Azurmendi jatetxea — Restaurant in Larrabetzu

Worst Michelin experience of my life. The guide needs updating! Besides the fact they almost gave me anaphylactic shock, almost everything else was broken.

I have a severe allergy to fish & shellfish. Whenever I book , I notify them of this. I also ask them not to replace fish with a vegetarian option. When they called to reconfirm our reservation, he didn’t mention my allergy at all. I asked him to confirm, and restated my desire not to be a vegetarian. He said no problem.

We arrive in a taxi and it’s raining. There is no one to greet the car with an umbrella. First sign front of house is broken. Go inside and we’re greeted by a woman who asks our name then asks do either of us have any allergies. They had no record of mine. The arrival area is a botanical garden. It looks spectacular. A waiter walks by us with wine and gives the wine to the guests who arrived before us. He then quickly goes and gets more, all but throws 2 glasses at us with no explanation and runs away. Eventually they start bringing out picnic baskets for people. Everyone before us got theirs. Then several people who arrived after us got theirs too proving they needed to prepare a fish free one. 35 minutes after arriving and standing around, we received ours. They open and explain everything. First dish, my wife gets caviar. I get cauliflower. I wouldn’t receive any meat until 2:06 after arriving.

After standing in the lobby for an hour, they took us to the kitchen. Gave me more vegetables and my wife more fish. Next they took us to their garden room and gave us several more forgettable vegetarian things.

At last we make it to the main dining room. The Sommelier offers to do a custom pairing as we are not big drinkers. He is the ONLY reason this review gets 2 stars. Fire the rest of front of house and promote him.

Several dishes in, I’m given something I didn’t quite understand. I thought the server said oyster but it was fast. He then explained my wife’s beetroot dish which was completely vegetarian. He was about to walk away and I stopped him to ask - is my dish fish? He then said it’s an oyster. I then proceeded to tell him one bite would kill me. They then swapped the plates around. Thanks, wasn’t up for a trip to the hospital.

Our Sommelier came back over and I asked to see the manager. He came back a few minutes later to say the manager wasn’t coming. But asked if he could help us. I explained everything and my wife asked that our main waitress be replaced. The Sommelier said he would act as our waiter for the rest of the night. After that, with every course that came I complained about no meat. He asked me how do I feel about asparagus as he was pouring wine. I said i hate it and we joke about it all the time. The next course was supposed to be asparagus 6 different ways. He sent it away. After another course, the asparagus came back - but just for my wife. I received meat! Pigeon to be exact. It was an afterthought of the kitchen but it was perfectly cooked and the only reason I had it was because of our wine guy.

The main dish arrives is morcilla. Good but literally the only official meat dish of the night. The Sommelier said he would bring one more dish of meat. 10 minutes later we received tasty Basque steak which was cold inside for my wife’s.

After a trip to the lady’s room, she starts to laugh as she said there were no towels in it to dry her hand after washing them. Someone showed up a few minutes later with them.

After desserts, the waitress my wife asked to be replaced, delivers a rose cake. We assumed it was for her birthday but there was no mention of that.

I asked for the bill. The Sommelier brought it and said drinks for the evening were on them. Thank you. The correct gesture. Too bad almost everything else was broken.

Michelin reviewers - PLEASE update your guide. Without major changes to front of house, this restaurant does not deserve a single star.

To everyone else, go have some Pintxos instead! You’ll have a much...

