Abakando — Restaurant in San Sebastián

We’ve been coming to the restaurant Abakando for 3 years now, and always had had a very pleasant evening, great team and the food was delicious. But this year was different.

Please read this carefully before booking a reservation at Abakando. If you wish to book a reservation, things you should know before: Booking through the by-default Google search booking icon - The Fork (picture) - will not give you access to the Terrace + will not allow you to ask for tapas (https://abakandoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Pintxos-ABK-ESP.pdf), only the more expensive menu is available for The Fork customers (https://abakandoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Carta-ABK-ESP.pdf). This is because the restaurant must pay a commission of 4€ per person to go through The Fork; so I was told by the manager. To avoid hassle and discussions, I suggest you call the restaurant directly to book a table. If you come with a dog, you should also mention it in the online The Fork booking process. Dining inside will not be possible of course. So, unless they have space outside at your time of reservation, you may not be able to eat there.

Regarding food, had we not encountered hurdles with our reservation process, we would still have been disappointed this year with the food. The food was not as tasteful as last year and the year before. As an example, the “Degustación de nuestros mejores ahumados (salmón, anchoa, bacalao, sardina y atún)" - smoked fish - was less amazing and tasteful, and the “Arroz con almejas” had no real specific taste and was too watery. The sangria was still as good, though, and the waitress and waiter very nice. Maybe the cooking team has changed over the year, or it was a bad night, but the food was not as great and amazing, as...

So, I may not be the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant, nor the food critic for The New York Times.

But I have traveled the world with sufficient funds (and expense accounts) to eat at the best restaurants in global cities for 30+ years, including my native New York City.

However, the waiter on Tuesday, September 10th (you know who you are) had the AUDACITY and ARROGANCE to:

1. Tell me how to order food. Yes. That's correct. We always order a variety of items to experience the kitchen. He literally argued with me about ordering appetizers.

2. He got the order wrong! After all the drama, the waiter got the order wrong - we learned only because we were so unsatisfied with his demeaning attitude, we called him back to add something to our order. He learned then he got is "correct" decisions wrong.

3. The sole was terrible! We paid €75/kg for sole which is fine - we were excited to try the famous San Sebastian take on one of the most delicate and acclaimed fish on the planet. It's one of favorites at Le Bernadin in NYC where we are regulars.

But it was dry, tough and clearly overdone. When we mentioned something? You can guess the arrogant reply, right? "Here in Spain if the fish is delicate and not tough, it's considered a BAD FISH." That's an insulting and ARROGANT response to a paying customer!

At the end of the meal, he actually "apologized" in the most psycho-babble way, claiming it was meant to be his day off but he was forced to work.

On top of it all, the food was incredibly mediocre - I've had better shellfish at a Capital Grill in Kansas City.

There was no nuance to any of the cooking.

There was not a single local in the place - it's a tourist trap.

DO NOT...

I was very excited to take my family here for what I had hoped would be a great experience at a nice restaurant based on some recommendations I had gotten. Unfortunately, the experience was very unpleasant from the first interaction with our waiter.

From the beginning he seemed to have a problem with us. I say this because we started by asking if they had an English menu. He said they didn't which at the time I thought was completely acceptable. Not all places have an English menu and that isn't a problem we can't get around. But then I watched him interact with the table right next to us who asked the same question and he very nicely showed them how to access an English menu on the restaurants website. This blew me away.

It continued to get worse throughout the meal. When we ordered wine he dropped the bottle next to me and walked away. This surprised me as I have never been to a restaurant at this level and not had the waiter pour to taste first before leaving and then I watched him pour a taste for the table next to me when they ordered wine. The last one I will mention (but not the last issue we had with him) is that when we received one of the dishes it seemed different from what we had ordered. When we asked him about it he made us feel ridiculous for asking and provided a few details to explain how it was what we ordered. Then on the bill it was in fact charged as the dish we didn't order.

The food was good. The decor of the restaurant was very nice and upscale. It could have been a wonderful experience but this interaction with the waiter really turned the meal into one of my least favorite dining...