Restaurants in Aragón, Basque Country & Navarra
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Arzak
With three shining Michelin stars, acclaimed chef Juan Mari Arzak takes some beating when it comes to nueva cocina vasca and his restaurant is, not surprisingly, considered one of the best places to eat in Spain. Arzak is now assisted by his daughter Elena and they never cease to innovate. Reservations, well in advance, are obligatory. The restaurant is about 1.5km east of San Sebastián.
reviewed
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Martín Berasategui Restaurant
With three Michelin stars and dozens of other awards, this superlative restaurant, about 9km southwest of San Sebastián, is considered by foodies to be one of the best restaurants in the world. The chef, Martín Berasategui, doesn't approach cooking in the same way as the rest of us. He approaches it as a science and the results are tastes you never knew existed. Reserve well ahead.
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Café Iruña
Moorish style and a century of gossip are the defining characteristics of this grande old dame. It's the perfect place to indulge in a bit of people watching and, while you're at it, you might as well also indulge in a meal or, in the evening, some pinchos morunos (spicy kebabs with bread; €2.20).
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Sarasate
This bright, uncluttered vegetarian restaurant on the 1st floor offers excellent veggie dishes and gluten-free options. It's run by the same people as the Baserri, so the quality is undoubted. It's well worth getting stuck into one of its €10.50 menús del día.
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Tapas Bars
The narrow streets and small plazas south of La Seo harbour some great tapas bars - ideal for lunch-time snacking or cooling off with a beer on a warm evening. On the cosy Plaza de Santa Marta, Cervecería Marpy and Casa Vitorinos II have bar-top treats in plenty, while Casa Domino offers hams and montados (toasted baguette slices topped with Cabrales cheese, among other tantalising spreads).
There's another string of tapas bars towards the southern end of Calle Heroísmo (most open until midnight). Still more snacking options cram Calle Moneva, off Calle de Zurita east of Paseo de la Independencia, where El Calamar Bravo churns out the fried squid sandwiches and La Mejill…
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El Rincón de Aragón
The decor here is basic and the food stripped down to its essence, but the eating is top-notch and ideal for finding out why people get excited about Aragonese cooking. One house speciality is the ternasco asado con patatas a la pobre (roasted suckling lamb ribs with 'poor man's potatoes'). If you're feeling hungry, this and other local dishes usually appear on the four-course menú Aragonés (€19.90), which is a great order. The restaurant is in the covered lane between Calle de Santiago and Plaza del Pilar.
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Restaurante Guggenheim
El Goog's modernist, chic restaurant and cafe are under the direction of superchef Josean Martínez Alija. Needless to say, the nueva cocina vasca (Basque nouvelle cuisine) is breathtaking and the ever-changing menu includes such mouth waterers as Iberian pork meatballs with carrot juice and curry. Even the olives are vintage classics: all come from 1000-year-old olive trees! Reservations are essential in the evening, but at lunch it operates on a first-come, first-served basis from 1.30pm.
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Casa Lac
The grand old lady of the Zaragoza dining scene, Casa Lac pays homage to the 19th century (it opened in 1825) with its seigneurial decor and impeccable service. The food revolves around Aragonese staples, although the lamb carpaccio with foie gras shows it's not averse to a little experimentation. Dine upstairs with the who's who of Zaragoza society, or downstairs in the more informal tapas bar, where it also serves raciones (large tapas serving, €8 to €15).
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La Reserva
Vying for attention with numerous international restaurants along Calle de Cádiz, La Reserva is always full and deservedly so. It serves tapas (from €3), raciones (€6.50 to €10), rice dishes (€15 to €20, minimum two people) and warm salads (from €14.50). It's all very creative and contemporary, and the atmosphere informal. To get here, head south from Plaza de España for about 200m and turn right into Calle de Cádiz.
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Casa Pascualillo
When Metropoli, the respected weekend magazine of El Mundo newspaper, set out to find the best 50 tapas bars in Spain, it's no surprise that Casa Pascualillo made the final cut. The bar groans under the weight of every tapas variety imaginable, with seafood and meat in abundance; the house speciality is El Pascualillo, a 'small' bocadillo (filled roll) of jamón, mushrooms and onion.
reviewed
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La Cuchara de San Telmo
This unfussy, hidden-away (and hard to find) bar offers miniature nueva cocina vasca from a supremely creative kitchen. Chefs Alex Montiel and Iñaki Gulin conjure up such delights as carrílera de ternera al vino tinto (calf cheeks in red wine), with meat so tender it starts to dissolve almost before it's past your lips. A percentage of profits goes to the worthy Fundación Vicente Ferrer charity.
