OVERVIEW:


San Sebastian is a city of food porn and has a relaxed atmosphere due to its surfing culture. Proximity to both Bilbao and Biarritz airports make it a great weekend getaway destination.
There are three kinds of places where you will enjoy food:
Michelin star restaurants, pintxos bars and traditional basque cuisine restaurants. 
It's the second city with the most Michelin stars per capita in the world, only behind Kyoto
(check http://www.eatandtravelandlove.com/2013/12/how-to-enjoy-kyoto.html). 
We spent three days in San Sebastian and had a chance to eat lunch at three different Michelin star restaurants and we spent our evenings strolling the old town of San Sebastian while pintxos hunting. We recommend booking lunch rather than dinner in Michelin star restaurants because the whole experience is minimum 4 hours and they serve around 15-20 dishes. For comfortable digestion lunching is better :)
One of our favourite dishes from the weekend
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The surfer bay [Image]

WHERE TO STAY:
Villa Soro
Very affordable, yet super cozy Hotel Villa Soro. San Sebastian is a bike friendly city and Villa Soro provides bikes for its guests. Simple, but tasty breakfast (if you have room for food) and extremely friendly staff.
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WHERE TO EAT: 
Mugaritz
This year Mugaritz (20 minutes from the city up on a hill) ranked 6th in the world's best restaurant list (http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners).

Interior design is super cool with lots of wood work and the food is experimental. No table shares the same menu and and the diners are treated to 24 individually tailored courses. 3 Michelin Stars
 A handful of Highland Grass

 Barnacles and Stems  Vegetal Bestiary (spicy aubergine)  Walnut Omelette  Marine Cold Cuts  Stew of crunchy suckling pig, wild sorrel  Mousse of cream and stone crab  Chestnut, truffle and garlic  Hake textures  Bovis maxima: vive la France!  Tour of the kitchen: 40 chefs, 2 chemists hosting 50 guests everyday  Today's ingredients on the board  Oily fish, beetroot and horseradish  Beef candy  The cheese  Quince and prune juice  End of a wine paired tasting menu  Chocolate tower
Martin Berasategui
Ala carte and tasting menu offering. Go all-in with wine pairing; their wine menu is incredible. 3 Michelin Stars.
Entrance to Restaurant Sea crunch tempura with Txakoli wine mayonnaise and citrus gel and Kumquat, potato fireewater, olive and anchovy  Mille-feuille of smoked eel, foie-gras, spring onions and green apple  Red Shrimp Royale and dill with "Venta del Baron" oil  "The Truffle" with fermented wild mushrooms and collard greens with "Alma de Jerez" oil  "Gorrotxategi" egg resting on a liquid herd salad and dewlap carpaccio  Crispy golden Swiss chard stems with scallops in their own aniseed-flavoured sea juice  Roast hake fillet with truffled spinach and sparkling K5  Suckling lamb chop with parmesan whey, fritter and asparagus with citrus dressing  Hare "Royale" with potato slices and Iberian pork fillet  Saffron veil with melt-in-your-mouth macaroons and tea flower ice cream  Spanish dessert wine - delicious  Martin Berasategui celebrating my husband's birthday with a signed plate  Leaving behind our favourite restaurant in San Sebastian 
Azurmendi

Ranked as 19th in the worlds best restaurants. 3 Michelin Stars and amazing views (10 minutes from Bilbao airport)
Organic farm of Azurmendi - seasonal produce  Tomatoes grown in their greenhouse. Spanish spirit allows kids into Michelin starred restaurants  Touring the gardens before the meal, accompanied with early treats  They have a special kids menu for young ones  Kitchen tour before sitting for lunch  Situated closer to Bilbao Airport, Azurmendi is nestled on a cliff top with stunning views  Egg from our hens, cooked inside out and truffled  The Garden  Roasted lobster out of the shell on herb oil and chives  Fried Hake, roasted red pepper infusion and parsley  Pigeon, duxelle and cauliflower  Orange, strawberry and ginger  Chocolate, hazelnuts and rosemary
WHERE TO PINTXO:
San Sebastian Food Pintxo Hunting

We booked our tickets with the San Sebastian Food Tour, and was looking forward to our Pinxto experimenting. They surpassed all our expectations. Lourdes, our tour guide, was so friendly and arranged all eating, drinking, and seating with great selections that we did not want to leave her. Tour started at 18:30 and ended around 22:30 and you don't have to pay anything extra besides the initial purchase of tickets.

