We came here on a whim without checking reviews first (very uncommon for us) but were surprised…read morewith how great our experience was, especially compared to the low reviews we saw afterwards! If you're set on ordering a super authentic Spanish meal, this would not be the place for you. With that being said, we thought the food was fantastic--I highly suggest the chicken curry and bacon burger--and the atmosphere was one of our favorites of our time in Spain. Kind of a farm chic feel (if that's even a thing). Great, cheap red wine and their desserts were to DIE for. I'm not even a dessert person, but order the dulce de leche crepe if you want your life forever changed. Also, I don't like cheesecake, but the Oreo cheesecake was a huge favorite among my family. They said it was their favorite cheesecake they've had in Spain and they've had several. For the most part, the servers spoke English and also had an English menu available, which were great bonuses for my family who doesn't speak much Spanish. The staff were not overly friendly, but they weren't difficult either. The bathrooms were super clean and functional. We loved our experience here and look forward to coming back!

This place was totally disappointing. As a vegan I was looking forward to gazpacho and hummus but…read morethe gazpacho was mediocre and the hummus was tasteless. Finally ordered the fruit salad for dessert and they were out. It was a weekend so the meal was prix fixe at €15 and they wouldn't budge even though I received only a tasteless fraction of what one would ordinarily get for that price. There are so many other wonderful restaurants in Bilbao so skip this one!

Long glass cases filled with elaborate and beautifully presented pintxos. I ended up trying six…read moredifferent ones: - Spring roll on a stick with a delicious flavorful filling and a chestnut sauce - Croquetas de Pisto with vegan sausage and with my beloved blistered padron pepper - Vegan "blood sausage" topped with some kind of fried dumpling with a delicious filling that included green olives -Encrusted tofu with dipping sauce that included some kind of red berry -bruschetta and zucchini on bread -Vegan "tuna" flavored cabbage salad on bread. Everything was simply amazing! Beautiful with great textures and flvaors. A work of art and such a fun experience. On another visit I tried their vegan schnitzel sandwich with mustard that was delicious but less creative and pretty than the pintxos :) Counter service, at least when I was here. My general rating system: 1 star: I would stay away 2 stars: Has some good things about it but I generally don't recommend. 3 stars: Pretty good. I wouldn't go out of my way to go back but a decent place 4 stars: Great place. I would go back. 5 stars: I highly recommend stopping whatever you are doing and making plans to try it out! An Evie favorite!

The food is ok, it's a vegan restaurant if you are looking for vegan options, but the staff is…read morereally bad... I waited over 10 min to get my order in, especially when I had already talked to the waiter on the way in, asking about the Menu del Dia. As I got served, the food was ok...I got the whole fish and it was a bit bland....when it was time for dessert, they gave me a few options and I picked one....but then the waiter asked me if I wanted coffee or tea...I asked, is it included in the Menu del Dia...he did not say anything, just kind of nodded.... I got a green tea. When it was time to pay, I was charged 15.20 euros....I said, I thought the menu was 13.50...then he said, but you got a tea.... I said, I asked you if it was included and that is why I got it....I usually don't drink tea anyway.... So, they kind of cheated on a customer by trying to get more revenue. Not good...

The Amaren group keeps growing. Inwas told they have around a dozen restaurants now. But we have…read morebeen concentrating on the Basque beef traditional ones. The original Amaren maybe one of the best txuleton places Ive been period. Probably tied neck and neck for different reasons with Casa Nicolas in Tolosa. Aiitaren takes the combo of Amaren and their Hambueyseria into one building to at comes anointed in the late 1800s. A classic space with modern beef. based cuisine. How crazy are we? We dis a burger as our appetizer then a solomollo with fries and piquillo as the main. Its weird to say that Copenhagen and Bilbao have hamburger places that put everything in the radius of my house to shame. Oh wait steaks too. And here theyre both in the same place . Id kill for something lime this near my house. The space is bug but it's popular so reservations ate advised. You can slip into the bar area if it's a last minute thing. . Im going to be thinking about tbis meal for a while...

