Parts Unknown San Sebastian
 

Bourdain's show just aired an episode on San Sebastian.

Lot of supplementary material on the web site, including some lists of pintxos bars and asadors:

https://explorepartsunknown.com/dest...san-sebastian/

Of course the places he featured on the shows are "fine dining" places which will run hundreds of Euros per meal.

But Bourdain claims "even the bad restaurants are good." But these bad restaurants can still be pricey?

I'm going to research his lists of places.

Like just about every destination he features in this series, the locals always treasure the freshest ingredients and consider their cuisine an essential part of their cultural identity.

What are they going to say, "food is food?"

San Sebastian/Donostia is the best eating town in Spain. It was not an exaggeration. I was surprised Bourdain did not go a sideria in the nearby mountains.

There are plenty of inexpensive and excellent pinxtos places in Donostia.

He was taken to all of the normal pintxos bars in the Parte Vieja, including Bar Ganbara, La Viña, and Casa Urola, nothing unusual. He had lunch at Elkano in Getaria, a difficult reservation to get on short notice, but then his 'guide' knows all of the chefs in the Basque country, so no problem there. And yes, Asador Etxearri is expensive, but worth it once a year or so.

One place he did manage to have lunch at was on of the traditional gastronomic societies, where your average tourist is unable to get into except on San Sebastián Day.

The show was well done, reflecting the Basque country perfectly.

As far as 'bad' restaurants go, they are a rare exception in the Pais Vasco or Pays Basque, but hose that are bad don't last very long.

The footage was shot during the late summer, early fall, not the time to be heading to a traditional Sider House. Sider season is from January to May.

Here's a fun and informative intro to pintxos crawling and the food culture in San Sebastián along with some of the best chefs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwmBAvqa_0U&t=57s

And when it comes to quality and price, go to my favourite restaurant in town since I first was here in 1987, Casa Urola right in the Parte vieja/Old town. It was voted best rstaurant in the region by the local newspaper El Diario Vasco a couple of years ago, ahead of all the Michelin star restaurants. It's less than one forth of the price in the three star restaurants. You can have a fabulous meal in Urola for some 50-70€. And it has got two soles (suns) in the Guía Repsol, the Spanish equvivalent to the Michelin guide: https://www.guiarepsol.com/es/gastro...97-casa-urola/

Casa Urola is known for sit-down meals but they offer pintxos as well right?

Do you sit down at a place like that or do they have a bar area for people who just want a couple of pinxtos?

Also if the thing to do is try one or two at each place and move on to other places, take a lot of cash with you as you're spending under €10 at each place? They probably wouldn't be too happy if you want to use credit cards on such small transactions?

The bar at Casa Urola is small, no stools, and you will often find it filled, 3 or 4 deep, the rest are standing outside in the street (pedestrianized) in the crowd, very typical of Donostia and the Basque Country in general. There are a few stools against the far wall and in the back, and a few small tables, where you'll often find another chef or two having pintxos or sharing a few small plates, or even Pablo himself, if you get there before the crowd arrives and he has to get back to work.

A little cash helps, but debit or credit cards also work, especially in Urola where you'll probably want to sample a few more on Pablo's excellent creations.

Casa Urola's sitdown restaurant is on the 1st floor (up the stairs).

You don't have to go to the high priced restaurants to eat very well. In the first part of the show, there were more of the casual pintoxs bars - it almost made me cry, I wanted to return so much. If high end restaurants are your thing, then you can do that but when I go back, I'll just do the casual dining again.

I remember going into a bar for breakfast one morning and there was a sensational variety of tapas. Although it wasn't our intention we ate like pigs. And they were playing Muddy Waters and the proprietor was shocked that I knew who it was.

Can you order just pintxos at the sit-down restaurant?

Also, sounds like most of the pintxos people consume are the pre-made ones on the bar, not any that you'd order?

Often at the bars there are some pre-made ones and then some you can order off a blackboard menu. There may or may not be places to sit - but if there are places to sit, it would not be for "dining" - just a casual space. We had some knowledge of spanish (not basque) and tried to order off the blackboards. But most patrons will be helpful - probably better to try to get some help from them than the bartender.

<Can you order just pintxos at the sit-down restaurant?>

No, and in the case of Urola, the pintxos bar is on the ground floor and the restaurant upstairs. Many pintxos bars have a restaurant part in the back, and in the more informal ones you could for sure ask for a particular pintxo to supplement your meal at the end, if there's anything left. But in general, pintxos and sit down meals are strictly separated. The thing is a couple of pintxos, and then for a sit down meal, or do the pintxos crawl all through.

<take a lot of cash with you as you're spending under €10 at each place?>

Have never in thirty years paid for pintxos with a credit card ;-)

It´s quite surprising for my guests to know that pintxos are served all over the Basque Country and Navarre, not only in San Sebastian. Bilbao, for instance, offers excellent pintxos that can easily be compared to many in San Sebastian. The good thing about Bilbao is that it´s less touristy and we still keep the correct "pintxos etiquette" (that is, never several on a plate, never sitting down and never more than one or two per bar). And most small towns have pintxos bars that are absolutely excellent too (and at a much cheaper price than in San Sebastian, which, IMO, has turned very expensive thanks to tourism)

Mikelg has a good point. You can for example enjoy some of the best pintxos along the coast in close by Hondarribia (20 mins drive from San Sebastián) or sit down for some of the best value lunch in the area in one of the seafront restaurants in tiny and even closer to San Sebastián and very picturesque Donibane/Pasajes San Juan.

The pintxos in Hondarribia starts after 4 mins, and you'll get an idea of Donibane/Pasajes San Juan from 12:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP2tNtDZ6Vs

I almost never order the pinxtos that are pre-made and sitting out on the bar; I find the ones made to order often moroe interesting.

