Holiday Inn Express & Urbe

Our last night in the Basque region was at the Holiday Inn Express near the airport in Bilbao. Because we had encountered a huge traffic jam on the way to the hotel, we decided to eat at the hotel. It proved that you can't get a bad meal in the Basque area. We ate at the hotel restaurant, Urbe and had a great meal. We had a 3-course prix fixe dinner for €20, including wine.

Salad with Fresh Cheese, Red Peppers and Anchovies.



Crepes with Seafood & Fried Leeks

Grilled Calamari with Garlic Sauce--this was amazing. The cuttlefish was perfectly grilled. Hard to believe it came out of a hotel kitchen.

Homemade Cheesecake

Homemade Butter & Bread Pudding with Chocolate Sauce

2012 10 14

Guernica

On the way back to Bilbao, we stopped in Guernica. Guernica is a small town that was offered by Franco as the target of Hitler's aerial bombing experiment on April 26, 1937. For almost four hours, bombs were dropped on Guernica during Market Day in an experiment for the blitzkrieg tactics and bombing of civilians seen in later wars. The town was destroyed and 1654 civilians were killed. It inspired Pablo Picasso's famous painting, which now sits in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.

Stained glass window in the Peace Museum. The oak tree is symbolic of the rights of the Basque people.

Stump of original oak tree that survived until the 19th century

Display of "Guernica" in the Peace Museum



2013 10 14

Ganbara

We had read that Ganbara served a nice crab pintxos. It's located at San Jeronomino 21.

Everyone was eating a jamon sandwich so we tried one as well. It was okay. The crab pintxos was disappointing. There wasn't any identifiable crab and the seafood paste was so-so.

2012 10 13

La Cuchara de San Telmo

The next stop on our pintxos crawl was La Cuchara de San Telmo, located at Calle 31 de Agosto 28. These were the best pintxos we had.

Carrillera "Ternera Guisada" con Vino Tinto Rioja--Veal Stew in Rioja Wine Sauce--€3.20





Octopus--€3.60

Foie Gras with Apple Puree--€3.60

Scallop with Bacon--€3.60

2013 10 13

Haizea

I heard about Haizea while watching Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations." This is the Arzak's favorite pintxos (tapas in San Sebastian are called pintxos) bar.

Haizea is located at Aldamar Kalea, 8 and it's a tiny bar. There were a few pintxos set out on the bar.

This is a Gilda--skewer of Guindilla peppers, pitted Manzanilla olives and anchovy fillet.

2013 10 13

San Sebastian

San Sebastian is located in the north of Spain and it's a gastronomic haven. We spent 3 nights there and ate our way through the city.

We rented an apartment through EnjoyRentals. It was easy to reserve and make a credit card deposit online The rep met us at the apartment, gave us our keys and we paid the remainder in cash. The only hard part was trying to find a phone to let the rep know we were in town and ready to meet her.

The apartment was spacious and had 3 bedrooms. It was a 20-minute walk to the center of town.

San Sebastian sits on the Bay of Biscayne and had a nice beach--Bahia de la Concha.

View from Monte Igueldo

2012 10 13

Arzak



When we planned our trip to San Sebastian, we wanted to eat at El Bulli. Sadly, the restaurant closed July 2011. That left us with three 3-star restaurants: Arzak, Akelare and Martin Berasategui. It was hard to choose but in the end we chose Arzak because we had heard the most about it. Besides, Elena Arzak had been chosen as Veuve Clicquot's World's Best Female Chef in 2012.

The degustation menu was €179 per person, not including IVA, tip or drinks.



The first five dishes--"Arzak Amusements"--came out together. It was hard to remember what was being served and to appreciate and enjoy each dish. I felt like I had to eat quickly because everything was set out at once. To tell you the truth, I can't remember any of the taste of any of the dishes in the "Amusements."

 Scorpion Fish Pudding with Kataifi Noodles

Sardines Marinated with Strawberries

Gooseberry with Crispy Potato

Chorizo Melon in Tonic with Mint Infusion

Figs, Corn and Black Pudding

Cromlech and Onion with Tea and Coffee--Crispy Balloon made with yucca, funghi corn must, foie gras, onion, figs. I guess the powder was tea and coffee.

Lobster with Crispy Ham

Tapioca Salad served with the Lobster

Tuna Tartare

Poached Egg with Prawn Paste. The prawn paste was super concentrated with flavor.

Squid Ink Paste with Onions and Olive Oil. I loved this dish and I licked the squid ink paste. The onions were caramelized and made the squid ink paste so sweet.

Salad that accompanied the squid dish



 I can't even remember what this was. It was some kind of fish.

Pigeon

Lamb

This was one of the desserts. The red balls were gelatinous with a burst of liquid inside.

Passion Fruit/Banana Ice Cream

Beetroot with Pistachio

Ferreteria: Coca Cola, White Cream with Red Tea Ball, Anise, Dark Chocolate Bolt, Dark Chocolate Key, White Chocolate Nut



It would have been nice to have a complete English menu listing all the dishes. I had to keep calling the sommelier (the only one who spoke English) to explain the dishes.

It was definitely a memorable meal with taste sensations that I had never experienced before. The total meal took just under 3 hours. It was worth the cost but probably not something I would repeat. I still prefer my experience at the French Laundry several years ago. It was a slower pace, with time to savor each dish.



2012 10 13

Hondarribia

Hondarribia is a Spanish border town, just across the bay from French Hendaye. It has an ancient quarter with a wall and a castle.

The old town is cobbled and is adorable

Part of the wall



There's also a lighthouse just outside of the town--Faro de Higuer.

2012 10 13