We found a great pension (hostel/B&B) with our own private suite with shared kitchen and washrooms. It had recieved great reviews online and was about a 1/4 the price of other accomodations in the city. It was a great spot with very helpful and friendly owners, and we even had a balcony with a sliver of an ocean view. It was just a block off the main surfing beach (Zurriola) and about a 15 minute walk to the famous Playa de la Concha.
Zurriola beach
Playa de la Concha
The main city area is quite small so in an hour walk you can see pretty much everything. During the days we spent our time strolling the beautiful long beaches, swimming or reading our books. The last day we were there had some crazy wind which made for great entertainment watching surfers and kite-boarders try to tackle the huge waves. Come siesta time in the afternoons we'd head back to our place for our own happy hour with some wine and pastis we'd brought from France.
San Sebastian is known for a couple different styles of food. Their pinxtos, and high end gastronomic restaurants that push the envelope in modern cuisine. We were fortunate enough to try a bit of both and found a couple great pinxtos spots upon recommendation from Paulo, our pension owner. From what we learned, pinxtos in Basque are the same as tapas in Southern Spain, for the most part. Essentially they are small plates to be shared. There are tons of pinxto bars/restaurants in town and most of them serve similar type pinxtos like jamon, anchovies, cheese, bread, cod, croquettes,olives etc.
Our favourite spot was La Cuchara de San Telmo on a non-descript side street in the old city. Their pinxtos were more innovative, flavourful and meticulous. We went one day for lunch and loved it so much we came back for dinner! They only served hot (caliente) pinxtos and we tasted veal cheaks in red wine sauce, slow roasted Iberico pork with rock salt and apple sauce, fois gras, scallops, and bacalau all prepared with interesting sauces and attention to detail. They were a perfect share size and only 4 euro each.
La Cuchara de San Telmo
One night we reserved a table at a relatively new restaurant called Nineu, located on the western edge of Zurriola beach. The owners of the restaurant have a couple other Michelin star restaurants in the city and this is their newest one, unrated yet so the prices haven't sky-rocketed. They only offered a fixed price menu and for 32 euro each we received an apertif cocktail, four courses and a bottle of Rioja. We started with a salad of olive oil drenched romaine on top of salty potatoes, then a saffron risotto with a seafood foam (tasted similar to paella), and 40-hr roasted pork ribs on a bed of quinoa for the main. Dessert was similar to a french toast, except soaked with a sweet sauce, served with lemon sorbet. And even after we were stuffed, to finish the meal they brought a box of fun with some homemade treats - violet marshmallows, candied nuts and mini zucchini muffins.
Our last night was a Friday so after a tasty dinner of pinxtos at La Cuchara we did some bar hopping in the area. The main area in the old city centre is basically 3 streets by 3 streets of bars and restaurants so it made it easy to walk from one to another. After some ron con colas and a few delicous capirinhia's we stopped by a dance bar for a couple top 40 french/spanish/american tunes before calling it a night.
San Sebastian is definitely an awesome beach town and well worth the trip if anyone wants to spend some quailty time soaking up the sun and eating some tasty food. If only they had direct flights from Vancouver!
With just three days getting used to Spanish again, it's back to France and off to Montpellier!
Here's a link to more San Sebastian photos: More Photos
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