Barcelona Recs

Long time lurker in the Los Angeles forum.

Wondering about recommendations for a brief stay in Barcelona, trip is coming up soon and will be brief (Sept 30-October 4).

Will be going to Azurmendi in Bilbao and Akelarre in San Sebastian.

Have done some research, Tickets looks impossible to get into on such short notice, Pakta seems interesting, Suculent seems worth going to, and on and on.

Do regulars like @J_L or @Porthos have any recommendations? I’ve come to value your opinions over the past year (and even further back to Chowhound).

Would also welcome further recommendations in Bilbao or specific pinxtos in San Sebastian (mostly for less extravagant meals, seeing as I’m already hitting two beloved spots).

Thanks for any advice!

Sorry for the delay…

Azurmendi & Akelarre are great picks. You’ll eat wonderfully.

Lower end BCN: El Quim de la Boqueria for solid tapas. Tast-Ller is fantastic. Also do: Quimet & Quimet, Cova Fumada, La Llar de Foc, and Horachteria Sirvent. For desserts try Pastisseria Bubó Born.

San Sebastian: todopintxos.com will give you the the latest and greatest in finding all them delicious pintxos. It’s kinda like playing Pokemon Go (except much, much more rewarding).

Also in San Sebastian: Ibai is a little restaurant serving only weekday lunch, but it is indeed damn delicious. Anything fish there is a revelation.

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@J_L

Will only be spending a day trip in San Sebastian unfortunately, so doing Akelarre for lunch and a pintxos crawl in the night time.

Tast-Ller looks really good, had a few of those other BCN restaurants on my shortlist already.

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

@J_L

Have you tried Etxanobe, Zarate, or Casa Rufo in Bilbao by any chance?

Or should I just stuff myself with pintxos at El Globo and La Vina del Ensanche?

Bilbao is terra incognita for me, as I can never seem to get past Etxebarri as I drive from San Sebastian towards Bilbao :smiley:

Oh, and one more BCN rec: Cal Pep (shame on me for initially omitting that!)

Suffering through jet lag for the past couple of days, but my trip to Spain featured a lot of highlights. Thought I should share some with you, thanks to some of your recommendations.

Azurmendi was certainly a top 5 meal, Akelarre was very good (though to be honest somewhat of a letdown compared to Azurmendi), San Sebastian pintxos crawl was so much fun, Bar Canete, El Quim, and Quimet y Quimet in Barcelona were tasty indeed.

Bilbao:

La Vina del Ensanche - Fresh Pork Collar cooked for 720 minutes at 85 degrees celsius

Azurmendi - Fried Hake and Pigeon

Santa Lucia Chocolateria - Churros con Chocolate

Akelarre - Squid as Risotto

Zeruko - La Hoguera

Borda Berri - Braised Veel Cheeks

Haizea - Cod Brick

Gandarias - Sirloin

La Cuchara de San Telmo - Foie Gras with Apple Compote

El Quim de la Boqueria - Fried Eggs with Baby Squid

Bar Canete - Lamb Morunos and Aged Beef with Foie Gras

PLA - 65 degree celsius free range egg

Quimet y Quimet - Mussels with Caviar

Fonda Espana - Mushrooms

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@BlurA14 great pictures