. I knew about the basque country thread, I missed the san sebastian one.

[DonRocks]

Sorry, I spaced on the other thread locations.  I'll try to fix it tonight.

There shit-ton of content on this board. I knew about the basque country thread, I missed the san sebastian one.

No, no, no!

I wasn't berating you; I was just trying to add information. It's our job (my job) to get the threads right - don't even think twice about it. You definitely mistook my post as some sort of "administrative thing." Just keep posting like you did! 

[Mark Dedrick]

Not sure if this is the correct thread or not, I couldn't find a better one. My wife and I are going to be in Galicia later this fall, and we've never been. Anyone on here have any recommendations, suggestions on things or places not to miss, or even a city in which to base our operations? We have flights booked right now and not much else, so everything is appreciated. 

[youngfood]

On 9/19/2019 at 11:26 AM, Mark Dedrick said:

Not sure if this is the correct thread or not, I couldn't find a better one. My wife and I are going to be in Galicia later this fall, and we've never been. Anyone on here have any recommendations, suggestions on things or places not to miss, or even a city in which to base our operations? We have flights booked right now and not much else, so everything is appreciated. 

Haven't been to Galicia, but it looks like you are within a half day drive of Etxebarri, which means you absolutely must go.

Have you guys been to San Sebastian yet?  That's just a bit past Etxebarri and an amazingl place to visit and eat.  

[Mark Dedrick]

We've been to San Sebastian before, and agree, it's an incredible city. 

[ScotteeM]

I have read through all the threads I could find on Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Northern Spain, and decided to post here. Hope that’s OK!

Bill and I are planning a trip to Northern Spain in May 2022. The centerpiece of the trip will be 8 days and 7 nights on a luxury train El Transcantabrico Gran Lujo from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela (already confirmed). The train will travel through the Basque, Asturia, and Galicia regions, with some meals on the train and some in local restaurants along the way. I have read reviews that say the local meals tend to be at Michelin-rated restaurants or at least at restaurants connected to paradors. I expect we’ll mostly eat with the group, but we might be able to stray from the group if something more tempting arises.

We’re planning to fly from Denver to Bilbao, and back to Denver from Bilbao. We’re also planning to fly from Santiago de Compostela back to Bilbao, rather than spend a day on a train. We will be using public transport throughout, rather than driving ourselves.

We’ll arrive in Bilbao on a Tuesday at around 2 pm, hoping to stay at the Hotel Miro, near the Guggenheim, so we’ll have dinner in Bilbao that night. On Wednesday, we’ll take a bus to San Sebastian, either before or after lunch. I’m inclined to have lunch in Bilbao and then bus to San Sebastian.

We’ll have Wednesday evening, and all of Thursday and Friday on our own in San Sebastian.  Some of the really great-looking restaurants seem to be about a 30-min drive out of the city, and we wonder if we can do one or more of those by taxi, and if we should?

Saturday starts the train trip, and we will be deposited in Santiago d Compostela the following Saturday, in time for lunch. On Sunday, we fly to Bilbao at 7:45 pm, arriving in time for dinner.

We’ll have all day Monday in Bilbao, and depart early Tuesday morning for Denver.

In sum, we’ll have 2 lunches and 3 dinners in Bilbao, 3 lunches and 3 dinners in San Sebastian, and 2 lunches and 1 dinner in Santiago de Compostela. (Plus all the meals on the train tour.)

No pressure, but this is likely our one and only chance to experience the food of this part of the world. We want to enjoy as much as we can of the food of the high-end restaurants in the area, as well as more traditional dishes. What are the can’t miss places? Are there any places that we would want to avoid?

Thanks in advance (and oh how I miss the dining scene in DC)!

 

 

 

[Rhone1998]

On 6/24/2021 at 12:43 PM, ScotteeM said:

No pressure, but this is likely our one and only chance to experience the food of this part of the world. We want to enjoy as much as we can of the food of the high-end restaurants in the area, as well as more traditional dishes. What are the can’t miss places? Are there any places that we would want to avoid?

It's been a long time since we were in that area, but when we were in San Sebastian we wandered into many wine bars and small restaurants that just caught our eye walking down the street (crowded with locals is a good sign) and never once left disappointed.  So my only advice to you is to leave one or two slots on your meal itinerary empty and hit up whatever place strikes your fancy in the moment.

[ScotteeM]

Dan, thanks for your observations. You raise a good point! Decades ago, we enjoyed wandering around in towns and cities in Spain and Portugal, stopping to eat where the food smelled wonderful. I'm trying not to overthink our trip to Spain next year, but I have some "last chance jitters" and don't want to miss anything!