We did sit at a small table at Casa Urola downstairs. But you'd have to get there early or be very patient, to get one of the tables. That goes for most of the bars, not just that one.


We had a very good meal at Xarma which is off the beaten path in San Sebastian. It has a Michelin star, I believe. You can get there by bus or taxi.

http://xarmajatetxea.com/

bookmarking

Don't the Spanish start eating like 9 or 10 PM?

dinner - yes - maybe pinxtos earlier

What time do people usually start eating pinxtos?

Dinner starts at 9 closer to 10, and in most places tapas are eaten usually 7-9 PM, but a variety are available all day in Donostia.

Usually the big meal is lunch.

Been looking at some menus.

What is "Ud" abbreviation, something charged by the piece?

OK, apparently the abbreviation is for "unités."

What exactly is the custom, you help yourself to whatever is on the bar but show it to a waiter so they know to track what you take?

The same waiter from whom you'd order drinks or order pintxos which aren't pre-made?

At one time people dined later in the evening because of the weather, but with the advent of A/C, most restaurants are now open for dinner at 8:00 pm, a few even by 7:30 pm. In Donostia, most restaurants are closed by midnight, some, like Casa Urola, a little earlier.

Pintxos time in the evening typically begins around 7:00, but some places will start serving a little earlier, especially those catering to the tourist trade, promoted in great part by the tour companies (expat and otherwise) that seem to be blooming like wildflowers in Donostia.

Ud is the abbreviation of Usted. In the case of a menu, it would stand for "each or per unit", as in "Brillante (Carabinero) gigante a la parrilla - 15,00 €/Ud", instead of by the kilo.

At one time people dined later in the evening because of the weather, but with the advent of A/C, most restaurants are now open for dinner at 8:00 pm, a few even by 7:30 pm.>

Yes years ago in Madrid in a family-run hotel the family started cooking around 10pm for an hour or so before they ate.

In my somewhat limited experience you simply go up to the bar and ask for what you'd like (no, you don't just help yourself, at least I didn't) and they hand it to you or bring it to your table if you have one. You pay, you eat. It's pretty simple. And yes, Ud is short for Usted, not unités. Just watch what other people are doing. Stuff that's not just sitting out at the bar is listed on a menu above the bar normally.

UD is short for usted but I do not think it means that on a menu.

On a menu I thought it referred to unidad, as in one item, or one piece of croquetas, etc.

This is kind of fun, the tourism office has put out a map showing the restaurants and the bars as well as 3 different pintxo bar routes.

For each bar, they have a picture and description of the "star pintxo" (pintxo estrella) for that bar.

Unfortunately it's only in Spanish. Don't know how current the information is though:

https://www.sansebastianturismo.com/...stronomica.pdf

Also found in one of the links kimhe posted a rating and pictures of pintxos at different bars:

http://www.todopintxos.com/pintxos/p...p?pageActual=1

The Tourist Office info is a little dated.

"Ud" is not short for "usted" on a Spanish language menu. It has nothing to do with "usted" in this context, anymore than "oz" on a menu refers to the wizard. "Ud" in this context is short for "unidad' (which means unit), as ekscrunchy correctly posted.

I wouldn´t worry too much. Some simple rules, if you want to have pintxos the way locals do:

- We never sit down for pintxos. Always at the counter, with a glass of wine, zurito (small beer), beer, cider,...
- You may order them from the kitchen (written on a wall), made on order, and more expensive, usually eaten with fork and knife. Or you may just take them from the counter. Some you may just pick by yourself, some may some reheating.
- Local custom is one, maybe maximum two, per bar.
- Never a meal, just an appetizer before lunch or dinner.
- Pintxos vary from bar to bar.
- Credit card is not customary for pintxos, although they may accept it in some bars.
- Just peek at the bar counter and see if there´s something that appeals to your senses...then enter and enjoy!
- You can have pintxos all over the Basque Country, practically in any town.

And "pintxos menus" are an oddity, except for those that are made on order.

Enjoy, there are hundreds of bars where you´ll love their pintxos (and many off the beaten path...)

What exactly is the custom, you help yourself to whatever is on the bar but show it to a waiter so they know to track what you take?

Very simple: You help yourself to whatever is on the bar and order drinks from anyone behind the counter. All is based on trust, you tell them how much you and your group have had, and they allways also keep track of it ;-)

But you must ask for the warm house specialities.

"And "pintxos menus" are an oddity, except for those that are made on order."

I saw some references to Pintxos Box. They even used to have a website.

I guess it was some promotion they did in the past but it never took off or it's no longer a thing.

Temperatures are hitting the mid '90s. Though I won't be there until mid July, I hope there's a lot of salmorejo to be found.

Mmm, salmorejo is not typical from the Basque Country and it´d be very rare to be found. And it´s not a pintxo, either. I don´t really think you´ll find it anywhere, except maybe in some menus as a (very)special thing.

Pintxos are part of the idiosincrasy of each bar...the best way is just to wander around and discover them by yourselves, there are hundreds of different pintxos and bars.

I saw one bar had it according to this page:

http://www.todopintxos.com/pintxos/p...p?pageActual=1


Yes I know it's Andalusian but it would be perfect for hot weather.

Well, I don´t think you´ll find it as a pintxo in many places...maybe in one if any, sorry about that!, but it´s not typical from here and we are not used to it.

Those pintxos are those made on order, it´s a good web!

It's hot over here in CA too.

May have to find a recipe on my own.

Found another place with salmorejo, though pretty far from the Old Town:

http://narru.es/en/menu/#bar