A Profound Disappointment It is incredibly difficult to comprehend how this establishment has earned its three Michelin stars. The initial dish, a picnic-themed presentation featuring foie gras and lemon, momentarily elevated my expectations. Unfortunately, it was the only aspect of the entire experience that I found remotely enjoyable. The accompanying red bean broth lacked any discernible contrast, offering nothing more than a monotonous taste of red beans. The fried brioche, served cold, felt pointless and excessively greasy. The subsequent squid dish presented from the kitchen was tough to chew. The seaweed-infused wine, served with mussel bubbles, was far too sweet to serve as a palate cleanser. The so-called "garden" was aesthetically pleasing and I was informed that it was created to celebrate the 700 different flowers native to their region. The olive grissini, reminiscent of the dead-nettle flower, was a visual success but had a perplexingly soapy taste. The rose-themed bite, which was supposed to be an homage to the rose, contained nothing more than red food coloring and what I suspect was canned passion fruit purée. The leaf-like crisps, while visually appealing, were little more than colored sugar, lacking any substantive flavor. Upon being seated, we were presented with a beverage menu to accompany the appetizers. The menu featured two overpriced cocktails and sparkling wines. I opted for a cocktail, which was simple and just passable in taste. However, the ice cubes used were the sort of cloudy, low-quality ice one might find in a supermarket. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a restaurant of this caliber to have a proper ice machine. The citrus juice in the cocktail was unstrained, causing the ginger beer’s carbonation to dissipate quickly, leaving me with a flat drink. Additionally, I believe the choice of glassware was inappropriate. The next dish, featuring what they called a "flower fossil," was a flavorless, empty detail that looked more like a Pinterest idea than a culinary creation—an Instagrammable but ultimately hollow gesture. The roasted pepper sorbet that followed was a complete disaster; neither the texture nor the flavor was well-executed. The juice, supposedly made from the region's flowers, seemed to me to be nothing more than hibiscus. I highly doubt hibiscus even grows in this region. The subsequent dishes appeared to rely on techniques that might have been impressive 15 years ago but are now entirely overdone. Take, for instance, the mushroom caviar. I am certain that the taste would be identical whether made with water or mushrooms. Moreover, the dishes lacked any sense of care or precision. You can see a photo of the poorly cut bread slice in my review. Additionally, the service staff seemed unfamiliar with the dishes they were serving. When I asked about the tomato-based liquid in one of the glasses, one waiter said it was clarified tomato. However, the consistency was far too thick, so I asked another waiter, who then called it an infusion, which made no sense. When I inquired about the acidic taste, they claimed it was fermented, but I suspect it was simply poor-quality vinegar. One of the most absurd moments was when my girlfriend, who has a fish allergy, was served only tomatoes in a course that originally featured tuna and tomatoes. I would like to offer the chef a suggestion for a vegan burger: lettuce between two slices of bread.

At the end of the meal, they presented us with a gift of olive oil soap, stating that it reflected their commitment to sustainability. Perhaps their decision to waste edible ingredients like corn and cacao nibs purely for visual effect in their overdone presentations can also be considered part of this philosophy.

Overall, the experience was unenjoyable and, considering the price, wildly overpriced. Neither the quality of the ingredients nor their preparation justifies the cost,...

Azurmendi was on my to go list for a long time. I’ve made 2 previous reservations but because of special circumstances, we had to cancel. This is my 3 attempt to dine here and it lived up to and far exceeded my expectations.

As soon as we walked into the restaurant, we were transported to a lunch of greeneries which was calm and soothing. We were immediately served with a welcome drink and were presented with a picnic basket shortly after which included 3 small bites plus a drink. We then walked through 2 additional rooms including their kitchen and their “garden” room in which we were told to pick things off from the room to eat - I kind of felt like Hansel and Gretel for a moment.

Before we got to our dining table, I was already half full before the start of our tasting menu. There were 12 courses to the tasting menu and for each course, Chef Eneko brilliantly highlights and heightens the taste of the main ingredient in various ways. We can really appreciate the freshness of each ingredient and complexity in putting the dish together. Each plating was also beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to the eye and just as scrumptious as it looks - I almost didn’t want to eat it because it looks like a piece of art. Every dish was multidimensional with layers of flavors bursting inside my mouth with every bite. There was also a good balance of texture. It would take forever for me to go through very single dish but there wasn’t one single dish that I didn’t like and each dish also had an element of surprise.

One thing I want to note is when I first made the reservation 3 years ago, they had offered children’s menu. Since then , they had changed their policy and said they welcome children age 10 and up. I emailed the restaurant explaining I have a 10 and 8 year old but they are very accustomed to fine dining and I promised they would not cause any disturbances. They were very accommodating and agreed to welcome my family. They also made sure they get the same food experience so at times when adults were offered an alcoholic beverage, they would make the same thing but without the alcohol so my kids wouldn’t feel left out. Another thing to point out is when we attempted to order a tasting menu for my kids as well, we were told it would be too much for them and they recommend to just order a la carte dish for them. I really appreciate their honesty because it turned out that was the perfect amount of food for my kids. Many other restaurants would not accommodate like this and would require us to order a tasting menu for our kids even though it’s clearly too much food for them.

Their service was impeccable. Extremely friendly, and their attention to detail is on another level. The restaurant is spacious, calm, and comfortable. All the tables were spaced apart far enough that we didn’t even noticed anyone else was there until we turn around. Chef Eneko were also in the kitchen during the whole duration of the service to oversee everything which we appreciate because you no longer see that in a lot of the other restaurants.

Overall, Azurmendi is worth the trip to Bilbao just to dine here. Price point is very reasonable. This is not just a restaurant you come to eat, it’s an immersive culinary experience that’s unforgettable and we will be talking about it for a long time. We will...