The best restaurants Basque Country

Daily harvest of fish and charming view over the harbour. Simple but good.

In an enchanting setting, a sturdy stone house, where customers used to come by boat to enjoy a potato and green pepper tortilla. Very fashionable since it served as the setting for the film Ocho apellidos Vascos in 2014 ("Eight Basque names"), this restaurant remains true to its roots by offering fish, seafood and meat grilled parilla style, and tasty vegetables from its own vegetable garden. Sea bream, turbot, monkfish, sole... the best fish are prepared in their simplest apparatus. A charming address!

A nice restaurant, where the revisited tradition is the joy of special occasions. Charcoal-grilled meats, fish and seafood.

Located on the port, Txoko, also the famous grilled fish < i > the parilla < /i > offers, to enjoy in the dining room or on the pretty terrace facing the port. Stuffing presentation of dishes and friendly service.

Restaurant facing the harbour, offering traditional Basque cuisine in a canteen decor. Friendly atmosphere and quality products (especially fish). 

The locals flock to this address to taste the menu of the day. On the terrace or inside, in a large, noisy and airy room, gourmets will revel in traditional cuisine, but also more international cuisine served in generous portions. On the menu you will find a wide range of salads and sandwiches, but also more elaborate dishes such as tagliatelle courgette, pork chops a la plancha, beef rib steak and its small vegetables... For dessert, the hot chocolate panna cotta is worth its weight in gold.

La Casa Vieja - Etxe Zaharra is an excellent place to enjoy traditional Basque cuisine, with a magnificent pig or suckling lamb cooked over a wood fire as the ultimate speciality! La casa is also famous for its codfish, in salads or stewed in a squid sauce. You dine in a medieval atmosphere - the rustic decoration has been thought out down to the last detail - just behind the church of Santa Maria. The wine list is generous and lovers of sweet delicacies will find something to put in their mouths at dessert time!

The most prestigious table in Vitoria, run for more than 30 years by chef Patxi Eceiza (holder of a Michelin star for 14 years). Excellent products, inventiveness, charming service, everything is there to enjoy a menu that combines tradition, modernity and daring. Wine lovers will be in heaven here: guided by an experienced sommelier, you are sure to find the perfect match with the dish you ordered. Don't miss the desserts, whose shapes are at least as surprising as their flavours. A real taste adventure!

If we appreciate this restaurant, it is first of all for its privileged location on the ría de Mundaka and its panoramic views over the beach of Laida. Fitted out in a rustic caserío, the restaurant has been extended with a modern extension and a large terrace. The à la carte menu offers good Basque cuisine and brasa grilled fish from the ports of Mundaka and Bermeo. The restaurant also has its own fish tank and offers excellent meats.

Located in the main street of the Las Arenas district, this small bar is famous for its many pintxos, especially the tortilla one. At aperitif time, its bar is overrun by pintxo-pote lovers (pintxo and glass of wine), a local custom that is always very popular with visitors! In addition to its inevitable tortilla, try the mini sandwich of bonito (tuna) and green chilli pepper, octopus, stuffed peppers, foie gras... Everything is good, so let yourself be tempted according to the mood of the moment! Informal and local atmosphere.

It is the typical bar-restaurant of the village, which lives at the rhythm of its inhabitants. It is located in front of the town hall and offers a very correct daily menu, as well as sandwiches, pintxos and take-away food. For example, you can opt for a cream of vegetables as a starter, pork shank with beer as a main course, and for dessert, homemade rice pudding. All this is served in a modern, yet rather impersonal setting. On sunny days, its large terrace is always lively, at any time of the day.

Specializing in seafood grills, this restaurant, founded in 1964 by Pedro Arregui, is a Getaria institution. His son Aitor has taken up the torch and perpetuates the art of parrilla grilling. This is how freshly caught lobster, crawfish or sea bream masterfully pass over the coals before ending up on your plate. In 2014, it was awarded a Michelin star, while in 2019 it made it into the World's 50 Best Restaurants ranking. A stone's throw away, the charming Elkano bar (Elkano, 13) serves pintxos and raciones.

