Azurmendi was on my to go list for a long time. I've made 2 previous reservations but because of…read morespecial circumstances, we had to cancel. This is my 3 attempt to dine here and it lived up to and far exceeded my expectations.
As soon as we walked into the restaurant, we were transported to a lunch of greeneries which was calm and soothing. We were immediately served with a welcome drink and were presented with a picnic basket shortly after which included 3 small bites plus a drink. We then walked through 2 additional rooms including their kitchen and their "garden" room in which we were told to pick things off from the room to eat - I kind of felt like Hansel and Gretel for a moment.
Before we got to our dining table, I was already half full before the start of our tasting menu. There were 12 courses to the tasting menu and for each course, Chef Eneko brilliantly highlights and heightens the taste of the main ingredient in various ways. We can really appreciate the freshness of each ingredient and complexity in putting the dish together. Each plating was also beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to the eye and just as scrumptious as it looks - I almost didn't want to eat it because it looks like a piece of art. Every dish was multidimensional with layers of flavors bursting inside my mouth with every bite. There was also a good balance of texture. It would take forever for me to go through very single dish but there wasn't one single dish that I didn't like and each dish also had an element of surprise.
One thing I want to note is when I first made the reservation 3 years ago, they had offered children's menu. Since then , they had changed their policy and said they welcome children age 10 and up. I emailed the restaurant explaining I have a 10 and 8 year old but they are very accustomed to fine dining and I promised they would not cause any disturbances. They were very accommodating and agreed to welcome my family. They also made sure they get the same food experience so at times when adults were offered an alcoholic beverage, they would make the same thing but without the alcohol so my kids wouldn't feel left out. Another thing to point out is when we attempted to order a tasting menu for my kids as well, we were told it would be too much for them and they recommend to just order a la carte dish for them. I really appreciate their honesty because it turned out that was the perfect amount of food for my kids. Many other restaurants would not accommodate like this and would require us to order a tasting menu for our kids even though it's clearly too much food for them.
Their service was impeccable. Extremely friendly, and their attention to detail is on another level. The restaurant is spacious, calm, and comfortable. All the tables were spaced apart far enough that we didn't even noticed anyone else was there until we turn around. Chef Eneko were also in the kitchen during the whole duration of the service to oversee everything which we appreciate because you no longer see that in a lot of the other restaurants.
Overall, Azurmendi is worth the trip to Bilbao just to dine here. Price point is very reasonable. This is not just a restaurant you come to eat, it's an immersive culinary experience that's unforgettable and we will be talking about it for a long time. We will definitely be back!