JUESnyc

Hi,
I am posting this on my account for one of my friends:
She and her husband late 60's are going to Barcelona, Madrid, and San Sebastian in August.
Can anyone suggest great restaurants for them? They are used to New York City restaurants and want top-notch restaurants in those places.

Many thanks!

Robert2533

Tell them to check the Michelin guide and the Redpsol Giuide. There are dozens to choose from. Those that are open in August require reservations
.

Egbert

Tell them to put San Sebastian last. In August anything else will be a letdown. Also read maribelsguides for some great suggestions.

plambers

check out the maribel guides. we ate so so well in madrid. lua was spectacular!

kimhe

A couple of personal favourites:

Tickets in Barcelona, reservations must be done 60 days in advance at midnight Barcelona time, ten minutes after midnight all tables are gone: http://www.barcelonabook.com/tickets...estaurant.html

In San Sebastian both Arzak and Akelarre are top notch places, but other 2-3 star Michelin restaurants such as Martin Berasategui and Mugaritz are of course also up there. Plus a couple of one star restaurants. And plenty of fabulous "normal" restaurants. Urola is my favourite since I first came here in the late 80's. http://www.casaurolajatetxea.es/es/portada/

On the last S. Pellegrino World's best restaurant list, there are four Basque restaurants on top 20 (two French, two UK and two US in top 20). Two in San Sebastian in top 20 (Mugaritz #6 and Arzak #17). Yet Akelarre is perhaps the best in town: http://www.azureazure.com/gastronomy...-san-sebastian

And ten Spanish restaurants among top 70.

See Maribel's guide for the best restaurants in Madrid.

JUESnyc

A huge thanks to everyone for your wonderful suggestions!!

hawksbill

I visited San Sebastián/Donostia for the first time in late 2014. What a great town! Beautiful, but large enough that one wouldn't run out of things to see for quite a while. It has to be one of the greatest gastronomic destinations in the world, and I think one could probably eat extremely well just drifting between various pintxos bars. However, I went there with the mission of hitting the four major restaurants, and I didn't have room in my stomach for a single pintxo more! Here's how I'd rank them:

1. Akelarre (try to go when it's still light out, so that you can enjoy the beautiful views, and let the phenomenal sommelier staff pair wines for you).

2. Martín Beresategui. The most formal ambience of the four (verging on feeling stuffy, by Basque standards, but the staff was still very friendly). Probably the least talked about in gastronomic circles. But I think their cuisine is in superb shape now.

3. Arzak. I have a feeling it's past its prime, but still an excellent meal.

4. Mugaritz. Avoid. Something's not right with Mugaritz. I suppose it was once a top-quality restaurant, and perhaps it will be again someday. But my meal didn't even merit the label "mediocre."

For what it's worth, I think I liked Azurmendi even more than Akelarre, if such a thing is possible. My meal there was just breathtaking. Azurmendi is close to Bilbao, and I think most diners probably stay in Bilbao and take a taxi there. I wish I had done that.

I also went to Asador Etxebarri. That was another incredibly good meal, but in a very different way. Their food is prepared very simply, all grilled over an open flame. It took some serious mountain driving for me to get there, and I suspect that the OP's friend would have trouble working it into her itinerary.

ribeirasacra

read the recommendations on Chowhound too.
http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/50