An Ordizia classic founded in 1890. Located in the heart of the village, just a few metres from the famous market, the restaurant is run by the chef Xabier Martínez, who serves very good seasonal cuisine as well as good classics: hake with garlic, oven-roasted lamb... The dishes are served with a smile, and the good value for money is sure to whet your appetite. In the bar area you can enjoy pintxos and raciones in an informal atmosphere. On Wednesday, market day, it's crowded to taste scrambled eggs with mushrooms!

Between a canteen and a small tavern for regulars, this simple and unadorned space, whose first vocation was the traditional tapas bar, has seen the arrival of a restaurant in the back room. Here you can eat good raciones and pintxos, including the excellent Bellota ham, canutillo (a kind of flaky stick) filled with cheese and anchovies, artichokes with ham and poached egg, scrambled eggs with mushrooms... But what makes the reputation of La Viña is its excellent tarta de queso (cheesecake), simply the best in Spain!

This elegant restaurant is housed in the Hotel Arbaso, next to the Cathedral del Buen Pastor. The young chef Iñigo Peña, trained in the most prestigious kitchens of the Basque Country, offers here a refined seasonal cuisine that respects the essence of each ingredient. In the restaurant's warm, wooded dining room, you can enjoy a baked txangurro (crab), oxtail ravioli, sole a la plancha... Next door, the Original Bar offers a more informal atmosphere for sharing tapas.

Modern, in the tradition of the gastrobars that are all the rage in Spain, this restaurant is organised around two well-arranged rooms, with the right design and play of light to create an attractive setting. The menu gives pride of place to "pikoteo" (dishes to share), a good way to dine chic, but informal! A few suggestions to share? Beef carpaccio with mustard or homemade jamón ibérico croquette for carnivores; salmon tartar, octopus sautéed with potatoes or mussels for lovers of marine flavours...

A little out of the city centre and mostly frequented by locals, Bodeguilla Lanciego is a noble house where, since 1959, a local cuisine has been prepared that varies according to the seasons. Everything is very fresh and absolutely delicious, with the proposals changing according to the products on the market. However, there are always some specialities, such as sea bream (besugo) and cazuelitas with anchovies, cod or piquillo peppers, to be enjoyed in a sober and elegant setting. A gourmet address that has become an institution in Vitoria.

Situated in a pretty 600-year-old farmhouse, Zuberoa has set itself a reference of local gastronomy thanks to its cuisine and traditional products. Here, Chief Hilario Arbelaitz updates the Basque recipes inherited from his mother, to which he breathes his more modern and contemporary vision. Lovely décor in the dining room, with stones and exposed beams, to taste this half-way cuisine between avant garde and tradition.

A singular space with views over the ría, which mixes gastronomy and music, especially jazz. Located inside the Mercado de la Ribera, it is a restaurant, a cocktail bar and a music club. On site, seasonal cuisine prepared with market produce, sophisticated cocktails, and live concerts led by La Ribera Jazz Band. Its programming also includes emerging bands from the local and international scene, and once a month, concerts and activities designed for young audiences!

A great classic of the Parte Vieja, which chef Juan Mari Arzak (3 Michelin stars) recommends in all his interviews! If he loves his fried hake, the house has many other specialities: txangurro (spider crab) tarts, txistorra (sausage) crisp, and the best selection of mushrooms in the whole city! To appreciate its cuisine, prefer a meal in the restaurant area and test its seasonal wonders: truffle, elver, artichokes with foie gras, "lagrima" peas with white asparagus and soft-boiled egg...

In one of the emblematic streets of the Parte Vieja there is a restaurant dedicated to traditional Basque cuisine. Presided over by an 1820 watercolour depicting a wide panorama of San Sebastián, the restaurant room offers a pleasant setting for tasting regional recipes. A la carte, txangurro salad, fish soup a la Donostiarra, hake a la plancha, cod kokotxas (cheeks) with txakoli: these are all ancestral recipes that are embellished with a modern presentation. A nice address to get an overview of Basque cuisine.

