ARENALES DONOSTIA — Restaurant in San Sebastián

Came here 3 times during my stay. First time to order a quick bite with a glass of wine, second time the same day to eat a proper meal, a bonito dish with radish and pears, which I expected to be a traditional cooked bonito with poached pears, but to my pleasant surprise, it was like a bonito tataki, with thin slices of pickled radish and fresh pears, with some top quality olive oil and mint leaves. FRESH and FRAGRANT would be the two words that best describe the ethos behind all their dishes. I had the cheese platter for dessert accompanied with a sweet wine. Great pairing, only feedback would be that, while the cheese on offer is great, it would be amazing with some jam, or nuts, or grapes, something to accompany and compliment the cheese. I kept coming back for more a third time, to try a dish with beets. Typically, you would eat beets either pickled as a snack, as a sort of carpaccio salad, or to accompany meat. Here, once again my expectations are thrown off the window, and I'm pleasantly surprised on yet again a new take. These are roasted beets, perfectly seasoned, topped with an egg white beaten in a mousse, topped with crunchy pistachios. It paired wonderfully with an orange wine and its earthy aromas. To finish things off, their chocolate cake with figs is simply wonderful with a sweet licorous desert wine. Do adjust your expectations accordingly, don't go there for the view, it's just a regular street, no beach view, nothing picturesque. It's not cheap, but you get what you pay for. Really, those small nitpicks don't matter once you take the first bite. Finally and most importantly, the lady who I believe owns the place is the sweetest. I was travelling alone and she engaged in a genuine conversation with me, which is rare in San Sebastian, a lot of places are blasé by tourists, this is not...

When we walked in we thought we had the wrong place and wondered what the gal at our hotel was thinking. But after the first bite we realized we were in a very special place. The place feel is like an American dive bar but the food and service are extraordinary. I was skeptical of the flavor combinations based on the descriptions on the menu and was completely blown away by how well everything worked. I ordered my first glass of wine and should have had the server pick it because he chose my second glass and it was perfect. Our 20 year old was with us and they are primarily a vegetarian but will eat fish occasionally which is good because they were able to eat all of the things we ordered with only slight modifications (like us removing the ham from on top of one of the dishes). The menu is limited but they focus on local and seasonal ingredients which means we expect that the menu changes fairly frequently. When we are in San Sebastián again, we will be going back to see what other amazing things they produce out of their tiny kitchen. And for reference, we ordered 5 plates between the 3 of us and it was plenty. Definitely...

Situated right in front of a picturesque courtyard with the right cross-breeze, the kitchen here does a great job of trying to balance flavors so nothing is too strong. My favorite is the zanahorias dish with the partially cooked carrots keeping their crunch, the olive oil providing a little bitterness, the cream cooling all the flavors, and the nuts providing a second different crunch.

I also really liked the cecina due to its use of a not too salty cheese so that the acid of the apple, the salt of the beef, and the funk of the cheese all worked well together.

The tomato salad managed to vary its saltiness throughout the dish by using larger salt granules. I recommend eating this with bread to slop up the tomato-oil sauce that is left behind.

Overall a great place and a must try, mainly for...