Altuna Boutique taberna — Restaurant in San Sebastián

Went for a cocktail with my girlfriend. Ordered from a quite expensive menu and had high hopes. Piña Colada and Tequiila Sunrise. Waiter friendly albeit a bit distracted. Got my drink, but girlfriend didn’t get hers. So we waited for a while. Got bored waiting so went inside to remind them that we want to have the drinks together and not in sequence. Waiter came out with the Tequila Sunrise a few minutes later and we were happy to try. Although we noticed that the Tequila Sunrise was a large glass with Orange juice (no Grenadine). Ok, no big deal. Cheers to us!

Those two drinks for a total of 28 Euros was the worst crap we ever tasted. The Tequila Sunrise was undrinkable. One would expect some reasonable quality of Orange juice for 14 €, but this must have been one of the crappy OJ like substitute you could find in the cheapo section of a run down quick-e-mart.

Went back with the drinks, told them what I thought, paid the bill in full (of course). The bartender (Juan) came out swinging, upset, ego hurt, letting me know that the ingredients are clearly stated in the menu. Responded that I am aware what is in the drink and I don’t care much what they specify in the menu. No grenadine, no sunrise, if you wanna invent a new drink then call it something else (may I suggest Quick-e-mart Orange Tequila?) Waitress had to calm Juan down.

BTW the Piña Colada was probably the worst I’ve ever tasted too. Same supplier of juices I guess.

Don’t spend...

Aptly named to include the words "boutique" and "taberna," Altuna Boutique and taberna serves surprisingly creative and delicious foods that one can share for two, adroitly, respecting the farm fresh ingredients while enhancing flavor and character out of varied traditions including French and Italian and, I think, international Cuban. There is fun and joy in the vibe of the food and even the background music. We had lobster ravioli with sea urchin and cashews and marinated muscles as well as seasonal scallops with lobster claws and dried fruits and seaweed and sweet potato and plantain and eel sauce. Both so different and tasty, with a vibe also of traditional Basque food. The wine and cocktail list was varied and surprising, including even rum! You will enjoy the delicious and surprising food in this generous and...

The food I had here was otherworldly, and the staff was as lovely as could be. Elegant but not pretentious (I rolled over from the beach, sand and all), and some of the best food I’ve ever had (“cada una es un besito de un ángel” is what I told the server whose recommendations I took). Three pintxos, a cocktail, and dessert (which was plenty of food for one hungry lady) cost me a whopping 38 euro. A meal of this caliber with this ambience could have easily cost me a hundred USD at home in Seattle....