The best restaurants Navarre

A very authentic grocery-restaurant: the establishment is over one hundred years old, run by the third generation of the same family. The farm store is the perfect place to stock up (and pick up some gourmet souvenirs): natural sweets, traditional pastries - cream and chocolate cookies, mantecados, aniseed brioches, Basque apple pie, orange delights - honey and cheeses, as well as the famous migas, a village specialty. An excellent menu!

The Idoate brothers prepare contemporary dishes inspired by traditional Navarrese recipes and seasonal produce, whose work has been awarded a Michelin star. Despite the somewhat stilted appearance of the room, the service is very pleasant and relaxed. Some suggestions: combination of tataki and tartar with red tuna, sesame oil and wasabi emulsion; wild sole roasted in walnut wood; lamb's feet stewed; grilled fillet of beef with foie gras, roasted manioc and grape sauce... Spectacular presentation. Splendid desserts.

At the entrance to the historic centre, an elegant and contemporary restaurant that in thirty-five years of good and loyal service has become a gastronomic reference point in the Pamplona landscape. In a setting where light wood and sober colours predominate, the restaurant offers authoritative Navarrese cuisine and an excellent wine list. The menu is based on local and seasonal products and changes regularly. Finally, the service is exemplary and very careful. A highly recommendable address. In the evening, don't forget to make a reservation!

A traditional Basque cider house, with its large wooden tables and barrels, SIDRERÍA KIXKIA is a choice stopover, especially (but not only!) for carnivores. The house is renowned for its chuletón a la brasa (grilled prime rib), which will be served with a cod tortilla if you choose the Cider House menu. For wine lovers, don't hesitate to ask for advice from sommelier Mike Ceberio, president of the Navarre Sommelier Association. An address that's both friendly and typical!

In the plates, a typical Basque cuisine, elaborated with seasonal products. The restaurant's specialties are cod with pil-pil and grilled meats (grilled beef with Roquefort sauce, duck confit with sweet and sour apple, pork cheek with red wine sauce), all washed down with a bottle of cider, of course. If you are in a greedy mood, let yourself be tempted by one of the house desserts: honey crème brûlée, chestnut flan or mandarin sorbet with cava (local champagne)!

In the historic center of Pamplona and inside the Santo Domingo market, a popular place for pilgrims and Pamplona residents, on the second floor, is the Hamabi restaurant. A restaurant that recreates from a modern point of view the dishes that were served in the old inns of Iruña. At Hamabi, which has also been awarded a Repsol sun, you will find 2 proposals: Comida de Familia, popular recipes full of history, served with the refinement of modern gastronomy and Serendipia: its gastronomic menu.

A reference of Tudela, you will see at the entrance a collection of photos of the many celebrities who have passed through here ... But with the modernization of the restaurant and a new direction, the mesón Julian has lost some of its soul. Its traditional cuisine is still a good option for a meal in Tudela: Pork gyozas with vegetables, rabbit terrine with black olives and parmesan, lamb cooked at low temperature with small potatoes, grouper and seafood stew, pulpo a la plancha... The desserts will have the favours of gourmets!

In a beautiful rustic room, around a sturdy stone fireplace, you can enjoy good local recipes and game dishes (in season). The portions are greedy, not to say generous: piquillo peppers, chipirons, thrushes with porcini mushrooms, grilled prime rib are some of the specialties of the house, while for dessert you can taste the local sheep's cheese and honey cuajadas. Very authentic! A highly recommended stopover to regain strength in a rustic and typically Basque setting.

For more than 50 years, this restaurant has been delighting locals and lucky visitors alike. As everywhere in Tudela, vegetables are king and treated as such. If you want to discover the flavours of the Ribera land, this is the place not to be missed. Some suggestions to whet your appetite: crispy puff pastry filled with cream of leek and prawns, roasted white asparagus and poached eggs, black monkfish fillet with ratatouille, Pluma ibérica with its potato and garlic cream. The wine list allows you to choose from more than 300 references.

The Asador Aritza is a restaurant with a decoration as warm as its owners, Juanjo and Aurora, who offer traditional regional cuisine made with delicious seasonal products. You can taste vegetables from the fields or vegetable garden (mushrooms, asparagus, red and green beans, spinach), meats (mainly beef but also seasonal game, especially pigeon), fish a la parilla, and the typical ajoarriero. Each ingredient comes from organic agriculture and livestock farming. An authentic address.

For many years, the Josetxo restaurant has been a reference point in Pamplona. After closing in 2012, it reopened in 2015 under the name Errejota. Today the grandchildren of the founders run this restaurant of traditional cuisine. There are three menus to choose from: the "Erre" and "Jota" menus, which include a starter, main course and dessert, and the tasting menu, which is a very good and tasty way to get to know the culinary heritage of Pamplona and Navarre in general.

