Txakoli Simon | Eating With Ziggy

Just when we finally started seeing our sidewalks again after the previous storm, we got hit with a much bigger one. 27 inches fell in my neck of the woods. Speaking of necks, that’s halfway to my neck. A good time to reminisce about one of the best food trips we’ve ever done, this past October. If you are planning to go, not only you’ll have some juicy nuggets here, but you can pretty much use this as a “where to eat in Basque Country” guide. Top four are in French Basque.

Kintoa Pork at Choko Ona (Espelette)

I could have listed plenty of other dishes like the onion, but the pork was a standout. The name of the breed comes from back when local farmers had to pay the king a fifth (Kintoa) of their pigs as a tax. Its a rich but still delicate taste thanks to the expert cooks of One Michelin Choko Ona. The meat is perfectly cooked medium-rare, with supreme tenderness and juiciness. Served with leek and some sort of pesto, along with saffron pilaf rice and delicious Jus.

Mushroom Omelette at Pil Pil Enea (Saint-Jean-de-Luz)

I’m a sucker for a good Mushroom omelette and this was a jaw dropping wowzah. A master class in super fluffy, buttery omelette. I wasnt expecting to see so many omelettes in French Basque menus. And perhaps I should have stopped with this one as the next one I ordered in the same town wasnt nearly as good.

Monkfish at Ezkia (Bidart)

We have a love hate relationship with Monkfish these days. When its on its on, but on occasion, it’s less than stellar (I’m looking at you Eunoé in Paris). Some either work with this fish for the fist time or trying to be too innovative. At Ezkia in the tiny village of Bidart, the young chef got it right. Expertly cooked pieces swimming in a complimentary rich seafood bisque. Back to love.

Dessert at Les Frères Ibarboure (Bidart)

As soon as you get to the hotel and taste the cookie waiting for you in the room, you’ll get the sense that dessert here is no joke. After all, half of the brothers Ibarboure, Patrice, a Daniel alum, is a master pastry chef. At their renowned One Michelin, they dazzled us with their sweet creations. Mrs Z proclaimed the chocolate dessert, “best chocolate thingy I ever had”. We usually share but she got all weird in this case. Though I was extremely happy with my fig masterpiece.

The Mika at Bar Gran Sol (Hondarribia)

Bar Gran Sol is a multiple Pintxo award winner, and one of those awards is the sensational Mika. Shrimp and bacon in beer tempura and other goodies on an onion toast. Named after the cook who created it. While the egg mollete gets much of the hype here, the Mika is the one to get, along with the BBQ Rib. Come before they open for a drink and a table, otherwise risk long lines.

Rice paella with duck breast at Artean Barra Abierta (San Sebastián)

Picking a favorite dish from this hidden gem in food heaven San Sebastian is like picking your favorite child. Easy. Whoever calls more. Just like the steak tartare and every dish we had at Artean, this is as close to perfect you’ll ever get. Besides the duck and rice, you got mushrooms, and a terrific aioli tying everything together. Fantastic texture and flavors throughout, especially if you appreciate a good socarrat. Artean is run a by a Peruvian couple with extensive cooking experience. Book your flights before they get a Michelin star.

Besugo (red Seabream) at Xixario (Orio)

Whether its the famous Turbot of Getaria, the outrageous Basque Chuletón, or Besugo in Orio, the culinary richness of this region is too vast to fit into this post. A Besugo experience was on my list this time around. The only question was which of the handful or so Orio institutions to pick. While most tourists head to Joxe Mari, I opted for the more local Xixario, and have zero regrets. The result is meaty, vinegary, yet very light, and simply glorious. And dont sleep on the shrimp either.

Mushrooms with egg at Ganbara (San Sebastian)

The place and the dish are not exactly a secret. In fact in order to have this you’ll most likely need to spend an hour or so on a line. It’s worth it for the entire Ganbara experience. The dish is simple but quite excellent. A mix of Chanterelles and Cepes (Porcini) with egg yolk. Couldn’t get enough of the mushrooms on this trip. But what sets Ganbara apart is the amount of awesomeness besides the signature Mushrooms. One of which is the sensational shrimp in garlic sauce.

