Playa de la Concha, San Sebastián
Ready for more highlights of our recent trip to Spain? We've got photos, travel tips, recommendations and more. In the Part 1 post we covered Barcelona (you can find it here).
Next we'll explore the Basque Country, north and west of Barcelona, on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. We spent four days each in San Sebastián, a charming seaside city known as a foodie paradise, and Bilbao, home to the famed Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum. (Bilbao and the Rioja wine region will be covered in Part 3 of the travelogue.)
Next we'll explore the Basque Country, north and west of Barcelona, on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. We spent four days each in San Sebastián, a charming seaside city known as a foodie paradise, and Bilbao, home to the famed Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum. (Bilbao and the Rioja wine region will be covered in Part 3 of the travelogue.)
As dedicated foodies ourselves, we’ve chosen to borrow the ‘small bites’ concept that is so popular in Spain (tapas, pintxos, and other bar snacks) as the format for our post.
Tapas: Small Spanish savory dishes, typically served with drinks at a bar. Origin: Tapa literally means ‘cover, lid’ (because the dishes were given free with the drink, served on a dish balanced on, therefore ‘covering’, the glass). (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Pintxos: Pronounced peen-chos, pintxos are Basque snacks served in bars, resembling tapas. the main difference between pintxos and tapas is that pintxos uses toothpicks to avoid the food top from falling off the bread slice bottom. (Source: YourDictionary.com)
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Before we begin our exploration of San Sebastián, how about some tunes? Claro que sí, señores y señoras. Please enjoy Miles Davis’s masterpiece Sketches of Spain as you read on. |
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Why San Sebastián? This lovely seaside resort town is largely unknown to many Americans but quite popular among European holiday-seekers. Here’s why:
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
- Best beaches – Playa de la Concha is consistently named among the best urban beaches in all of Europe. Soft clean sand, turquoise waters, stunning views, and a pedestrian-friendly boardwalk with separate bike lanes all along the way. The other beaches in town – Zurriola (the surfers beach) and Ondaretta – are pretty great too.
- Disneyland for foodies – With a restaurant scene in possession of more Michelin stars than most cities five times its size, San Sebastián has been on the radar of food-lovers for years. And it’s not all high-end, dress for dinner, fancy food, no. The down-to-earth pintxos bars are where the real action is. Think bar-hopping but with fantastic finger food as the goal, not a wicked good buzz. More on this later.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
At the far end of Ondaretta Beach you’ll find a trio of rusty iron sculptures titled Comb of the Wind (Peine de Viento) by famous Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida embedded into the sea wall. They’re even more raw and beautiful in person. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
In the same part of town is a rickety old funicular which carries passengers, creaking and squealing (the mechanism, not the riders) all the way to the top of Monte Igueldo. Breathtaking views await you there and an old-school amusement park – closed when we arrived but photo-ready nonetheless.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
There are beautiful artworks, architecture, gardens, parks, and public spaces all around town. Please enjoy a few street scenes from this casually sophisticated small city. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
Now let’s talk about the pintxos. These bar snacks are several notches above the bowl of nuts or pretzels typically offered at a U.S. tavern. Most San Sebastián spots will have a variety of cold pintxos available for self-service on the counter - anchovy-stuffed olives, sardines and peppers on bread, tuna and tomatoes on bread, and the like. The “on bread” part is typical but not absolute. The skewers securing the meat/fish to the bread are also important; when it’s time to settle the bill the barman counts your skewers and charges you accordingly.
But hot pintxos are where the real culinary magic happens. Prepared to order, each bar has its specialty and it’s in your interest to find out in advance. For example, Gandaria's prepares an exquisitely simple (and simply delicious!) hunk of grilled sirloin on bread with a dab of roasted peppers on top. OMG so good. Another place called Senra features a skewer with grilled foie gras and a giant mushroom doused in cream sauce. Wow! Charred octopus (or pulpo) is another snack worth seeking out. The idea is to never stop moving during a pintxos crawl -- have a bite and a sip with your friends at Bar A, then mosey on to Bar B to sample another pintxo and a zurito (small beer). Don't sit down - not only because there are no chairs but also because it's time to go-go-go to the next place.
