Bernardo Etxea Jatetxea — Restaurant in San Sebastián

A really disappointing experience.

The food was a mix of two extremes - the steak, foie gras and octopus were delicious, but the vegetables were sad, limp and bland (boiled to the point of zero bite) and the hake cheeks were soggy.

The service was horrible. We felt very unwelcome as two young people - everyone else in the restaurant was a bit older, and as soon as we opened the door we felt unwelcome by the staff. We’d booked a table but the staff came up to our table multiple times to double/triple/quadruple check our booking name with scepticism, as if we were unwelcome and didn’t belong. We were put on a table for four (there were two of us) and tucked away out of sight (and out of mind). Every time the staff came and spoke to us, it felt their interactions were layered with sneer and disdain. Our dish choices were second guessed and were met with a response of ‘are you sure, you shouldn’t have that if you haven’t before’, as if we were philistines in their restaurant. We were rushed through our meal, to the point that once we finished our mains we had over half a bottle of wine left. This was by no means a cheap or reasonable meal, so it would have been nice to have felt welcome, and that we could take our time. We were in and out in 1 hour (amuse bouche, starter and main… we were not staying for dessert after the way we were treated.)

The atmosphere was quite frankly pants. Zero vibe, dated decor, and you could almost hear a pin drop when we walked in.

The good dishes were very good, and saved the restaurant from a one star review, but if you would like a nice meal in a place where you feel welcome, there are plenty of spots in San Sebastián where you would be much better...

Excellent cooking, friendly staff, the chef came out and greeted the patrons towards the end of the evening. Popular with Spanish celebrities, based on the number of pictures on the walls. Also Angelica Houston. Anyway, I had the baked crab, it was excellent. My friends had the Basque Hake (incredible) and the steamed crawfish (sweet, succulent, perfectly cooked), respectively, and for starters we had oysters (perfect) and artichokes with “jam” (a savory gravy / sauce with olive oil and roasted jamon iberica) which was really, really good and satisfying, even shared among three. They brought us fresh baked bread and when we spilled wine (the end of the bottle) by accident they refilled our glasses without asking. Take their recommendations on the house wine - we had the white, a castilliano wine, very affordable and nice, light, fruity aroma, yet dry enough to complement the fish while balancing the salt. Desert was a creme caramel with cinnamon ice cream (delightful & nicely presented) and lemon sorbet served as a sweet & sour frothy drink, a bit boozy. It was...

Hey Google reviewers, 4.5 stars, seriously???!!! This was the only bad meal I've had in Spain after 3 trips & 5 weeks of traveling. Maybe I went too late, 10pm on a Friday, but both dishes I ordered were barely edible. The clam with parsley sauce can with the sauce congealed - as in it was cooked a while ago & have been sitting in the plate for a while. The grilled sole was criminally overcooked! The selection of wine by the glass was subpar both for variety and quality. It seems so wrong overpay for barely edible seafood in what's supposed to be the gourmet capital of Spain. Only reason I gave it 2 stars is the service & dining room decor. Did the restaurant pay Google extra $$$$ so it would at the top of the search list??? Google Review, you've lost all...