Travel-The Best Pinxtos in San Sebastian

The Best Pinxtos in San Sebastián

A friend of mine mentioned that the Tuscany Villa rental company Tuscany Now were running a blogger competition with a prize of a week’s stay at the wonderful Villa Cignano (http://www.tuscanynow.com/hidden-gems-blogger-competition). The theme of the competition was to write about a travel or food-related ‘hidden gem’ and I decided that nothing could be better than the little known town of San Sebastián in Spain where the food is elegantly displayed on bartops glistening like an epicurean hidden gem.

San Sebastián is an elegant Victorian era seaside town on the northern Atlantic coast. It’s where the Spanish royals would come to cool off in the hot summer months and it has retained a regal sense of elegance and style.

San Sebastián Beach

The town has two natural harbours encircled by mountains, wonderful beaches and a gastronomic reputation second to none on the Iberian peninsula.

San Sebastián is situated in the autonomous Basque region which determinedly asserts its cultural independence and identity. Basque Country spreads over into France and the people have their own language and customs that are as different from those of the Andalucians or the Catalans as the Geordies are from the Welsh or the Cornish.

San Sebastián has 3 star Michelin restaurants such as Arzak that are reframing Basque cuisine in a post El Bulli gastronomic world, but La Hedonista and I have come not for avant-garde fireworks, but to experience the txikiteo-the Basque equivalent of a pub crawl-around the bars of San Sebastián old town (Parte Vieja).

Pouring Txakoli at Txepetxa

The drink of choice will be Txakoli, the light white sparkling wine that is local to the area and we will be looking to find the best pinxtos in San Sebastian-the Basque equivalent of tapas. We are planning to remain in the maze of streets, squares and alleys that make up the old town where we are staying. As we are staying out of season there seem to be as many bars as people and most of them have pinxtos out on display.

Pinxto heaven at Zeruko

The way it works is quite simple. You pick up a plate and take what you want. When you are ready to move on to another bar you tell the barman and pay for what you have eaten. If you want something hot there may be a separate cooked menu. If you want a bigger portion than the bite size pinxtos, order a larger plate of food (raciones).

Sea Urchin Roe pinxto at Bar Txepetxa

We started the evening off at Txepetxa. A small joint with a big reputation for its boquerones (anchovy) based pinxtos. These are not the darker heavily salted anchovies but fresh silver fillets marinated in vinegar and at Txepetxa they are served on a piece of bread with an almost endless choice of extra toppings ranging from the expected (olive or piquillo peppers) to the surprising (coconut or blueberries) to the sophisticated (Foie Gras or the house speciality of Sea Urchin Roe). Prices are reasonable with the anchovy pinxtos costing €2.20, a slug of Txakoli €1.70 and the local cider (Sidra) €1.10. We feast on these sweet slippery slivers of heaven until we feel we have peaked-my favourite was the Sea Urchin but for some people it is too intense…let’s just call them wimps.

More from Zeruko

Our next port of call is Bar Zeruko, a hip prizewinning bar serving cutting-edge pinxtos. Prices ranged from €2-3.50 for the pinxtos at the bar and from €4-7 for those ordered from the kitchen.Here are some of my favourites from those we sampled.

Smoked Salmon, artichoke and olive-a great appetiser

Cream of Sea Urchin-intense and rich-are you?

A deconstructed Fideua. Crunchy noodles and really fresh prawn

A deconstructed Fideua. Toasted noodles and really fresh prawn

Bacalao and egg

Cheese and a ‘courgette’ Membrillo

The next morning after the culinary high-jinks of Bar Zeruko we felt the need to stretch our legs and walked down to the market to check out the produce and grab some breakfast.

San Sebastian Market-keep your heads down chaps!

In the market we came across Bar Azkena where the locals were starting the day with a slice of Bacalao Tortilla (€1.70) and glass of beer. It would have been foolish not to follow suit. The tortilla was moist inside and the salt cod, potato, egg and onion combo was a perfect breakfast.

Bar Azkena

Having worked off breakfast walking around both of San Sebastian’s bays and then shopping, we were ready for a sit down lunch and so headed back to the old town for our last meal of our trip.

Restaurante Gandarias

We wanted classic Basque cooking and Restaurante Gandarias was suitably old school both in its interior and menu. There is a bar area, a formal restaurant and then the section where we sat that bridges both worlds. The wine list at Restaurante Gandarias contains some of the very best Spanish wines but we were sticking to our mission… and the Txakoli. From off the bar we nabbed

Crunchy Baby Eels (€2.35) and Raw Salmon (€1.60)

and from the kitchen we ordered

Croquetas (€1.60 each)

A Pork Brochette (€2.55)

and

A Plate of Baby Squid (€18.60)

The squid was tender and full of flavour, the croquetas (ham, saltcod and mushroom) were rich and oozing, and the pork tender and succulent. The burly Basques on the table near us seemed to be enjoying their steaks as well.

San Sebastian is a great city to visit if you love food. There are plenty of top end opportunities but maybe it’s just more fun to be like a local and go on a txikiteo-you’ll be sure to find some hidden gems of your own!

Txepetxa-C/ Pescadería, 5 20003 San Sebastián +34 943 42 22 27

Bar Zeruko-Pescaderia, 10 (Parte Vieja), San Sebastian http://www.barzeruko.com/

Bar Azkena-Plaza Brexta 2 | Lower Level, Mercado La Brexta, 20003 San Sebastian

Restaurante Gandarias-31 Agosto, 23 20003 San Sebastián +34 943 426362

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