You wouldn’t normally rate an eatery by how dirty the floor is, but in San Sebastian, Spain, the more discarded napkins and toothpicks that pile on the floor, the better.

Here, the mountain of debris beneath your feet is a sign of a popular place to eat pintxos, the Basque region’s answer to tapas.

The wealthy coastal city of San Sebastian has more Michelin stars per resident than any other
area in the world, but you don’t need to be a millionaire to enjoy pintxos; these elegant bite-sized snacks cost just a couple of euros a plate, and are presented on the counter of bars throughout town.

Locals meet for a few pintxos washed down with a tumbler of txacoli, a local slightly-sparkling dry white wine, just before going home for dinner.

The custom is to ask the barman for a plate, load it up with pintxos that tickle your fancy, then pay up for whatever you eat and drink when you leave.

These tasty treats often feature local ingredients including ham, prawn, mushrooms and peppers spiked with a toothpick.

Gilda, a tiny skewer of olive, anchovy and pepper, is a classic.

A tasting tour

The alleyways of the city’s picturesque old town is peppered with bars offering pintxos of every sort, but as you’d expect, the standard is not equal everywhere, so to help us navigate the bars, we hitched a ride with a handful of other gastronauts on a pintxos-tasting tour with gastronomic experience organizers San Sebastian Food.

Our cheery guide, Elin, not only took away the anxiety of uncovering and ordering the best pintxos at the best bars, but she gave us real insight into a region and city where food is taken so seriously that men meet up to cook and eat at ‘txoko,’ private gents-only eating societies where – in other cities – they might congregate at a golf or squash club.

First stop was a bar owned by former boxer Paco Bueno, specializing in ‘gambas en gabardine,’ plump prawns deep-fried in their batter ‘jackets.’

A couple of alleyways away we sunk our teeth into a simple pintxos of perfect, succulent sirloin steak, and a heap of flavoursome green Gernika peppers, washed down with a glass of well-rounded red.

And more…

Round the corner, we scoffed down fried patatas bravas and mussels with a rich spicy sauce.

At the next bar, we perched at a table al fresco for rich foie gras and veal cheeks on cauliflower puree.

The finale was a culinary experience at award-winning Zeruko, where we were served a dish of smoking cod with lettuce shot, and a desert of an egg made of lemon cream with a passion fruit ‘yolk’ to be mopped up with a lemon sponge tower.

To finish? A pretty ‘Sechuan Button,’ a flower that we were told would ‘cleanse our palate,’ that gave our mouths a searing gustatory trip, a suitably adventurous end to our culinary journey.

Tour
    San Sebastian Food not only offers lively tours of the best pintxo bars in town, it offers food and wine tastings at its airy, stylish studio in the heart of the old town, as well as cookery courses, short breaks and walking tours throughout the region.
    sansebastianfood.com

Quick Tips

Tour

San Sebastian Food not only offers lively tours of the best pintxo bars in town, it offers food and wine tastings at its airy, stylish studio in the heart of the old town, as well as cookery courses, short breaks and walking tours throughout the region.
 
sansebastianfood.com

Buy

Bring back high quality gastronomic souvenirs from gourmet boutique Zapore Jai in San Sebastian’s old town.

The owner hand-carves high quality acorn-fed Bellota Iberian ham and salamis on the premises, as well as beautifully packaged tins of fish, foie gras, cheese and wines from the Basque region.

If you don’t want to carry it in your hand luggage, order online.
    zaporejai.com

Stay

Once the iconic Astoria Cinema, Astoria 7 is now a quirky but stylish hotel that pays homage to the city’s famous annual film festival.

Each of the 102 rooms is dedicated to one of the film industry heavyweights who have attended the festival since it started in 1953, from Ang Lee to Angelica Houston, and decorated with photos of them taken during their stays in the city.

Rooms from $124, astoria7hotel.com