Pollitena jatetxea — Restaurant in San Sebastián

What can be said of this restaurant? For some, Donostia will be all about the Michelin Stars and the Instagram pics - Pollitena gives you another Donostia, one totally charming, reasonably priced, and unflashily delicious. You enter from downstairs, having walked past the door and handwritten menu because it’s easy to miss, and then realise the restaurant is upstairs. It’s quaint. Everyone else there was Spanish/Basque and the staff speak very little English - although they’re only too happy to try to help you as you bungle your way to ordering. The Señora doesn’t so much take your order as command you to eat the best things: paella, fish - all amazing. But there is steak and chips too (an unprepossessingly slim bit of meat but tender and pink, perfect for lunch) and even battered fish. You can have a starter, main, and a dessert with - not a glass - a BOTTLE of good local white wine (between two) for €26. Other tables had a more elaborate and also delicious set menu which we admired. This restaurant was distinctly friendly and scandalously cheap compared with the rest of the city. Brush up on a little Spanish and...

We were really excited to try this restaurant as we found it in a lonely planet guide and found it to have excellent reviews. Unfortunately however, this was not the basque dining cuisine we had hoped for. We both tried the menu del dia and it was honestly what you might find in an American Denny’s. I got the fried fish as my main and my husband ordered the steak. The fish was simply fried- perhaps with a little salt and served with a side of mayonnaise and potatoes. In addition to the only brown color on the plate, there was a pool of grease surrounding the seasoned-less fish. The steak was this thin piece of meat, overdone, with wilty French fries on top again completely lacking any originality, flavor, or color. As we looked around the restaurant at other tables we noticed the same low quality, poorly plated dishes. On the upside, the servers were nice however very rushed. I usually don’t post reviews however with only two days to experience Basque Country cuisine I wish we wouldn’t have ‘wasted’ a meal here...

We just wandered up the stairs to this restaurant with no expectations, and it is like walking into someone’s living room, but the food was delicious and plentiful and the service excellent. There were very few eating while we were there but at €26 for three courses (our starters - tuna salad, soup, and very good pasta with mushrooms including bonus gambas, then hake, a steak and delicious beef stew, followed by a grand choice of homely desserts, together with wine and bread thrown in), it deserves to be busier. Go try it, it’s old fashioned and quirky...