San Sebastián

We ate more and better in San Sebastián.

We met up with Iñigo and 'little' Iñigo on our first night and were taken around town. Ganbara has a serious selection of mushrooms and we tried their Hongos a la Plancha served with an Egg Yolk.

This was breakfast from Paries. A Jesuite and Bollo con Crema.

We had a bit of a pintxos crawl starting at the award winning pintxos bar Zeruko

Canelón de Pedro Ximenez con Pate de Hongo sobre Tosta de Pipas de Calabaza y Girasol y Crujiente de Idiazabal de Oro (phew!) or Pedro Ximenez Cannelloni filled with Wild Mushroom Pate on Sunflower and Pumpkin Seed Toast with a Golden Crisp of Idiazabal

Timbal de Morcilla con Foie Gras con Costra de Pistacho y Glaseado or Black Pudding covered in Pistachio with Foie Gras and a Red Berry Glaze

Minitarrina de Bacalao al Sarmiento con Ensalada Efervescente de Caserio. Translating this literally won't make much sense, its a piece of Salt Cod which is given smokey flavour from a piece of charcoal, you then have two different textures of salad, one in liquid form and the other a Spherical Salad Caviar with Emulsified Salad Cream. 

Mousse Erizo de Mar, simply Sea Urchin Mousse

Yema de Huevo, Caldo de Jamon y Migas or Egg Yolk encased in a Ham flavoured gel, with Ham Breadcrumbs

As its served

Something more traditional at Atari Gastroteka. We had Carrillada de Ternera or slow cooked Calf Cheek

Pimientos de Guernica

For dinner we decided to go to unfortunately the blandest restaurant we've been to on our trip, Muralla.

As an Amuse-Bouche we had a Watermelon Gazpacho that didn't taste of anything.

Timbal de Langostinos y Aguacate con Vinagreta de Hierbas Frescas or Prawn and Avocado Salad with Herb Vinaigrette. Looked better than it tasted. 

Ravioli de Setas y Hongos con Crema de Foie or Mushroom Ravioli with Foie Cream. How could these ingredients taste bland?! They did.

Rapé de ración con Patata Panadera y Vinagreta de Guindilla Dulce or Monkfish with Potatoes and Sweet Chilli Vinaigrette. Really dull.

Magret de Pato Asado con Purés Variados Salsa de Pedro Ximenez or  Roasted Duck Magret with Pedro Ximenez Sauce. Needed Salt.

Torrija Caramelizada con Helado de Vanilla or Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream

Bizcocho Fluido de Chocolate con Salsa de Cacao y Sorbete de Mandarina or Chocolate Sponge with Mandarin Sorbet. Overpriced and crap food, should have read some reviews before we went. Doh! 

Back to Paries and food that tastes good, we had Quiche for brunch. I had Tuna and Peppers and Carrie went for Goats Cheese and Spinach. Really good!

They have so many cakes, chocolates, pastries and quiches and reasonably priced too.

Back to Pintxos. We had this Rapé, Esparrago y Langostino Fritter or Monkfish, Asparagus and Prawn Spring Roll at Astelena

This was followed by Buñuelo de Carne or Beef Fritter

Their real specialities though are the next two dishes. This is their Solomillo a la Plancha 

The Taco de Bonito was really good. Its a piece of tuna covered in sesame seeds served with salsa picante and salad.

Txepetxa is a famous bar that serves lots of different anchovy tapas. These are Anchoas con Coco (with coconut) and Anchoas Papaya

We had a late brunch at La Madame

Bolleria

Pan con Tomate

Tortitas or Pancakes (obvs)

French Toast

Huevos Rancheros

Hamburguesa 'Gilda'. Highly recommend the brunch menu as long as you're hungry!

A very light dinner at A Fuego Negro

Oreja Skabetxada con Mole Heladp or Pickled Pork with Frozen Mole

Ballesta con Alioli Negro or Ballesta fish with Black Alioli

Pamplona

We spent a few days in Pamplona for San Fermin, we mostly had bocadillos and pretty bad campsite food, so this post is the great meal we had with Iñigo and Marta at Restaurante Posada de Sorauren

We had our first traditional cider experience

Always poured like this and then you drink your glass in one, don't let it sit!

This is Chuletón or Rib Steak and it was really good!

Haro

We arrived in Haro just in time for the celebration of San Pedro, which includes a huge wine battle, see espanaplana for pictures of that.

On our first walk around the town there was free fish being handed out in the main square. Loads of Sardines being grilled and given away, lunch sorted!

We try and eat regional dishes when we can, this may look a bit funky but it was pretty good. Menestra de Venduras is a vegetable stew.

Hotel food at Asador Tinto, it was pretty average. Patatas a la Riojana

Crap Paella

Merluza a la brasa con Patatas Panadera (Grilled Hake)

Entrecot de Ternera a la Parrilla (Grilled Sirloin)

Best thing on the menu Pudin de Holjadre which is deep fried puff pastry

Fabada (Chorizo and Bean Stew)

Another (better) version of Menestra de Venduras

Our first Bodega visit was to Alta, we tried 3 wines, the first being Vina Alberdi Crianza 2006 which had lots of red berry flavour with a hint of coffee and tobacco. This Crianza, like a few of the older wineries do, is actually a Reserva but they classify it as a crianza because they already have 2 better wines from the vineyard which they call Reserva and Gran Reserva.

Next was Vina Arana Reserva 2005, this had more dark fruits and more complexity. It had a nice richness to it with mellow tannins

The final wine was Vina Ardanza Reserva 2004, again lots of dark fruits, vanilla oak and chocolate. All 3 were very traditional style Riojas

Our next visit was to C.V.N.E and first wine up was from their Imperial range. This 2007 Reserva has a garnet colour and dark berry flavours. Quite smokey, with hints of coffee. 

This is their standard white called Monopole and is made from the Viura grape. It was nice and light with melon and pineapple notes

Foie with Pedro Ximenez at Bar Los Canos

Bacalao Ajoarriero (Cod with lots of garlic)

Rabo de Buey (Oxtail)

Our visit to Roda meant we got to try 2 wines and 2 Olive oils. Roda wines are quite recent and aren't the typical Rioja style. We tried their most recent vintages of Roda Reserva 2008 and Sela 2010. Roda Reserva was quite a bright, fresh wine with lots of red cherry. The Sela tasted very youthful and was all fruit with strawberry and cherry dominating.

Our last visit was to one of the most famous wineries in Spain, R.Lopez de Heredia. The first wine we tried was Vina Gravonia Crianza 2003 which is one of the strangest whites I've had. It has a golden colour like a dessert wine which I guess it should being 10 years old but it tasted quite fresh and light. Made from the Viura grape.

Vina Tondonia Tinto Reserva 2001. Really good vintage, very rich and complex with vanilla oak notes

For good budget eats go to Chamonix, this is there Cerdo Brocheta (Pork Kebab)

As my waistline shows, I love burgers. This was the BEST burger I have ever had, seriously, and I've eaten loads. It was huge, almost the size of a 7" record and had bacon, cheese, pickles, tomato, lettuce and onion. It tasted great and was about 5 euros. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Finally had some Ice cream with Pedro Ximenez, try it.