The restaurants and bars reviewed in this report are the following.
Narru in Donostia
Zuberoa in Oiartzun
Urola in Donostia
Bordo Berri in Donostia
San Telma in Donostia
Bernardo Etxea in Donostia
Elkano in Getaria
Etxebarri in Axpe
Ibai in Donostia
NARRU IN DONOSTIA AT THE HOTEL NIZA
Niza Hotel now boasts a very fine restaurant.
The jamon iberico from Carrasco is outstanding. Try it with the pain cristal or tomato bread.
Don’t miss the grilled Gambas of Palamos. They are the same level as San Remo gamberi.
The rice dish, “riz cremeux croustillant aux crustaces et chipirons, crevette de palamos assisonnee a l’huile d’olive arbequina,” is good, but not too exciting.
The no miss main course is the “tripes et museax a la mode traditionelle”. A few chorizo add depth to the melt in the mouth veal tripe. This is one of the lightest versions of the classic.
Rack of young lamb is cooked sous vide and is not too convincing because of the wrong method of cooking.
Finish with crema de queso con Migas crujientes de Mantequilla.
The wine list is unfortunately not on par with the food. It has mainly international style wines which appeal to the ordinary Spanish taste.
RANKING: 14/20
ZUBEROA IN OIARTZUN
Since they returned to their origins, this restaurant has been going very strong.
This time the amuses were foie gras with Pedro Ximenez jelly and brandade de morue.
The world’s best peas with white asparagus, artichoke, and jamon was a masterpiece.
Top quality ceps were offered with poached eggs and its own foam.
These last two dishes displayed outstanding quality ingredients, which were presented without complications, but with masterly touches.
The tuna belly or ventresca from Cantabria, cooked in the wood fired oven, turned out to be a thick fillet, seasoned with tomato and tarragon. It was as good as the Cantabrian tuna belly we had at Etxebarri the previous year. This hard to find dish alone is worth the price of the meal.
Nice langoustines also cooked in the wood fire oven.
Agneau de lait is a thick piece from the shoulder. It is very good, but not as good as the very best you can get at Mannix. It is accompanied with salad, its own jus, and a great potato puree.
You may get the same special silky potato puree with the very good pigeon. It is roasted with rosemary, ceps, and its liver is used to make toasts. Chopped cabbage with truffle crumbs are a garni.
You should finish with the world’s best cheese cake with raspberry coulis and yoghurt ice cream.
2001 Vina Tondonia is balanced and traditional in style. I liked its musty aroma, earthy, wild mushroom palette, red fruits with underlying acidity, and smooth but persistent finish. 93/100 37.5 Euro.
RANKING: 18/20
TAPAS CRUISE IN DONOSTIA
1. UROLA
It is still good, but maybe not as good as the previous year.
The best pintxo is the “brocheta de pulpa, pancetta y uopa de patata”. The second best pintxo is the “taco de foie sobra crema de pochas”. Cazuelita Callos y Morros was disappointing.
You can find the excellent jamon from Carrasco and very good white prawns from Andalucia among the tapas plates.
2. BORDO BERRI
They have the best pintxos in Donostia.
We starred almost everything we tried, such as the following.
-salmorejo tradicional con jamon de pato (no miss)
-ravioli de molleja, puerro y lemongrass
-orejo de cerdo con romesco (no miss)
-pikillo relleno de carri-kabra
-kallos de Bakalao al pil pil (no miss)
-terrina de foie con cirvela (no miss)
-canelon cremoso de morcilla
-queso de kabra tostado con ciruela (no miss)
-ganatxe de Txokolate y Cointreau
3. SAN TELMO
This bar is not as good as it used to be. The best pintxos are the following.
-canelon cremoso de cocidos y asados
-carrillera ternere al vino tinto
-queso cabra relleno de verduritas
4. BERNARDO ETXEA
The pintxos are so so, but if you sit in the restaurant, there is very good and fresh shellfish.
Start with Hilda (salted anchovy and pickled pepper) with Txakolin and also salted and fried piquillos.
Then try the excellent Galician flat oysters and some gigantic (alive) langoustines from Galicia.
ELKANO IN GETARIA
This is one of my favorite seafood temples anywhere.
This time they even surpassed themselves.
It was the best seafood meal in recent memory.
We started with a Basque ceviche with red onions, zucchini, and cherries, with extremely fresh salmonetes (rouget).
The percebes were cooked to order and perfect.
Then we had kokotxas al pil pil. Now a multimillion dollar question. Which one is better: this one or Ibai’s version?
Let’s call it a tie and let’s say that this is the pinnacle for this dish.
Then we had excellent baby squids grilled with their own ink.
The baby cigale de mer, santiaginos, has to be tasted to be believed to see how sweet they are.
Necoras, small crab, are equally sweet when they are so fresh.
