Dining and Drinking

San Sebastián: Dining and Drinking

One of the attractions of visiting Donostia-San Sebastian is its gastronomy. The Basque Country has a well-deserved reputation for fine wining and dining. In gastronomic terms, Donostia takes the biscuit: the best restaurants in the country can be found here. In fact, a whopping four restaurants in or near San Sebastian were included on Restaurant Magazine's list of the "Top 100 Restaurants in the World." From the most expensive and luxurious type of restaurant, characterized by modern Basque cuisine (Arzak, Akelarre, Zuberoa, and Martín Berasategui) to pintxo bars (pintxo is Basque for tapa) such as Bergara,Aloña Berri and Banbara, to sandwich bars like La Cepa and Narrika, they all pay careful attention to quality and presentation. Here are some words of advice to visitors:

1. Meal times in restaurants are fairly rigid (from around 1p to 3p for lunch, and 9p and 11p for dinner).

2. Choose fish over meat. It is easier to find good meat in other places.

3. Eating is a sacred activity, almost a religion in the Basque Country. Chefs are seen almost like gods.

4. You ought to try txikiteo — this is like a Basque pub crawl, going from bar to bar having txikitos (tiny glasses of wine) and pintxos at each stop. (It should be noted that people do not get amazingly drunk during these visits the way they do in the British equivalent).

The most typical restaurants (Morgan, Clery, Bodegón Alejandro) are in the old quarter of the city (Parte Vieja), but the most refined restaurants (Arzak, Akelarre) are not in this area. Aside from Basque cooking, there is a local custom that you must not miss sidrerías (cider bars). For the first three months of the year the cider bars open for dinner and for tasting the cider produced at the end of the previous year. Any day of the week is fine for going to a cider bar (Kako, Sidrería Illumbre). You can drink all the cider you want straight from a kupela (keg), and to accompany it you will eat only tortilla de bacalao (cod omelette), txuleta (pork chops) and queso con nueces (cheese with walnuts). For the rest of the year you have to drink bottled cider. It is important to note that the opening hours of the cider bars do not conform to any set timetable. Each place keeps its own hours. They generally open before dinner around 8p, and closing time depends on how many people are around. For this reason it is a good idea to call ahead before heading off to any of the multitude of cider bars in and around San Sebastián.

Wine is the most popular drink in the Basque Country. Most wine comes from the Rioja, Alavesa and Navarra regions. Recommended are the reds of the Rioja region and the rosés of Navarra. As far as more indigenous drinks go, you have to try cider, and the txakolí from Getaria. This is made from local white grapes, and is slightly carbonated. The flavor is a cross between white wine and champagne. You tend to drink txakolí more in summer, accompanied by fish and seafood dishes.

One of the preferred activities of donostiarras (citizens of Donostia) is txikiteo, mentioned above. Groups of friends meet after work and go from bar to bar drinking small amounts of wine or other drinks. You drink your wine (or a zurito, which is a tiny glass of beer) and move on to the next place; in this way, you cover many bars in a short time. Pub-crawling in a Spanish way is a unique kind of activity. The aim is not to get drunk, but to socialize. The tradition is enhanced by sampling pintxos with your drink, which, although a little more expensive, makes it more enjoyable. A delicious accompaniment to a longer session of txikiteo are the local filled rolls (try them at Gaztelu and Senra). Although you can go pub crawling in any area of the city, the best place is the Parte Vieja (old quarter).

The txikiteo usually goes on until about midnight. To top it off, have a leisurely coffee in a café (Kai, Unión Artesana) to help settle your stomach.

Fiestas (public holidays, feast days) are another typical aspect of the donostiarra lifestyle. You will notice there are many fiestas throughout the year, that everyone takes part in them and that gastronomy is integral to them (San Sebastián, Santo Tomás). The old quarter is the main place to go for any fiesta.

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