Grilled Cremini mushroom at Bar Soriano (Logroño)

While not exactly in Basque Country, it’s close enough and the area shares some of the same culture. The town of Logroño is like San Sebastian light, including in the cost dep’t. A Pintxo crawl here will most likely result in about half of the cost in San Sebastian or Bilbao. Start the crawl at Bar Soriano where they make only one item, a gorgeous skewer of grilled Cremini with olive oil, a small shrimp, and bread to soak all the juices. Walk around town and you’ll see more trying to mimic the same dish. Also try the mini Kobe beef cutlets at Torres Gastrobar

Chuletón at Txakoli Simon (Bilbao)

If you are a meat lover, you havent lived life to the fullest until you tried the marvelous bone-in ribeye steak from any of the Asadors offering it in Basque Country. Bilbao residents make the pilgrimage to the hills for this sprawling institutions, mostly for the glorious steak. It arrives fairly blue but with a grill for you to cook it as long as you wish. Plenty of funk, deep flavors, without much salt required. If you dont have reservations, you are directed to a picnic table and serve yourself. With reservations, you get full service.

Bonus: Any dish followed by a tour of the kitchen at Martín Berasategui

A wow and wower experience. I can pick about a handful of dishes that were spectacular and it would be criminal not to mention this here. If you want to add one three star to your food itinerary in Basque country, make it this one. I’ve done the homework for you with a tasting. You can read about it here.

The more I travel, the lazier I get when it comes to the final leg. Do I really want to see another church at that stage, or plan every single meal. Or do I just want to walk around the same streets multiple times, as we end up doing. Researching food can be fun and exhausting at the same time. And by the time you reach the final days of a long trip, you anticipate certain things. By this point, I would have enough Michelin, a lot of seafood, and not enough Galician meat. And if my right hand begins to twitch, I will probably be in need of a burger.

Speaking of which, it actually finally happened. As a burger lover who’s married to a burger ~~freak~~ lover, we had our first burger in Europe. The stars aligned. I had no plans, we had a big lunch, and it was a Sunday where in Bilbao the siesta extends into the night. Everything seems to be open for lunch and close for the remainder of the day. With that said, I do recommend the truffle burger at Hambueysería Amaren.

La Viña De Henao

Not to be confused with another La Viña across the street, and a third La Viña elsewhere in Bilbao. The owner warned us twice about that via email. A narrow, comfortable room, run by a young couple. He’s running the front (by himself!), she’s in the kitchen. A straight forward menu with every item available as a half portion. All our neighbors were locals, some of which enjoying items not on the menu, like snails.

The superb free Salmorejo and Croquettes to warm the palate were indications of things to come. Like the award winning Russian Salad. Not something I normally order anywhere but hard to pass on a best of Spain winner. Below you can see my new BFF (we ate at his little place a few days earlier) presenting the award to the owner while doing his signature “Garrote”.

We also loved the marinated raw Sea Bass swimming in creamy Ajoblanco (almond soup). The super comforting Beef ribs in red wine sauce. And one of those perfectly cooked showstopper Octopus. Though I must confess, maybe I’m not a Kokotxa (Hake Cheeks) fan after all, as I absolutely despised them here. I’m fairly sure I had them in Getaria at the great Elkano and elsewhere, but I feel like its still an acquired taste.

Txakoli Simon

For your (and ours) Chuletón fix. An institution on the hills above Bilbao. We came with our car right before dropping it off, but I get the sense that part of the experience is getting to Simon without a car. That involves a funicular, nice views of Bilbao from above, and about 10-15 min walk to this meat temple.

On a Sunday afternoons its a full blown pilgrimage. The extensive property was buzzing with families occupying the loan. If you dont have reservations, you are directed to a picnic table and serve yourself. With reservations, you get full service. We had reservations, but apparently inside an empty covered glassy structure. When I asked if we can be outside, they said no, all booked. It felt like we were being quarantined. But within minutes people started to join, all local families. And within an hour, the room was packed.

Started with an excellent Chorizo cooked with Cider. Generally I find Chorizo in the US too dry and unremarkable, but this was very flavorful. Red peppers in a surprisingly spicy (for Spain) sauce, also excellent. But too strong to pair with the steak, so we had to finish before the steak arrived.

The steak was a triumph, except that it came fairly blue. Every steak here comes with a grill for you to grill to your liking. My personal preference is whatever the chef recommends, even if it means rare. In Italy for instance, I often get it rare, even though in the US I opt for Med-Rare. But here I felt the need to cook it for a few seconds more. The meat was just glorious. Plenty of funk, and didnt require much salt. It came with fries which you could cook to a crisp as well. We tried but couldnt finish this.

Bonus: Not quite on the same level as the other two, but fun nonetheless, La Pizarra Brasa y Barra. Come for the signature Chuleta Nigiri (bottom pic), slightly smoked Chuleta on puffed bread with some sort of aioli. Stay for the Octopus, braised with a dark spicy bbq sauce.

Posts Tagged With: Txakoli Simon

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