Then we had grilled salmonetes (rouget) with beans. I had not had this level since the version at Balzi Rossi, when this restaurant was at its apex 20 years ago. I believe they were rock rouget.
Now behold, we had salmonetes and rascasse (scorpion fish) and lotte (monkish). No, we did not eat all of these fish, but the liver of the three. I believe the three fish in question were caught the same morning and the liver was lightly fried. The rouget liver was intense. The rascasse liver was very creamy. The lotte (monkfish) was the most like foie gras. Consuming and comparing all at the same time, all lightly fried, is the equivalent of gastronomic orgasm.
To finish, we had the best grilled turbot on earth. Don’t order it in Fall. Order it in late spring, when it is most fatty.
The desserts were equally natural and outstanding.
We had slightly grilled and caramelized cherries.
Then we had their incredible fresh goat cheese ice cream with strawberry coulis: Helado de queso.
To finish we had a vacherin cake, which had hard merinque, chocolate mousse, and hazelnuts. Normally this is not my style dessert, but when everything is so high quality and also fresh, this is a good way to end the sumptuous meal.
Now let’s discuss the wines.
We had probably the two best white wines of Spain.
The first is 2010 Do Fereiro Cepas Vellas. Clearly it saw some batonnage on the lees, but it works here. The wine stays clean but intense and mineral driven. It has mostly tropical and citrus fruits and good structure. 94/100
The second wine, 2011 Emilio Rojo, is laser sharp. It has a clean, crisp, citrus fruit nose. It is straight and sharp like a great Chablis. I love the strong saline-minerality in the finish, buffered by great acidity. The wine developed during the long meal. It is also an elegant wine. 96/100
Both wines are ideal with shellfish and grilled turbot.
RANKING: 20/20
ETXEBARRI IN AXPE
I can’t remember how many times we have come to this rustic temple of grilled food. Over the last 15 years, portions have become smaller, the clientele is half international, but the quality is intact.
We took the menu degustation for 125 plus VAT.
The amuses are homemade chorizo from acorn fed pork (outstanding), goat’s milk butter (outstanding), smoked buffalo mozzarella, and salted anchovy with tomato bread (outstanding).
We had a nice glass of Albarino to accompany these dishes.
Then we were served a smoked Arcachon oyster with seawater foam and seaweed. This was good.
Next we had gambas from Palamos, which were outstanding.
Next came espardenyes with white beans, which was also excellent.
The next course was baby octopus (polpets) with caramelized onions and their own ink. This was outstanding.
Then we had the very rare St. George wild mushrooms with ceps (Calocybe gambosa). This was outstanding.
The next course was baby, very sweet green peas with their own shoots. This was also outstanding.
Then we had mero (grouper) with artichokes, green beans, carrots, and broccoli. This dish was excellent.
The final course was cabrits (baby kid) with green salad. We chose this instead of the beef chop because it is in season. It was outstanding.
Desserts were also fresh and excellent: a smoothie of strawberries, elderflower and cherry yogurt, reduced milk ice cream with a red fruit infusion, and mignardise with coffee.
We had a very interesting bio wine by the glass with the cabrito: 2012 Merla from the Alta Alella winery. It is very fruity, with a nice smooth texture. The red and black fruits (crushed raspberry, blackberry, pomegranate) are ripe, but not jammy. It developed a touch of licorice on the nose. The wine has nice acidity and is intense and nervy. 13% alcohol. 92/100
We had an excellent 2010 Domaine Leflaive PM Combettes to accompany the meal. The wine has a classic ripe apple, pear, vanilla, butterscotch, pain grille nose. The palette unfolds with layers upon layers of intense pear, pineapple, a touch tropical fruits, and soft spices in the long finish. It has a noteworthy mid-palette. I like the steely finish. It has great structure. 170 Euro. 97/100
RANKING: 19/20
IBAI IN DONOSTIA
We had another very good meal in this bizarre restaurant where reservations are very hard to come by.
Excellent warm Chorizo from Rioja is offered to start, together with the market roll, which is the only average thing here.
We had slightly warm and very big percebes.
Then we had the world’s best lobster salpicon, which has a little tomato and apple vinegar. There is great consistency in this dish over the years.
Then we had nice pochas with peppers. They are fresh pochas with a thin skin. You can only have them in late spring/early summer.
Then we were served different kinds of setas with excellent quality poached eggs.
The kokotxas al pil pil may not come fresher. They are extremely gelatinous.
The lenguado (wild sole fish) may not be made tastier. It always tastes like a revelation.
We finished with fine lemon sorbet with cavas.
We had the 2006 Pazo Senorans Seleccion, which is a nice Albarino. You taste some oak, but it is well integrated into the creamy citrus fruit. It has less mineral than Do Fereiro. It has medium intensity and is elegant. 91/100
RANKING: 18/20