Where Lourdes took us and what we ate:

Sport bar, Calle Fermín Calbetón

Txipis a la plancha (grilled squid), Crepe de Hongos (wild mushrooms pancake), Pimientos de Gernika (fried green peppers) and Txakoli wine.

Casa Urola, Calle Fermín Calbetón 
Vieira (scallop with ajoblanco sauce), Ensalada de tomate (local tomato salad), Tartaleta de Hongos (wild mushroom pastry), Champis (mushrooms and mash) and Cascarela Rueda wine.

(The night we arrived in San Sebastian we preferred the restaurant section of Casa Urola and the Turbot fish and the octopus was out of this world. Mushroom dishes were also incredible due to the season.) 
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Gandarias, 31 de Agosto

Queso de cabra (goat cheese with sundered tomato), Solomillo (tender loin of beef), Hongos (grilled porcini) and Valserrano crianza from Rioja Alavesa.
La Cuchara de San Telmo
Carrilleras (veal cheeks), Burrata (soft cheese salad) and Glorioso crianza from Rioja.


Galtxagorri, Calle 31 de Agosto
Quesos de Ramón Lizeaga (local cheese), Euskaltxerri (local ham), Milhojas (vegetables crown) and Mitarte Tempranillo wine from Rioja Alavesa.
Atari, by Santa María Church
Limoia (lemon ice cream, lemon curd and biscuit), Torrija (basque bread and butter pudding) and Pedro Ximénez sweet Sherry.


WHERE TO SHOP & VISIT:

If you want to buy some nice traditional things to take as souvenirs, try Alboka, in Plaza de la Constitución (old bullfighting ring).

And for children there is a beautiful artisan toys shop in Calle Urbieta, next to the Cathedral, called Abrakadabra.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao The entrance - so cute [Image]
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RECOMMENDED, BUT WE DID NOT VISIT:
La Mejillonera, calle Puerto

It may not look that nice from the outside, but they have the best Patatas Bravas and Tigres (Mussels with spicy tomato sauce).

Bergara,Calle General Artetxe

Great one!!!

Hidalgo 56, Paseo de Colón

Winner of the Pintxo Display Competition!

Kata4, Santa Catalina Next to the María Cristina Hotel

Great place for pintxos, diner or just a few oysters and cava.

Zazpi Bar, Calle San Marcial 7

Each of their pintxos are amazing.

Restaurants: La Fábrica, Calle Puerto

For about 25 or 30 euros you can have one of the best set menus, including wine.

Kokotxa, Calle Campanario

1 Michelin Star, but very good value. Their tasting menu is well worth it.

Saltxipi, in Gros, across the bridge

Traditional but just fantastic! From the stuffed spider crab to the turbot. Lovely garden terrace.

Abakando, Avenida de Tolosa

The best at shellfish! Clams, crayfish, lobster, oysters!

Zelai Txiki, Paseo de Rodil

If you like meat this is your place. Their oven is the best in the area and they cook the best suckling Pig and Roasted Lamb. Best call in advance.

OUR INSPIRATIONS and SPECIAL THANKS:
Metin Ar's (http://www.metinar.com/) and Sinan Eler's (https://sinaneler.wordpress.com/) food blogs were the inspirations of our gourmet tour; we followed their recommendations and we were not sorry :)
Special thanks to Ece&Baris and Sophie&Salim for joining us and making this journey unforgettable.

For more photos and videos, also visit instagram account @eatandtravelandlove (https://instagram.com/eatandtravelandlove/)