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Larruzz Bilbao
Set on the banks of the Nervión, this incredibly popular restaurant (book ahead) has a polished business exterior, but a stone-cottage country interior. Its real speciality is paella, but it also serves various meaty Mediterranean dishes. The attached cafe can fill those unlucky enough not to get a table with various tasty pintxos. It currently seems to be trading under two names.
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Taberna Doña Casta
If you like your tapas without too many frills, this enduringly popular and informal taberna (tavern) could become your culinary home in Zaragoza. The bottle of wine and six tapas for €23 is a terrific way to meet all your gastronomic needs at a reasonable price. Its specialities are croquetas (croquettes) and egg-based dishes.
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El Arandia de Julen
An exemplar of modern Basque cuisine, Arandia has retained the best traditions in its creative dishes. There's a special Wednesday menú of traditional red beans with a lip-smacking mix of pork chorizo (red sausage), morcilla (black pudding) and more, plus a delicious hake course. Excellent Riojas add lustre.
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Casa Victor Montes
Part bar, part shop, part restaurant, total work of art, the Victor Montes is quite touristy but locals also appreciate its over-the-top decoration, its good food and the 1000 or so bottles of wine lined up behind the bar. If you're stopping by for a full meal, book in advance and savour the house special, bacalao (dried cod).
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Baserri
This place has won enough pintxo awards to fill a book. In fact, it's staggering to know that so many food awards actually exist! As you'd expect from such a certificate-studded bar, the pintxos are superb; sadly, the full meals play something of a second fiddle in comparison. Even so, locals still flock in for the €14 lunch menu.
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La Miguería
Who would have thought you could do so much with migas (breadcrumbs)… La Miguería serves this filling Aragonese quick-fix food in more than a dozen varieties, including drenched in olive oil, and topped with sardines and foie gras. It opens at 7.30pm, which may help those struggling to cope with late Spanish dinner times.
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Rio-Oja
An institution that shouldn't be missed. It specialises in light Basque seafood and heavy inland fare, but to most foreigners the sheep brains or squid floating in pools of its own ink are the makings of a culinary adventure story they'll be recounting for years. Don't worry, though: it really does taste much better than it sounds.
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Bodegón Sarria
It could be the cured hams hanging from the ceiling and the used napkins thrown haphazardly on the floor, or it could be the pictures of Hemingway and bull bravado. Whatever it is, it certainly makes for a macho air about this place - as well as a bar bursting with pintxos and some simple lunch menús.
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El Perro Chico
Long established and still with its feet firmly in the kitchen in spite of visits from Frank Gehry, and a supporting cast of hungry celebs, this popular restaurant dishes up the very best in Basque cuisine, treating signature dishes, such as hake in béchamel sauce, with due awe and emotion. Reservations are essential.
reviewed
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Café Boulevard
A Bilbao institution since 1871, disaster struck around a year ago when it closed down. Now it's back in business with exactly the same dusty art-deco interior and old-fashioned service that we'd come to know and love. Bring a work of highbrow literature, sip a strong black coffee and enjoy the classiest cafe in town.
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Ristorante Passerela
Forget about sloppy pizzas, because this immensely popular hideaway is a real-deal Italian restaurant. As in Rome, you order a plate of pasta first and then one of meat or fish served on its own. Most of the pasta and all of the bread is freshly made. It's ideal for a filling lunch, but turn up early or book ahead.
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Abaroa
This intimate and brightly furnished restaurant is a big name with locals. It specialises in hearty countryside fare, but with a twist of today. The result is that black pudding and a bowl of beans have never been so well presented or tasted so good. There is a second, equally good branch on Plaza del Museo.
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Restaurante Ni Neu
The former Michelin-starred Kursaal has been rebranded as the Restaurante Ni Neu and, although the old chef and his star have gone, the menu, and meal quality, remains much the same. Anyway, who needs a Michelin star when you have a setting, inside the Kursaal Centre, with a view straight over Playa de Gros?
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Casa Urbano
A comfy, old-fashioned dining room is the frame for excellent jamón (ham) and fish dishes here. The lomo de merluza con almejas (hake and clams) is delicious and traditional dishes such as bacalao con tomate y pimientos (smoked cod with tomato and peppers) are subtly done.
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