La Cuchara de San Telmo

 The best pinxto bar in San Sebastian?

Roasted hake, sweet onion and garlic

When I was doing my research on where to eat at San Sebastian, and which place is worth going back to from my previous trips to there, one place stood out and that was La Cuchara de San Telmo. The tiny pintxo bar within the old town has less than 20 seats but is one of the most popular and highly rated pintxo bars in San Sebastian, I was really impressed with the quality of the cooking from my first visit back in 2018. While I hate no booking restaurants and hate queuing up for food, I would happily make an exception for a place like La Cuchara de San Telmo. For my second visit, it took me about 20 minutes to wait before securing seating.

Razor clams

Roasted octopus and cauliflower

The Iberico pig ear showcased how offset can be used and turned into something exceptional. It was hot-pressed on a grill, super crispy, and really well seasoned, it was the perfect dish with a bottle of ice-cooled beer. The sucking pig is a classic of the bar and it was indeed sensational. It was slow roasted in beer and had a lovely crispy skin while the meat was really tender, the apple puree offered some sweetness and sourness to offset the bold taste of the meat. it was heavenly. The roasted octopus was another outstanding dish, it had a lovely salty umami aroma and the texture was really soft, and worked so well with the cauliflower puree. 

Roasted suckling pig in lager

Pressed pig ear, hummus

What can I say, La Cuchara de San Telmo has kept its high standard after the Covid lockdown and is still turning out high-quality dishes that can rival fine dining restaurants. It has taken advantage of the amazing local ingredients and used the right flavours combination to enhance the taste. Now I have been there twice but I would be more than happy to return for a 3rd time when I visit the Basque country again. 

Food 4/5

What I paid: 
21 Euro per person with wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
15 Euro

31 de Agosto Kalea, 28, 20003 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain

http://www.lacucharadesantelmo.com/