San Sebastian - Day 2

On the recommendation of the locals Smee spoke to last night, we hit up Bar Goiz Argi for some pintxos lunch.  They said to try to signature grilled prawn pintxos.... your wish is my command!  

One of the smallest pintxos bars we'd come across.  Just a tiny door and no windows.  

This appeared to be a family run joint with Mama Basque manning most of the main counter.  She was such a cutie-Mama, constantly smiling and truly enjoyed her job.  She showered us with an 'Arigato!!!' as we left.  Hilarious.  

Hmmm.. What shall we order? 

We found our spot at the counter.  Mama Basque getting dishes ready.

Smee and I went a little nuts.  The same story goes, everything was tasty and cheap.  Some jamon and prawn pintxos to whet the appetite.  The signature grilled prawns with a salsa of sorts on it.  Yes, it was very tasty indeed!  Smee and I had two servings!  Smee loves his padron peppers so Smee did his best point-and-thumbs-up to the fresh ones and they fried them up for us.

Grilled squid.  So simple, yet so so delicious.  Another plate thanks!  There were some other peppers next to the padron peppers, so we got a plate of those as well.  I decided I wanted a beef ball of sorts.  It was nice but not as good as the other dishes.  

Yup, eating I'm eating away!  Smee loving his squid.  

No meal is complete without a glass of kalimotxo.  This is probably the only way someone can get me to drink Coke.  I've never drunk Coke so often in my life!

After lunch, we took a walk down to Zurriola and La Concha beach.  It's not high Summer but the weather was so nice and I even got an unwanted tan.

La Concha beach.  Reminds me a bit of Bondi.. but not really.  

Smee and I then went on a 'Titty Hunt'.  They take their tanning seriously in this part of the world and there were plenty of bare breasts on display.  

Smee on the beach, Smee on the beach!  One of the worst boob jobs ever.  Terrible!!!!

Before heading back to Bilbao airport, we wanted to return to La Cuchara to sample the other items we didn't get to eat last night but like most other pintxos bars, they were shut for the afternoon.  Boo hoo.  So we return to where it all started, Bar Txalupa.  In hindsight, this was a comparatively mediocre bar.  

Goats cheese and onion pintxo.  More chicken wings for Smee.  A little sausage for me.  We didn't eat these but they had chicken nuggets on a skewer.  C'mon, that's zero effort.  Some more fried calamari.  

One for the road :D

Me getting ready to ride myself back to Bilbao airport.  As if.  

Yep, it was a good idea for us to have our hotel right at the bus 'terminal'.  It's not really a proper terminal but more where the buses park and drop off/collect passengers.  The PESA ticket office is just down the main road (Av de Sancho 'El Sabio') and if you didn't do your research (like several tourists trying to board our bus) you need to buy your ticket from them and not the driver.  Our driver was so nice though.  He saw a 'China Chica' run to the ticketing office and did a few rounds while waiting for her to come back.  Now, that's very thoughtful.  He could have easily just driven off without her.  

Anyway, I'm totally loving the Basque region of Spain - one of my fave areas in Europe so far!  There's a nice village atmosphere and the people seem genuinely happy.  Who wouldn't be with the sun shining down on them and the awesome, cheap food?!  Not like grumpy, old London.  There are so many more bars I'd like to have tried such as A Fuego Negro, Borda Berri and of course, the Michelin star restaurants including the famous Arzak.  I definitely want to return to San Sebastian before it becomes inundated with more tourists.  The fact that there are pretty much no direct flights to San Sebastian (most go via Madrid from London) has sheltered it from the hoards of Brits, me thinks.  Smee please buy us a holiday home here - fanks.  

For anyone planning their own eating adventure, remember that in Spain a lot shops are closed on Monday so take that into account in order to maximise your enjoyment.  Otherwise, bubbai San Sebastian!  Hopefully we'll meet again soon! :D

San Sebastian - Day 1

San Sebastian, aka Donostia.  The alternative name is due to the Basque language (Euskara) spoken in the region.  It explains why when you're in the Basque region, instead of seeing the 'normal' Spanish language signs, you see signs with a lot of x, k, z and t.  I have to admit, I'd never heard of San Sebastian until Spuey was recommended to go there on part of his Great Europe Trip.  He said it was a really cool town and got into the groove of having siestas.  Since then, it's been on my hit-list.

Anyway, San Sebastian is an awesome place y'all.  Relaxed to the max with cheap (and more importantly decent) food galore.  Smee and I were impressed with yesterday's food in Bilbao but in San Sebastian they take it to another level.  This is a city which can proudly claim the title of having the most Michelin-starred restaurants per capita.  Even 'crap' food is done well.

Our journey to San Sebbie today started with a bus ride from the Termibus depot in Bilbao.   This is the most efficient way to travel between the two cities with services running about every 30-60 minutes depending on the time of day.  Don't bother taking the train, it's not actually any faster.  Some guy wrote up a useful PDF with all the details and you can check the Pesa timetable here. 

Buy your tickets at the Pesa booths and don't believe any guides that say you can buy your ticket from driver.  He'll refuse you! 

We stayed at the Amara Plaza which was conveniently located right outside where our Pesa bus made it's final stop :D  The location itself was a bit weird - giant roundabout  and then bam!  Let's stick hotel here.  It was still quite convenient to the Old Town - a 20 minute walk or you could take several different bus routes in.  

We arrived shortly after lunch and needed to hunt down food.  

The Mercado de la Bretxa.  Surprisingly modern and not rustic market-y at all.  It really was a place for the locals to stock up goods and not full of eateries.  More food exploration needed! 

We delved further into the Parte Vieja (Old Town) and saw that it was littered with pintxos bars :D :D :D  On the recommendation from friends, we were told that you didn't have to go to a Michelin star restaurant to eat well - you could eat very well for very reasonable prices at many of the pintxos bars.  

First stop - Bar Txalupa.  We just walked into the first one we saw. 

So happy to eat.  Chicken wings.  Smee loved them!  Escargot, basque-style.  All up, I can't recall, about €12.  

Next was Munto.  Just two doors down I think. 

They were actually shutting up shop for the siesta, so we just quickly scarfed down a jamon spread pintxo and a octopus one.  Small but packed full of flavour.

One of the many alley ways in the Parte Vieja.

St Mary's church.  A famous San Sebastian landmark. 

Very close to the entrance of the St Mary's was Bar Porteletas.  Unlike a lot of the other pintxos bars, it was open and Smee and I were still on food forage.  

Blanched octopus with paprika skewers.  Smee took advantage of the hot pintxos on offer and got some fried calamari.  I hadn't taken advantage of the cheap foie gras while in Bilbao so here was my first chance.  I ordered the "Foie a la Plancha con Compota de manzana y Bálsamo de Módena", although all I understood was 'foie-something-something for less than €3!!!'  

I had expected some tightass sliver of foie gras but much to my surprise, I got two decent chunks!!!  I had no idea what sauce they had topped it with but it was sooo, soooo delicious and complimented the foie gras perfectly.  Googling the details afterwards, I found out that I had eaten 'grilled foie with apple compote and Modena balsamic'.  Yum, yum, yum!  After taking my first bite, I actually shook my head and said to Smee, 'Don't eat it, it's really bad' to which his face turned to shock horror.  Tee hee, little did he know I was actually trying to keep it all to myself!  

Next I thought, I wanna eat some cake.  

A San Marcos cake.  I thought I would like it - chantilly cream, chiffon cake and a custard topping.  It ticks my boxes but it wasn't very nice.  I was kinda stale.  Maybe I just got a bad version of it. 

Walking back to our hotel, we stopped by the New Town area and went to the San Martin 'market'.  It's really just an underground supermarket.  The main high street shops also line the pedestrianised roads in the area.  

This is how the Basque folk buy their frozen veggies and seafood - self-serve scoops!

Can't go anywhere in Spain without bumping into a jamon shop.  

After carting back some essentials (ie. Spanish snacks) back to the hotel, dinner time rolled around again :D  The Spaniards eat quite late which suit Smee and I fine.

The was some big soccer match tonight of Barcelona vs. Man U (I think) and La Cepa was packed out.  We wriggled through and managed to order some food though.

Yay, an English menu.  Our hotel pintxos mussels.  I think they were both mussels, I can't remember. 

A jamon shaped  beer tap.  Serving jamon-flavoured beer maybe?  I'd try that.

The pintxos bar which we really wanted to try was La Cuchara de San Telmo.  I had read so many rave reviews, I wasn't gonna leave this town dammit until I ate here.  

The spoon sign outside.  

Ignore any reviews which tell you the address of this easily-missed bar is Calle 31 de Agosto 28.  It is NOT on that street.  It actually on Plaza Valle Lersundi, which is a tiny courtyard off Calle 31 de Agosto.  Smee and I walked up and down Agosto about three times before finding it.

Smee thought this place was tops.  The crowd inside the tiny bar says it all.  Even this golden retriever wanted to place an order! 

Our very stressed out bar/waiter making our kalimotxos.  Stressed out but still very patient to help us non-Spanish/Basque speaking folk.  I was impressed at how he managed to remember which order belonged where because there was only minimal order/note-taking made.  It's organised enough to work and that's what matters.  

The best thing about La Cuchara and what draws people to the bar is that all their pintxos are made to order.  None of that sitting on the bench stuff.  All tasty too!!  La Cuchara is considered expensive in the pintxos bar stakes - you know, charging €3-€5 instead of €1.50-€3.  *rolls eyes*  

Hmmm... I don't understand you Mr. Blackboard Menu. 

Oh, but I understand you, Mr. English Menu!  Ignore these prices, they don't apply.  The prices from the blackboard apply.  

Smee and I had the veal cheek in Rioja wine, ribs of Iberico pork glazed with modena vinegar and honey and of course, foie gras with apple compote.  Yum, yum, yum!  We also asked for the slow roasted suckling pig but they had run out :(

These dishes, seriously, are fit for a fancy degustation menu and deserve to served at inflated prices, not the €3-5 per plate we were paying.  The most expensive part of dinner were the kalimotxos!  Even still, they were pretty reasonable at about €4-6 each.

In the madness of it all, Smee got chatting to some locals.  The San Sebastian peeps sure are nice folk.  Despite it being very crowded in the bar, there was no sense of push-shove-omg-I-better-get-to-the-front-or-else-they'll-run-out-of-food urgency.  Everyone got their dishes eventually and people in the bar are very polite about it.  Shouting orders at the bar waiter from behind people is normal custom too.  A real jovial atmosphere.  

Today's introduction to San Sebastian totally cements their status as an eating Mecca.  If we had enough money, Smee and I would buy a holiday home here!  

Bilbao

For the Bank Holiday weekend, Smee and I went on an eating fest in Spain.  What we specifically wanted to do was overdose on pinxtos.  Now, don't you dare confuse pintxos with tapas or refer to pintxos as a type of tapas - I find that offensive!  We originally only wanted to go to San Sebastian but it appeared that it is not well serviced from/to London.  Weird!  There were more options for Bilbao which is located just over an hour from San Seb so we decided to hit the two cities in one shot.  

From Bilbao airport, the Bizkaibus A3247 takes you to the city centre in about 30 minutes for less than €2!  There isn't very good signage when you exit the airport but head towards the right and there should be a small sign or at least a small crowd.  After checking in to Hotel Ercilla (don't let the modern exterior fool you, the room are in dire need of renovation) we caught the metro to the Old Town. 

The Kukuxumusu shop.  

Mmmmm... jamon legs.  

Plaza Nueva

The 'problem' with Spain is that it's just tooooo relaxed at times.  They take their siesta seriously.  People shut up shop and the streets become deserted.  If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was a public holiday.  Smee and I were hungry so we searched for 'anything open' and found Berton.  Our first of many pintxos stops to come!  

Pintxos on display.  You are allowed to just pick them up and pop them into your mouth.  If prefer a plate just ask for one.  The custom goes that you walk into a bar, grab a pintxo or few, order a drink if you want and when you're done, tell the waiter how many you had and then pay for it.  The honour system works!  Please don't be a tightass tourist and rip off the owners.  You'll ruin it for everyone!  People don't tend to eat heaps of pintxos in any one bar, most of the time it's just two or three and then you bar hop.  

 Jamon tortilla, scallop (I think, can't remember) on bread, grilled prawns and jamon croquettes.  

There's always the chance that the pintxos on display have been sitting there for hours.  You just have to make a judgement call and take the risk.  Most bars however also offer a hot, cooked to order pintxos selection and the menu is either written on a board or printed on a menu card.  

What the hell!?!?! Foie a la plancha (grilled foie gras) for just €2.70!!!!!  The Basque Country totally kicks ass.   

Making our way to the main market, we saw some feet and hands in a hedge.   

On the banks of the estuary, we saw some interesting machines.  We realised they were for exercising!  That's pretty cool.  

Yup back in time for the market to re-open.   

Little piglets with no eyes on display.  Oh those poor little piglets.  I feel sorry for you..... even though I know you are very tasty and have will have awesome crackling skin after you're roasted.  

Outside the very famous Guggenheim Museum.   

Yes, this building is certainly a masterpiece.  A giant spider.  Hey!  This used to be in the Tate Modern turbine hall!  

Smee and I got confused about the location of the entrance and ended up walking around the entire building.  Disappointingly, it was about 30 minutes to closing time by the time we found it so we didn't go in.

I had a feeling the giant puppy was telling us 'Here is the entrance!!'   

We found a supermarket in our local metro station and stocked up on some basics.  It was very tempting to buy a jamon leg.  

Dinner time rolled around and so what to do?  Pintxos bar hop, of course!

First stop - Bar Jvantxv.  Don't be put off by the scrunched up serviettes on the floor.  It's the locals way of saying 'This place is good.'  It felt weird to litter at first, but then Smee and I got into the groove and starting taking great joy throwing our used serviettes on the floor.  

Jamon and some spread on bread.  Baby eels (angulas) on top of some salmon and bread.  Although it's not real eels anymore, it's surimi-based.  

Next up, Bar Bvsterri.   

Smee had seen some young locals in Bar Jvantxv ordering a red wine/coke mix over ice and asked them what it was.  Luckily for him, they actually understood English and told him it was kalimotxo and so we ordered a glass each.  It sounds like a weird mix but it works!  It totally WORKS!  I don't usually drink coke at all but I couldn't help myself but order myself one again at Bar Bvsterri.  

Octopus with paprika.  An egg and jamon bocadillo.   

Our final stop - Bar Sotero.  More bread-topped pintxos.  Even the cheap house wine was great.  It's bit more white bread than I would usually eat but we have plenty of time to correct for that with some a la carte items from the pintxos city of San Sebastian.  :D