My own pintxos' paths by Feelfree Rentals

It has just been published a book called “La senda del pintxo (Donostia)”, something like “The pintxo path”. So I thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea if I told you about my own favourite routes looking for the best pintxos, just in case it helps you to enjoy a bit more this city of us. But as this entry can get rather long (I love eating!), I’ll divide it into different areas, so you don’t become ill either.
The city centre: starting by the river and walking along the Avenida de la Libertad, the first stop at HIKA MIKA (Etxaide 5) for a croquette, a fish pudding or a “ropa vieja” (old clothes literally!). ANTONIO (Bergara 3) for an anchovy with green roasted peppers. ZAZPI (San Marcial 7) for a king prawn coated in batter.LA ESPIGA (San Marcial 48) for a “primavera” or a croquette. LA VIDA (San Marcial 37), the lamb pintxo is one of my favourites here. SAN MARCIAL (San Marcial 50) without doubt the “Gavilla”. CIABOGA (Easo 9), the famous “platillo” (cooked potatoes with garlic and parsley).NARRU (Zubieta 56), the “salmorejo con txangurro” is a must (cold tomato soup with crab meat). PELLO (Marina 11), stuffed and fried mussel. ALEX (Larramendi 10), black pudding and apple sauce wrapped in a very fine kind of pastry. CASA VALLES (Reyes Católicos 10) the cured ham is a classic. EL RINCON (Reyes Católicos 20), very nice “Gilda” (chily pepper with an olive).
In the Amara Nuevo neighbourhood: here I won’t dare to recommend any pintxos as I have no favourites and I will just eat what I fancy at a particular time.ASTORIA 7 (Sancho el Sabio 28). SIETE (Javier Barkaiztegi 13). LA VENTA DEL CURRO (Avenida de Madrid 32). DIVINUM (Isabel II 4) and next to it TXIRRITA. UDANE is also close by, Isabel II 6.
Another day we’ll go to the Old Town or Gros, where we can spend several hours or days, all depends on how many pintxos you want to eat at each place!
The Old Town: you will find in this area an endless list of bars with pintxos, both traditional and of the latest fashion in gastronomy. It is very, very difficult to go wrong, so be adventurous and try whatever gets your attention for the colour, smell or general look. Some of my favourite bars and what I would eat are: LA VIÑA (31 Agosto, 3) where I love the “canutillo relleno de queso freco y anchoa”, cone made with filopastry stuffed with cream cheese and anchovy; MARTÍNEZ (31 Agosto, 13), traditional and good quality, above all in prawns and crab meat; LA CUCHARA DE SAN TELMO (31 Agosto, 28), it is worth trying anything and everything, such as the foie with apple sauce or the roasted pigglet; LA CUEVA (31 Agosto, 42), the mushrooms and fried peppers are delicious; A FUEGO NEGRO (31 Agosto, 31), again I would recommend to come to this one several times to make sure you try them all or most, like the Mackobe (type of tiny burger in a tomato bun) or the cod on a cherry toast; CASA ALCALDE (Mayor, 19) one of the traditionals with excellent cured ham; PACO BUENO (Mayor, 6) delicious croquettes and prawns coated in batter; LA MEJILLONERA (Puerto, 15), “patatas bravas” and, of course, mussels; TXEPETXA (Pescadería, 5), anchovies with spider crab crea mor anchovies with black olives cream; NESTOR (Pescadería, 11) Spanish omelette, salad tomato or, if you feel hungry, share a “txuleta” (an chop of about a pound in weight!); ZERUKO (Pescadería, 10), just looking at the options on the bar could make you think that you need no more, but if necessary come back another day and try the famous “hoguera” or the award winner “Bob limón”; BORDA BERRI (Fermín Calbetón, 12), canneloni of black pudding, pork rib kebab or melon gazpacho are some of the best; GOIZ ARGI (Fermín Calbetón, 4)king prawns kebab are very good; ITURRIOZ (Aldamar, 12), chupa-chups de pollo con ali-oli (fried pieces of chicken in a stick and a garlic mayonnaise sauce); HAIZEA (Aldamar, 8 ) stuffed red pepper.
Goes without saying that this is just a very small sample of the great amount of pintxo bars that you will find in this part of the city. But as I said at the beginning, go ahead and be adventurous, try something that it is not here and perhaps you discover your own favourite.

Pintxos en uno de los bares

And finally, at least for me and for now, the Gros neighbourhood. This area is becoming more and more popular and many of its bars have in the last few years gained a reputation of excellence all over the city and beyond. These are a some of the best: VIENTO SUR (Paseo de la Zurriola 4), just to mention a few, pork meat with roquefort cheese sauce, sirloin with mustard sauce, ceviche (raw fish with lime), salmorejo … BODEGA DONOSTIARRA (Peña y Goñi 13) the best in traditional pintxos prepared with tuna, chili peppers and anchovies or “pulpo” (octopus); GARBOLA (Paseo de Colón 11), rather flamboyant but good quality, for example it is good the shark; HIDALGO 56 (Paseo de Colón 15), a bit expensive but excellent, the best is the black pudding with egg yolk , raisins and apple sauce, called volcano; IRAETA (Padre Larroca 2) the pintxo called “tierra y mar” (sea and land) and the king prawns kebab are delicious; EL TXOKO DE RAMIRO (Txofre 4) I like the aubergine here; KIXKI (Secundino Esnaola 41) an excellent combination of Latinamerican and Basque food, try the prawns ceviche, really tasty; BERGARA (General Artetxe 8), this is another litlle gem for me and I recommend to try as many as posible, such as the anchovies omelette, the “txalupa”, “udaberri”, “chopito” “lasaña”… MIL CATAS (Zabaleta 55), “huevo asado con Irati y patatas” among other delicacies; ANDRA MARI (Zabaleta 42) the king prawn with slightly cooked vegetables and the tuna with oven cooked tomatoes are my two favourite pintxos here, although some friends prefer the risotto with octopus.
If you are still wishing to try new places perhaps you could go towards the “Antiguo” neighbourhood, at the end of La Concha, after the tunnel.
I must admit I have very little knowledge about the pintxo bars in this area although I do know that there are some very good ones. At the moment, I will just mention two that I know quite well and like them a lot: DANENA (Matía 6) and TXUBILLO (Matía 5), this last one a mixture of Japanese and Basque cuisine, delicious!
Enjoy your meal!!!

Juanra Vega from Feelfree Rentals