Although the Hotel Pamplona Catedral is housed in a former convent of the Casco Viejo de Pamplona, its restaurant - called La Capilla - occupies the former chapel. The original architecture of the sacred place has been completely preserved, with its heart and its meticulously worked stained glass windows, while the walls, floor and ceiling are immaculately white, creating a unique visual atmosphere. In this unusual setting, one can enjoy a traditional cuisine revisited and presented with great care. A very original experience!

Located in the center of the village, near the fronton, Ibarberoa is an establishment that houses a bar and a dining room where you can enjoy a menu of the day, but also more elaborate menus that explore all the richness of Navarrese soil. The restaurant has a vegetable garden, whose fresh vegetables are used to prepare traditional dishes: Castilian soup or mushroom and shrimp omelette for starters; grilled grouper or grilled rib steak for the main course; homemade cheese flan or countess pie for dessert... A feast in sight!

La Mandarra de la Ramos is a casco antiguo bar whose decoration pays homage to Pamplona's festivities, the famous Sanfermines. An impressive collection of photographs is on display on the walls, showing a beautiful slice of the city's folklore. A place of culture, the restaurant's service room also serves as an exhibition space for the works of local artists. An appetizing selection of pintxos and other tapas, especially tostadicas served on a nice slice of bread. An emblematic place in Pamplona.

It is impossible to miss the Cerveceria La Estafeta, with its ancient wall bearing two lions and a medieval coat of arms. This tavern is one of the places well known to the people of Pamplona, with a well-stocked bar serving simple but absolutely delicious dishes. Alberto's warm welcome and local atmosphere: you can eat standing up, close together, for a small fee. A very good option for those with strong appetites who would like to avoid ruining themselves while getting a little closer to the authentic Pamplona.

Managed by Maite López Santxotena, representative of the fourth generation of a whole saga of cooks, the Santxotena restaurant serves traditional dishes made with local and seasonal products. Rather than the large dining room, prefer its cosy little comedor, where you can see the cooks at work. A la carte, soups, fish (koxkera hake, monkfish or squid cooked in squid ink) and good meat stews (the veal cutlet and game in season deserve to be carefully considered).

Here, the Navarrese culinary tradition is in the spotlight. In well garnished plates, enjoy stuffed asparagus, accompanied by cod or crayfish. Meat is also well represented, with deer, duck breast, lamb chops a la plancha or a beautiful entrecote steak with roquefort sauce on the menu. The desserts are rather tempting too, whether it is the fresh cheese mousse with raspberries and honey ice cream or the fig ice cream with coffee sauce. Simple cuisine, old-fashioned decor, good value for money.

An excellent address, known for its authenticity. In fact, Túbal is a family story. The current owner, Atxen Jimenez, readily recounts that from a young age she helped her parents run the Bar Túbal, also located in Plaza de Navarra. Nowadays, her children have taken over and are renewing the traditional Navarrese recipes with imagination. The dishes can be enjoyed in an elegant dining room with a piano bar area. Some suggestions? Mushroom risotto, duck confit, roasted lobster...

The Asador Mediavila is a grill restaurant located in the medieval centre of Sangüesa, which seduces with its rustic décor and huge stoves visible from the restaurant hall. Lovers of good bidoche will be in heaven here, and to accompany your meats, you can choose from several wines from Rioja and Navarre. If grilled meat or fish isn't part of your daily diet, you can always find something to suit your taste in the many suggestions for starters! Typical Navarrese address.

With its terrace overlooking the main paseo of the village, this small restaurant constantly attracts a crowd of locals. It's hard to find your way around, but if you do, you'll be rewarded with tasty and inexpensive traditional cuisine. After a few patatas bravas or slices of chorizo with cider to share, you will have the choice between several salads, some platos combinados (meat or fish with garnish), a short list of burgers and sandwiches. Sweet tooth, be aware that the desserts here are quite tasty.

In an old restored 17th century palace, this renowned restaurant-cider house serves regional cuisine based on cod, chuletas and vegetables, not forgetting cider, when it's in season. As for the owner, he is very welcoming and is not short of anecdotes! The establishment also has a guesthouse on the first floor, where you can stay in one of the three single rooms or the four double rooms with the simplest of decorations, all of which have their own bathroom and a small balcony overlooking the street.

In this modern restaurant, the famous Tudela vegetables come mostly from the vegetable garden of Manolo, the owner's father. The care given to the produce is therefore immense, as is the warm welcome reserved for the customers (in French!), and it is above all this that makes the difference. The cuisine we taste here is both simple and refined, authentic and sincere, and largely vegetarian. The wine selection is also worth a visit. A beautiful address. A highly recommended healthy stopover!