Founded in 1956, the restaurant was taken over a decade ago by talented chef Pablo Loureiro. Here, he offers a renovated traditional cuisine, which seeks to extract the maximum flavor from each product. Depending on the season, you can enjoy Navarre asparagus with truffle mayonnaise, the traditional Kokotxa of hake grilled à la parilla, grilled artichokes and cardoons with ham cream... There are also a number of excellent pintxos on display at the counter, as well as fine à la carte tapas.

Located right next to the suspension bridge, this restaurant is run by the young chef Alvaro Martínez, trained in the kitchens of Arzak, Martín Berasategui and El Bulli. With such a culinary background, it is easy to understand the presence of some very modern dishes, such as egg cooked at low temperature, or Asian-inspired dishes, such as nigiri de txangurro (crab). Also on the menu, crispy fritters with chilli and blood sausage, shrimp gyozas, parmentier with mushrooms and oxtail... all to be enjoyed in a beautiful contemporary setting!

A pleasant family-run restaurant.

Founded in 1884, this renowned table is run by the fourth generation of the Cámara family. It is located in a beautiful 17th century mansion on the water's edge, from where one can contemplate the comings and goings of the boats. In the large, bright room, you will enjoy a tasty Basque cuisine, based on seafood and served with a smile. Note the amazing natural fish pond in the centre of the comedor, from where the lobsters and crayfish are brought up and served on the plates! An unmistakable Pasaia classic for enjoying seafood cuisine.

Just a stone's throw from the Victoria Eugenia Theatre, this almost century-old establishment is an emblematic venue for the Film Festival, with its walls covered with photos of stars. The memory of its prestigious visitors - Ava Gardner, Liz Taylor and Luis Mariano, among others - brings much to the magic of the place. Here you come to enjoy pintxos around the bar or a good menu in the restaurant area. Every day, depending on the market, we will test, for example, Navarrese bean soup, beef simmered in red wine, and sheep's curd for dessert.

Located in an old fisherman's house in Puerto Viejo, this charming little restaurant has been run by the same family for 50 years. Here, you can feast on fresh fish and seafood that varies according to the catch and the season, as well as tasty traditional recipes such as cod in Biscayan sauce or kokotxas in pil-pil sauce. An honest cuisine highlighting the products of the sea, to be enjoyed in a charming comedor in the colors of the ocean, under beautiful beams weathered by time.

This 18th century farmhouse offers a very pleasant setting with its cosy lounges and large garden where you can enjoy delicious grilled meats, a speciality of the house. The chuletas, turbots, monkfish cooked in their simplest apparatus are superb. They participate in the elaboration of a local cuisine where Iberian ham, asparagus and piquillos are the kings of the fiesta. Note that their Kobe meat comes from a farm in Hondarribia that specializes in this breed of Japanese origin. In season, try the guindillas and tomatoes from the vegetable garden!

Andoni Luis Aduriz, a chef with an impressive career, who trained in the kitchens of El Bulli, is no longer in the picture. Winner of the National Gastronomy Prize in 2002, he is known for his creativity and his taste for innovation, often going beyond the limits of cooking to rub shoulders with the world of art. The human-size dining room, which contains around 40 seats, is a serene place to rub shoulders with the high gastronomy that Andoni Luis Aduriz defends, constantly playing between innovation and Basque tradition.

A sure value of the Parte Vieja to enjoy pintxos at the counter (usually crowded!) or a good txuleta (prime rib) in the restaurant area. Don't hesitate to try the pintxos à la carte, such as the risotto with mushrooms and Idiazábal cheese, and the different brochettes with lamb, chipirons, scallops or shrimps. In the restaurant, the menu gives pride of place to the classics of Basque gastronomy. Good to know: you will find a selection of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes.