Astelena — Restaurant in San Sebastián

We felt lucky to get this last minute booking after another restaurant cancelled but sadly left disappointed by the experience. The restaurant looks great but the food didn’t match. We opted for the tasting menu at 60 euros pp (which judging by previous reviews has consisted of the same dishes for at least a year) and the best bits by far were the gazpacho and the desert. Everything was lacking in flavour. The crab salad to start was relatively good but nothing exiting, the seafood risotto was again relatively bland, the cod was cooked well but the flavours in the sauce were lacking. The slow cooked beef was a real let down - nice meat but in a heavily salted and otherwise nondescript sauce, it was quite unpleasant. The French toast desert was very tasty. The service was friendly but not polished - a few mistakes were made. Honestly, we had pinchos meals that were more flavoursome for 20 euros. This restaurant has potential but seriously needs to work on flavours and perhaps take note from some of the other local restaurants, especially...

Ode to Traditional Basque Cuisine

Since the summer, I hadn’t been to Astelena, and once again we left amazed as usual. We started with the classic hake pie, a dish that takes me back to my childhood and is a must every time I go. Next, we had Hongos with egg yolk, which were very flavorful and had an excellently achieved texture.

For the main course, we chose Txuleta with "traffic light" (peppers, French fries, and lettuce). Jokin, the head chef, told me he personally prepared it, as we usually have long and in-depth recipe conversations — and honestly, it was spectacular how he made it and how good it tasted. It'll be hard to find anything that compares.

Finally, we finished with a torrija and a cheesecake, both of which were delicious. I’ll be back in the summer for the Txipirones Pelayo, which are out of this world the way...

Went with high expectations due to all the raving reviews but left confused as our experience was nothing alike.

As a whole I think the restaurant wants to place itself in a high segment, but then does not live up to it. Which is a shame because the potential is definitely there. It just feels unpolished for what it makes you think it is.

We got the tasting menu, the food was good but nothing special. The risotto and the beef cheeks courses were both overly salty. In my opinion you can get much better food for the same price in this area (and beyond). The service was alright, friendly/polite staff but also left wanting more. No recommendations, no explanations, and not showing much interest in general.

Would not recommend this place as the price to quality ratio is not good compared to other...