So what does one drink at a pintxo bar? Wine, beer or cider. Txakoli is a tart, young, white wine with a strong mineral taste and slight effervescence. It’s not for everyone, but I found it to be the perfect accompaniment for fresh seafood.
We booked a pintxos tour for our first night in San Sebastián and highly recommend it as a great beginning to your visit. A friendly Basque native named Esther from San Sebastián Pintxos Tours showed us around the Parte Vieja (Old Town), helped us navigate the pintxo scene, and provided recommendations for follow-up visits. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
But hot pintxos are where the real culinary magic happens. Prepared to order, each bar has its specialty and it’s in your interest to find out in advance. For example, Gandaria's prepares an exquisitely simple (and simply delicious!) hunk of grilled sirloin on bread with a dab of roasted peppers on top. OMG so good. Another place called Senra features a skewer with grilled foie gras and a giant mushroom doused in cream sauce. Wow! Charred octopus (or pulpo) is another snack worth seeking out. The idea is to never stop moving during a pintxos crawl -- have a bite and a sip with your friends at Bar A, then mosey on to Bar B to sample another pintxo and a zurito (small beer). Don't sit down - not only because there are no chairs but also because it's time to go-go-go to the next place.
So what does one drink at a pintxo bar? Wine, beer or cider. Txakoli is a tart, young, white wine with a strong mineral taste and slight effervescence. It’s not for everyone, but I found it to be the perfect accompaniment for fresh seafood.
We booked a pintxos tour for our first night in San Sebastián and highly recommend it as a great beginning to your visit. A friendly Basque native named Esther from San Sebastián Pintxos Tours showed us around the Parte Vieja (Old Town), helped us navigate the pintxo scene, and provided recommendations for follow-up visits. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
On the more formal end of the dining spectrum, we had a marvelous meal at Kokotxa, a one Michelin star restaurant located in the Old Town. Not only was the food delicious and creatively presented, the customer experience was also warm and lively - guests weren’t afraid to laugh out loud in this comfortable room - a nice contrast to some fine dining establishments where I’d be afraid to make a cutlery mistake in front of the waiter. Menu nerds like us might want to check out what we had; details at the end of this post. For the most part, we did not take photos of our meal, we prefer to stay in the moment and not distract our fellow diners. But we couldn't resist taking a snap of the pretty dessert - Chocolate Ganache with Red Berries - shown here alongside a few other food photos from SS.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
Who's ready for a cocktail? We began the discussion of Spain’s passion for Gin-Tonics in our Barcelona post but I have to say – if G&Ts are popular in BCN, they’re like religion here in SS. Preparation of the drinks is taken quite seriously, following a precise and almost ritualistic methodology. The bartender chooses from a wide variety of aromatics to flavor the drink based on the gin you select from dozens of options. Our favorite GT joint - La Gintonería - fully embraces the performance art elements including dry ice and a spritz of essential oils on the outside of the glass to engage your senses beyond just taste.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
We'll stop here because we think you've got the picture -- San Sebastián is a magical mix of relaxing respite and hotspot for food and beverage creativity. Highly recommended vacation destination! There's plenty to do here for a week or more, especially if day trips to nearby areas are included. Bilbao is about an hour away, and will be the focus of our next post - Travelogue Part 3 - coming soon.
As a final farewell, please enjoy a San Sebastián sunset. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
As a final farewell, please enjoy a San Sebastián sunset. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
* As promised, here's the menu for our fantastic dinner at Michelin-star restaurant Kokotxa:
- Amuse bouche: Blini with baby prawns
- Bread sticks with mustard/mayo dipping sauce
- Starter for Ann: Tomato soup shooter
- Starter for Ilise: Red pepper ice cream with goat cheese crumbles
- First course for Ann: White asparagus
- First course for Ilise: Mackerel tartare
- Second course for Ann: Fish hook hake, rigatoni, crab, saffron and sea broth
- Second course for Ilise: Fish of the day – Grouper
- Dessert - Red fruits and chocolate ganache, custard apple and smoked whiskey gelato
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