Category Archives: Travel

From San Sebastian, we drove around 30 minutes to get to Getaria on the way to our next destination Bilbao.  There was a restaurant Jose wanted us to try called El Kanno  

The outdoor grill

We were happy that the father-son owners were there to personally attend to us!

They took us to the basement which was past their kitchen

Where they have their fresh seafoods!!!

There were like 5 staff peeling the fresh crabs

The menu

Rodaballo Parnillo – we got a big one and this was good for all of us.  He showed it to us first before grilling

Amuse Bouche which was so good!!! It was like a spicy tuna and very very fresh

We asked for more!!! 🙂 

I love their water bottles, I tried to bring back some

Super delicious!!!

And here it is!! Grilled and cooked!!  So good!! It was worth the stopover!

 When we thought we were done, they removed the bones and then grouped it into parts and there was so much left!

 Sole

 We have a good appetite for desserts 🙂

The best arroz con leche ever!!!

 Helado con infusion de Fresa

 Laminas de crujientes de hojaldre con crema de Vainillia y helado de cafe

 Torrijas caramelizadas con aire lacteo, helado de yemas y Vainilla de bourbon

Click below to go to their website

[email_link]

Another wonderful dining experience!!!  So blessed to have been able to witness this!  Chef Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter, Elena, each have 3 Michelin Stars so put together this restaurant has 6 Michelin Stars!  A MUST when in San Sebastian! Though many will probably say they prefer Arzak over Martine Berasategui, I would say they are two different types of dining experience.  Arzak is more contemporary and appeals to a wider market, Martin Berasategui offers a totally unique cuisine with his own unique flavors.  So I am blessed to have tried both and get a taste of their unique talents

previous entry:  Martin Berasategui November 17, 2013 

Ala Carte menu

The sommelier

Degustation to die for 🙂

We were so happy that Chef Juan Mari Arzak was there and of course everyone had a photo opportunity with him.  He was patient enough to have us take his photo

He has cookbooks too

Book signing too 

Click below to go to their website for more information

[email_link]

We went to Cutchara de San Telmo which was recommended by almost all our friends who have been here.  Even if we were quite full already, we made sure we went here and we still ate!  The place was jam packed!  I don’t know how they can enjoy their drinking and eating when it’s so crowded and everyone is just standing

We were lucky to get a table outside and yes we were willing to get whatever portion was required 🙂 I would say these are already modern pintxos and not the traditional ones.  We loved them!  Definitely a MUST when in San Sebastian!!

They gave generous portions for the price

Toasted goat cheese, roasted vegetables and sesame oil

Creamy Cannelones of stewed and roasted meats

Aged Beef Top Sirloin Steak

with Bread and tomato sauteed in garlic and basil

Roasted Maine Sea Scallops Wrapped in Acorn fed Iberico bacon

Foie Gras of  Las Landas sauteed with Apple Compote 

Click below to go to their website

[email_link]

 In the Basque country, instead of Tapas, they call it pintxos or small plates.  Our plan every night was to just have light dinner and go pintxos hopping.  For the Spaniards, this is just their cocktail before dinner.  Supposedly ten minutes per bar.  But I ended up going only once out of the three nights because I was already very full from lunch!  We finish lunch at 3pm or 4pm and then pintxos supposedly was planned at 8pm but I just could not anymore eat  

We went to the old quarter – the Konstituzio Plaza

They used to have bullfights here and you can rent the apartments here and view the fight from the balcony.  That’s why there are numbers on the doors

This is the main street where they have the bars and people hop from one bar to the other to drink and have different pintxos 

Our first stop

 The custom is to really stand but we always want to sit 🙂  A table with candies

Sangria

We were quite full already!  We are really not used to the hopping part 🙂 So we just went to take a peek at Gandarias, a recommended place

A church in the area

[email_link]

After lunch, they took us to Chef Martin’s kitchen!!  

If I remember correctly, he has around 56 staff behind the scenes running the restaurant!

This is the brand Chef Martin endorses which of course he uses as his kitchen tops

This is similar to the gadget I featured here at H2H

Previous entry:  Vellux Wireless Calling System August 23, 2013

 I took a photo of the chefs and kitchen staff who all help prepare a wonderful dining experience

 I like it that his kitchen is very clean and very organised 


 Cooking school on the floor below the kitchen

[email_link]

What an experience to be able to visit Martin Berasategui and witness this culinary adventure

Our table

Beautiful backyard!

You can order ala carte which some of us did

 Grilled sole with Clam, liquid chili,  foamy potato juice in green sauce

Roast Foie Gras with Seaweed resting on Horseradish curd, fermented  soy broth and hazelnut salt

Oyster with cucumber, sour fruit, Kaifir and coconut

Many times we look for rice and it’s quite difficult to ask for this in Spain.  They try to please us and it comes in different forms 🙂  

Tripe Stew in Traditional Style – Callos!  Everyone loved this!!! This was Paul’s order but when everyone tried it, they all liked it.  And the good news is it’s in the cookbook!  The bad news is, it is in Spanish! haha!!  So someone has to try to translate then cook it 🙂

And you can do the degustation.  It was amazing how he put together all his dishes.  I have never tried so many flavors and mixture of tastes all in one dish.  It was a wonderful experience to try new flavors I have never tried in my whole life. Don’t expect ordinary because this is far from ordinary.  

I love it that everything he has is personalised 

Well dressed servers

In between the meal, Chef Martin came out to greet us!!

To add to James’ collection of Chef photos 🙂

Mom told Chef Martin that he looks so young!  Of course he was happy!  

Mom always tells chefs about her grandson who loves to cook! 🙂  She asked Chef Martin to dedicated his cookbook for Chef Javs 

Continuing to dessert.  The degustation usually lasts for 3 to 4 hours!  

Click below to go to his website

Collaborations of Chef Martin

[email_link]

Of course we asked Jose to take us to the fresh market of San Sebastian

Fresh fruits

Spanish Deli

Wow!  Everything in this stall was bacalao!

A bar where you can have pintxos 🙂

Plenty fresh seafood

Percebe!  Dad is eyeing this! 🙂

Everything OLIVES!!!

More deli and cheese!!

CHULETITAS!!

 Tita Ina got so excited to see this!!! Cuchinllos!!!!

Cheese from the region! YUM! It reminded me of parmesan

Chorizos!!

In Europe you see almost all the ladies in the supermarket with these shopping carts which they use to transport their groceries since many just walk or commute

[email_link]