My visit to the Festival Gastronomika 2015, which I told you about in a previous article, was also an opportunity for me to discover the charming Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian. I had passed through the region many times, notably during my short trip to nearby Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and also way back during a quick trip to Spain when I made a lovely stop in Bilbao.
The Basque city of San Sebastian (Saint Sébastien in French and Donostia in Basque) is located in the Gipuzkoa region, just across the border from France, and its old town is almost right by the water. For your information, the city was the European Capital of Culture in 2016, a title it shared with the Polish city of Wroclaw. San Sebastian is the perfect base for discovering and enjoying both the Spanish way of life and the quality of Basque-Spanish gastronomy. For information, Basque tapas are called Pinchos or Pintxos. Below is a small selection of good addresses that I had the chance to test during my short stay in the city.
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Table of Contents
La Cuchara de San Telmo
This very nice pintxos bar is the first one I tested in San Sebastian. The place is quite small, and generally you eat standing up, but the food is very good and at very reasonable prices, which explains the establishment’s success.
Must try:
- Grilled scallops with bacon and cauliflower puree.
- Pumpkin risotto and sautéed cuttlefish with basil oil.
La Cuchara de San Telmo Calle del Treinta y Uno de Agosto, 28, 20003 Donostia closed on Mondays
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Restaurant La Vina
People go to this address to taste one of the best cheesecakes in San Sebastian (at least that is the reputation of this establishment). Indeed, this cheese and cream cake is a classic of the city’s cuisine and it appears in the ABC newspaper’s ranking of the best cheesecakes in Spain.
Restaurant La Vina Calle del Treinta y Uno de Agosto, 3, 20003 Donostia price: a nice slice of the Tarta de Queso, €5
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Restaurant Ganbara
This restaurant offers very good Basque tapas in a very typical setting. Once again, there is a good chance that you will eat standing up, but that is the local custom in the good Pintxos bars of San Sebastian, so you will have to get used to it!
Must try: its grilled fish and its dishes based on seasonal mushrooms and porcini (13.50 €). Another specialty, the spider crab tartlets, which are a must-try (tartaleta de txangurro / 2.60 € each).
Ganbara San Jeronimo Kalea, 19, 20003 Donostia
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Restaurant bar Egosari
This restaurant offers tapas at affordable prices and you can also stop by just to have a glass of wine, for example.
Restaurant bar Egosari Fermin Calbeton Kalea, 15, 20003 Donostia
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Nagusia Lau Bar
At this address, I once again tested a new alternative recipe for cheesecake with strawberry coulis, but it is true that the one at the La Vina restaurant (earlier in the article) remains better and more authentic.
Nagusia Lau Bar Mayor Kalea, 4, 20003 Donostia
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5-star Hotel Maria Cristina in San Sebastian
Certainly the classiest hotel in the city, and it is where I had the chance to stay during my visit for the Gastronomika festival. This elegant establishment is ideally located along the river, and inside, you find an atmosphere imbued with the 19th century, through numerous paintings dating from the Belle Epoque, magnificent chandeliers, and silk brocades that decorate the hotel.
The little extra: the bedding in the rooms, the width of which was just impressive! I had two single beds, and I think two people could have slept in each of them…
The breakfast is also an enchantment, with a buffet among the most abundant that I have had the opportunity to see and taste. There is even a stand where you can order an omelet à la carte, choosing the ingredients that will make it up…
Hotel Maria Cristina Paseo Republica Argentina, 4, San Sebastian, 20004, Spain price: between €200 and €305 per night
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I hope that with all this, I have made you want to discover San Sebastian, and if you also have your own good addresses and tips for this destination, do not hesitate to share them in the comments!
Photo credits: Mademoiselle Bon Plan Photos are not royalty-free, photographer's authorization required before any use
