Usarbi Jatetxea — Restaurant in San Sebastián

After having spent a few days in Donostia we were looking for a proper sit down restaurant experience rather than the many Pintxos bars. Restaurant Usarbi looked like exactly the sort of profile that we were looking for. After ordering some sparkling water and a couple of appetizers, I ordered a bottle of wine from the wine list, which was also offered by the glass. It was one of the most expensive bottles on the list, but that shouldn't matter. Our server quickly returned, very briefly presented the bottle to the table and then hastily proceeded to open the bottle (table side). At that point I had noticed that the bottle was missing a fair amount of wine which seemed to be the equivalent of one glass. I had also noticed that the top foil had already been removed when the bottle arrived at the table. I pointed it out to our server who at first played dumb and then on second explanation seemed very surprised. Considering that the wine is one of the more expensive options on the menu which is also offered by the glass, this bottle has clearly been Coravined before with a glass poured from it. Now, I personally am a wine professional that also works on restaurant floors and I know that in the heat of the moment, mistakes can happen. But when our server finally acknowledged the mistake and went to retrieve an unopened correct bottle I noticed that that bottle had come from the wine fridge which happened to be located right next to our table, unlike the first bottle which came from the bar area. As much as I wanted to believe that it was a genuine mistake at that point, as an F&B professional I can't see how this could have happened. It left me with the feeling that the server was trying to sell us a previously 'opened' bottle at full price. It didn't help that as soon as that interaction was dealt with, our server was changed to a different person who handled our table for the remainder of the night and admittedly did a great job serving us otherwise. No other apology or form of service recovery was offered unfortunately so it left the rest of our dining experience rather uncomfortable and awkward unfortunately. Nonetheless we proceeded to order main dishes which were quite excellent. The food quality of the restaurant is great so I would definitely recommend visiting, however be mindful around the service aspect of it. Hopefully it was all just an honest mistake, but sadly I didn't feel...

I had a dinner here and we ordered the fish, for which the price is 55€/kg. I asked the waiter how much does a normal portion weight, he said around 300g to 500g. Sounds reasonable so I ordered it. It came as 2 portions like in the picture When asking for the bill I’m surprised they charged us 1.55kg at 85.25€ for the fish. When asking about this, the waiter responded threatening like a thug “I SAID 1.3 to 1.5kg 🤬”. When asking to show me the real weight of a fish like the one we ate because obviously it wasn’t 1.55kg. They take me to the kitchen where who I believe was the owner showed me a clearly bigger fish than the one we ate (at least double). He weighs it and it’s less the 1kg (note that this fish has bones, head, etc.) Then he begins to explain that the price is for the uncleaned fish and that for the fish like the one he showed me they charge 1.6kg 😳. Imagine that when you order meat and they charge you for the horns and hooves 😤 At the end, he offers to give me a “discount” so I don’t leave with a bad experience and “only” charged us 1kg (55€ for the fish). By the way, the rest of the food was fine but the portions were ridiculously small, specially the squid rice. The tortilla was good. One of the main reasons I went to San Sebastian was for it’s famous gastronomy. This experience made me regret it and ruined my last day of some great...

Lugar acogedor, con platos hermosamente presentados y sabores que están a la altura. ¡Muy recomendable!

Recomendaciones: El arroz con sepia imprescindible, al igual que el rape, y si veis rodaballo en el menú, tampoco lo dudéis (todo lo relacionado con marisco lo hacen espectacular). Los pimientos rellenos de carrilleras son también una delicia. Creo que el menú varía según la semana, y depende de si es entre semana o fin de semana, así que merece la pena preguntar cuando vayáis. Los postres están a buen nivel.

Es un sitio pequeño, tranquilo, con buen ambiente y una decoración cuidada. Los empleados son súper atentos y amables, los baños están limpios, y en general, no es tan complicado aparcar por la zona (aunque puede...