After meeting up with our friend Jigar at the Madrid airport on Sunday, we took a small propeller plane to San Sebastián and arrived around noon. Realizing just how small the airport there was (there are only six flights a day), we were thankful for the sole taxi that showed up about 15 minutes after we landed. Alex managed to direct our driver in broken Spanish to the Pension we were all staying at and we made it to the center of the old city just as the many pintxos bars were filling up. Pintxos are similar to Spanish tapas – though there is much debate as to what separates the two – and are a cornerstone of the Basque Region cultural experience. We were ready to “pintxos hop” and luckily, our host had prepared a helpful map of the best local spots for eating and drinking. Over the course of our three days here I tried to keep a detailed list of what we ate and where we ate it but my rioja consumption may have caused me to miss a few spots…nevertheless, we have some great recommendations if you ever make it to San Sebastián!
I was reminded a bit of Bourbon Street – every sign marks a different bar to grab a drink and pintxos!
Main drag in San Sebastian, leading up to the Iglesia de Santa Maria.
A Fuego Negro - Our first stop was recommended by many as the best place to grab a mini-burger. While the burgers were good, we didn’t think they quite lived up to the hype. No problem – time to move on to the next spot!
Gandarias –Literally down the block from A Fuego Negro as all of these pintxos bars are located within a few blocks of each other. We tried a variety of the options waiting for us along the bar as well as the local white wine (served in a large cup). Best for: croquettes and skewers of sautéed mushrooms and prosciutto.
La Cepa – Just a quick stop here to grab a glass of wine and take in the views from a perch outside.
View from the doorway of La Cepa.
Beti Jai – We loved this place as the options were plentiful and the food and service were great. The interior is definitely more modern than many of the other options, but there is a well-appointed seating area, which we appreciated after a couple hours on our feet. Best for: presentation. Definitely the most appetizing spread we saw with lots of great options.
Really hard to go wrong here.
Feeling like we had a pretty satisfying afternoon of casual eating and drinking we headed to the water to watch the sunset. The views were incredible and we loved the comraderie among both locals and tourists just happy to sit and chat on the pier while taking in the scenery.
Easy to see why so many people gather to watch the sunset!
"Sarah, get one of me holding the sun." NAILED IT! So happy to have you Jigar!
Perfect way to end the day.
Since the sun didn’t set until after 9pm, the pintxos bars were starting to fill up again for the “evening shift.” We will still pretty full from our afternoon of eating but we managed a few additional stops before calling it a day.
Nagusia Lau – None of us remember much about this place and based on online reviews I think there is a reason for that…
La Vina – Famous for its tarta de queso, this highly recommended spot lived up to the hype! Alex and I convinced Jigar we only needed one plate to share and were glad we did. Best for: dessert. The cheesecake is worth it!
We slept in pretty late on Monday and all three of us were feeling a little exhausted from the previous day’s bingeing so we headed to a quiet lunch at Maiatza, which I highly recommend if you are feeling tired of pintxos.
After regaining some of our lost energy, we walked across the bridge and checked out the Zurriola Beach before heading south.
The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd was pretty quiet on Monday.
Me and Alex in the center of town.
Looking back at the San Sebastian Cathedral.
Our Pension host had warned us that Mondays would be much quieter so our subdued activities for the day certainly fit in with the local vibe. Having spotted a few boutiques I wanted to check out, I left the boys for a few hours and did some shopping while they grabbed beers.
Atari Gastroteka – More of a sit down restaurant though tapas are offered. Best for: its spacious area with beer garden-style wooden benches.
I met up with Alex and JIgar in the evening and we continued our new favorite pastime of pintxos hopping.
Bar Sport – Popular place that I had read about on TripAdvisor, though it doesn’t look very impressive from the outside. Best for: fried spicy meatballs and hot chorizo sandwich.
We decided to take it easy went to bed early so we could get up early and hike to the lookout on nearby Monte Urgull in the morning.
Today we grabbed coffee and successfully “climbed” (much more like an uphill stroll) Monte Urgull. The weather has been cooler and hazy here so the sky wasn’t very clear, but we still got to see some great views of San Sebastian.
Even on a hazy day, the beach views are something to behold.
Even a cloudy day can be a great beach day.
Looking out over the dock where we watched the sunset.
Having completed some – albeit limited – physical activity for the day, it was obviously time for more pintxos! We headed to probably the most highly recommended pintxos spot – seriously everyone kept talking about this place – and settled in, expecting magic.
Bar Borda Berri – I was definitely more impressed with this place than Jigar and Alex. Jigar didn’t care that much for his goat cheese and Alex feared the pesto glaze used on the meat dishes contained nuts so it was left to me to eat most of the food! Luckily the veal cheeks were outstanding, though I will note that the atmosphere of the place is much more subdued than most of the other bars: quiet, indifferent service and no pre-made pintxos lining the bar. Best for: tender veal cheeks, peppers stuffed with veal cheeks.
Our trio popped into a few of the other places we had already visited so Alex and Jigar could get some lunch and then we strolled down the beach to the Miramar Palace.
The sun finally started to come out!
Looking back on San Sebastian.
Turned out to be a pretty nice beach day after all!
Pretty picturesque.
Needing something other than the local rioja and white wine options we had been sampling over the past couple of days, we headed to a local beer bar our Pension host mentioned.
Bar Extenzo – definitely the broadest selection of beers we saw here but virtually no English to be found. Best for: trying local beers, obviously!
For our last dinner in San Sebastian, we finally heeded all of the advice we’d received about where to go for a delicious steak meal.
Bar Nestor – Famous for only serving five items (but doing all of them very well), this place has been feautured in multiple publications and guides. We really enjoyed the whole experience but were a little let down by the famous meat. Best for: everything they serve besides the steak - tomato salad, omelet (make sure you get there early before the only one they make each day sells out!), shisito peppers.
So rare and so much fat - we thought those yellow blobs were potatoes at first!
Satisfied with our extensive culinary immersion in San Sebastian, we headed home to get some rest. Tomorrow we fly back to Madrid briefly before catching a train to Seville for the next few days.