Cortázar Donostia — Restaurant in San Sebastián

We booked this place about a week before arriving, and honestly, what a disappointment. When we got there, the server told us we couldn’t sit inside. She said, “if your reservation is outdoors, it has to stay outdoors.” The problem? There were plenty of empty tables inside, and they stayed empty the entire time we were there. We also didn’t realize “outdoors” meant literally on the sidewalk with people walking right past us.

We started with the croquetas de jamón pretty average, honestly tasted like they’d been frozen. Wouldn’t recommend. Then we tried a seafood dish, which was also nothing special more like something you could whip up at home. Since we weren’t enjoying the food, we asked to cancel the octopus and foie gras. The server said she’d “check,” but it was clear she didn’t. She came back saying the octopus could be canceled but the foie was “already done.” Of course it was its foie! Except, this wasn’t foie at all. It was duck pâté, and not a good one. We couldn’t finish it.

If this had been my first impression of dining here, I’d be so disappointed. Luckily, there are plenty of much better restaurants around this just isn’t one of them. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the glowing reviews are fake, because the place was empty. I’m pretty sure they only sat us outside to make it...

First, we are Americans so we may have expectations for a good restaurant that dont align. We made dinner reservations for 7:00pm. When we arrived we were seated and given drink menus. Service was slow. When we still had not rec'd dinner menus after some time, we asked for them and were told the fiull dinner service didnt start until 8 (20:00) even though we were clear when we made the reservation that it was for dinner. They did then present us with a limited menu (which was actually quite close to the full one, to be fair). We stayed simple. My wife had pasta bolognese, which was simply average. Nothing special in any way. I had a $35 tenderloin. Specified well done. It was still overly rare, but that is the style here. More importantly is was chewy and a lot of work to eat. Fat/tendons throughout. A small serving and not very tasty either. It is a nice place, convenient, and modestly priced for San Sebastion. But our dishes were absolutely a...

We tried this restaurant based on the reviews and unfortunately left underwhelmed. We ordered the lobster croquettes which came out before our drinks, they were crispy on the outside however the texture was puree like and very difficult to eat as it coated your mouth with a very strong flavour, we needed to drink to wash the experience away. The next course was the tuna which was well presented however confusing in flavours as the tuna flavour was lost. The third meal was the meatballs with mash and gravy and true to the experience this meal was drowning in mushy flavours and left us feeling like we couldn't wait to leave. Could the chef's please spend more time on texture and finesse and less on speed as this will help the experience. Our waiter was pleasant however rushed and another waiter who cleared the table did so by stacking our plates on the table rather than in his hands. Not what you would expect from a 4.7...