Charming rustic restaurant in the heart of the village, with a fireplace in the dining room and a nice terrace upon arrival of the beautiful days. We eat a complete desert menu with seasonal products.

Restaurant with terrace where you can taste simple and tasty cuisine in a local atmosphere. The place, unpretentious, serves a very good menu of day, with cider in accompaniment!

Modest and welcoming, Asador el Cerco is a small restaurant with a rustic canteen atmosphere, offering a rich daily menu, much appreciated by the locals. The home-made cuisine is very tasty: the chef has a definite preference for stews, which are served with a bottle of cider. Upstairs, there are a few pretty rooms and all the comforts of Castilian decoration. A warm and family address perfectly recommendable for a gourmet and restorative stopover in a local atmosphere.

Located next to the bullring, it is one of the most renowned restaurants in Pamplona since it was awarded a Michelin star. Here you can enjoy a modern cuisine that values the products of the land with dishes of varied and original flavours: potato and truffle tortilla with its onion cream; blue lobster lasagne with fennel or ginger; roast hare with its peanut sauce. On the dessert side, some surprises like the whisky tart or the creamy roasted white chocolate and its semi-picky strawberry ice cream. Elegant setting and good value for money.

The Nikolaurenea is a nice little restaurant on the edge of the mill canal, where children usually come to bathe in the summer. The restaurant has a lovely terrace with shady tables overlooking the canal and a typical stone comedor. On the plate side, you will find typical Basque dishes that are simple, but also some generous portions of trout or game with seasonal mushrooms. A frank and rustic cuisine to be accompanied by the very affordable vino de la casa.

At Bodegón Sarria, an address that has a rather good reputation in town, there are a few tables and a large bar where you can enjoy pintxos made with ham and cold meats. Treat yourself to a ration of "5 Jotas", a top-quality Iberian ham, accompanied by a glass of Rioja. Popular atmosphere in this large room where silence has definitely not taken over. Be careful, seating is expensive here, so expect, like almost everyone else here, to eat standing up! Perfect for a typical restorative stopover.

Traditional mesón which serves traditional cuisine in a lovely vaulted area. Located in the centre, it also has a terrace. 

The Navarra restaurant offers dinner in a typical Navarrese setting, where even the waiters are dressed in traditional costumes. On the menu: stuffed asparagus, hake Navarrese-style hake, braised pork or green beans... The menu is tempting and the plates are full, to be accompanied by good wine! The decoration plays the medieval card to the full, with carved wooden ceilings, heavy armchairs with coats of arms and mosaics on the walls... An experience that is both fun and brings us a little closer to Navarrese folklore.

This beautiful hotel offers rooms that are much more comfortable than what pilgrims are used to - and also much more expensive. But if you feel like a comfortable stopover for one or two nights to relax your legs, this is the place to be. Modern and tasteful design, spacious rooms with large windows. The gourmet restaurant is also of an excellent standard, and the spa will complement your stay superbly.

A small restaurant with an intimate atmosphere, where you feel almost at home. Located just a stone's throw from the old bridge of La Cárcel, this "gastronomic workshop" functions as both a restaurant and a cooking school. Every day at lunchtime, you can taste good dishes made with organic or local products: vegetable wok, chicken cannelloni, grilled chipirons with onions... On Fridays and Saturdays in the evening, possibility of nibbling sandwiches on the spot.

At 5 minutes from the Lumbier gorge, this hotel with about twenty rooms does not go unnoticed with its imposing sky-blue façade! Good for spending a night, the place is especially appreciated for its restaurant of traditional cooking. The daily menu offers a succession of regional dishes updated and carefully presented. It is served in one of the comfortable comedores of the establishment and offers good value for money!

Just 100 metres from the cathedral, in the heart of old Pamplona, this gastrobar seduces with its contemporary cuisine based on fresh produce from the Santo Domingo market. On the slate, the suggestions change according to the seasons: fresh piparas (green Ibarra pepper), scrambled eggs with mushrooms... And à la carte, beautiful tostas (slices of toasted bread) topped with anchovies or salmon, plates of cold meats, and pintxos prepared to order: salt flower duck breasts, lamb crépinette... Central and gourmet!

A few steps from Plaza del Castillo, an unpretentious bar-restaurant where you can enjoy homemade casera (homemade) cuisine and pintxos at the counter. The lunch menu offers a correct option to satisfy stomachs, with simple and effective dishes such as asparagus in two sauces, beef stew, peppers stuffed with cod and rice pudding. On the tapas side, try the roast beef with potato and mushroom cream, which won an award in a competition.