La Madame — Restaurant in San Sebastián

I had the pleasure of dining at La Madame for our last night in San Sebastian after a two week tour of Spain, and it was such a reprieve. Coming off a very disappointing three Michelin star experience the night before, La Madame completely exceeded our expectations.

First off the service at La Madame was excellent. Our server (owner?) was very knowledgeable and passionate about the menu and was happy to make recommendations.

The bartender was on point. We started with cocktails and stuck with them throughout the meal because they were so good.

The dishes were all beautifully presented, and the flavors were simply incredible. We ordered the the Grilled Thai Hake, which was perfectly cooked and seasoned. The fish was moist and flaky, and the broth was bright and flavorful -- hard to resist drinking it straight out of the bowl. The Butter Chicken was oven-baked then doused in the sauce which kept it moist and tender, and the sauce was authentic and complex. Much better than plenty of examples I've had back state-side.

Overall, I had a fantastic experience at La Madame. The food was great, the service was excellent, and the atmosphere was charming (they were playing the classics from back home). I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a special dining experience and a change from all the crowded...

Our family of four showed up at 8 pm without a reservation and even though the place was busy the waiter was quite accommodating and found us a suitable table.He went on to help us through the drink and food menus ,we took his advice on a number of choices which all turned out very well. We started with an appetizer each ,all very good , I enjoyed the dumplings ,probably could have managed splitting these as the portions were sizable.Two of us had the Hake as a main and two the lamb ,all excellent. We tried a bottle of the local K5 wine which was wonderful ,a little brighter than a Sancerre ,not as tart as a NZ sauvignon with slight buttery hints. I will buy a case if I can find it in North America. The clientele seemed mostly local with some tourists .The ambience was quite pleasant especially with the attentive staff. The music was interesting ,kind of like your nephews I phone tracks from 2014 with some Bowie and a Nancy Sinatra cover thrown in. I highly recommend this restaurant for excellent food and...

Hugely disappointing night at La Madame. Firstly, it took a long time to even be acknowledged when we arrived and then a while to be seated. Service can be slower in Spain so I hoped that would be the end of the issues. Sadly it was only the beginning. We were seated and placed it orders. The starters were fine, but the carbonara egg was seriously underseasoned. I found where the salt which should have been on that dish later. Before out main courses arrived, we tried to order wine to accompany the mains. Tried is the operative word, as, sadly, it never appeared. It did, though, make it's way onto our bill, so that was nice. The scallop main was very good; five nicely sized scallops on a bed of an Asian inspired sauce. The bomba rice, on the other hand was where all the salt from the first course had ended up. Basically, it was the Bay of Biscay concentrated in a bowl. Even trying to pay was painfully slow and we made the choice to head out to try and find desert anywhere else. La...