We chose the lunch tasting menu with 1 alcoholic pairing and 1 non alcoholic pairing. This was…read moreprobably our most expensive meal during our week in Spanish Basque, and definitely the most disappointing. It started off decently, since I really enjoyed the amuse bouche of truly reimagined classic dishes, like anchovy with lettuce purée, and cod with chili and pilpil sauce. That shot glass of aquafaba soup and Swiss chard foam was amazing. After that, all the listed dishes save for the hake and pork were just not that great. The lettuce salad looked cool with the lettuce pearl in the center, but the skin was too thick and once pierced left an unappetizing shell with not enough of the actual lettuce puree. The little potato medallions were under seasoned. The white asparagus cake was over powered by the house made hoisin sauce. The artichoke itself was nice but I had to choke down a rubbery squid that went with it. The anchovy dish was, well, fishy, and the pasta was undercooked, but our server said it was purposely "crunchy." The lamb tongue was a little too gamey for my taste, but might suit others. The dessert was entirely too tart from the lemon, and the fresh strawberries tasted like an afterthought next to the strawberry ice cream, but I appreciated the variety in texture with the slight crunch from the merengue/macaron. As for the drink pairing, husband liked the wine pairing. I had high expectation when a non alcoholic option is so prominently noted on the menu. I fully regret getting it and felt almost swindled at 40ish euro for drinks that were neither tasty nor paired well with the food. The first few were supposed to be kombuchas, but they lacked the signature tang or slight fizz from kombuchas, and just tasted like lightly infused water. Even the tamarind one. The banana cinnamon one was just bad and I don't know why it was paired with squid and artichoke. Then came the sodas that tasted like Fanta, an orange tonic and a lime tonic. If they had bothered to add some herb syrup, or some spiced or salt rim, anything, then I'd feel there was at least some effort beyond pouring juice and tonic together. And by the way, a sweet orange drink is not the way to go with something so gamey as lamb in my opinion. I could've used the lime tonic then. I don't think I'd ever return or recommend to others, but I am giving 3 stars for good amuse, great views, and amazing service.

This review is for an event catered for our World Open Innovation Conference group at the…read moreGuggenheim Museum in Bilbao. We were gathered in the forum and tried various dishes brought out to us by servers. Having a social event at the Guggenheim was special in itself but I want to keep this review focused on the food. Some of my favorites are listed below: Savories: I was pleased to try one of the most traditional and basic pintxos, the Gilda. It consisted of green peppers in vinegar, anchovies in brine, and green olives. I could not stop eating them! Marinated cod in garlic oil was another winner, especially when paired with a glass of Rioja. I also enjoyed Beef steak tartar with anchovy, and Grisini of Iberic ham. Sweets: Both the desserts were superb. The Mini Carolina lemon and meringue tartlet was a feast for the eyes, but the caramelized French toast was so good I had two! Bilbao continues to exceed expectations - can't wait to see what comes next!

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!

This was our first 3 Michelin star dinner and we were blown away. The entire meal is an experience…read moreand took almost 4 hours from start to finish. They don't rush you and want you to really enjoy the food and craftsmanship they put into making really unique items. It was located about 20mins outside of Bilbao and the location was beautiful. You get to see the kitchen and chef during the initial tour and all the food was so creative and delicious. They are very accommodating and willing to adjust menu items for certain dietary restrictions and we felt so taken care of. Each dish was described by a server and we had at least 4 people checking on us throughout the meal. The dinning room is spacious but not packed with only a few people so it was very serene. There were probably 2-3 menu items that we wouldn't traditionally eat and pushed our culinary boundaries a little but we figured that was part of the experience. We tried everything and walked away stuffed! You definitely get your moneys worth with an insane amount of food but it is still one of our most expensive dinners we've ever had. Overall, a great experience with extremely thoughtful staff and would recommend!

Excellent food and atmosphere. Friendly people thought very little English. I had the pulled pork…read morewhich was amazing. My lady friend had tuna and tomato salad. Everything was great.

Fun cafe with eclectic decor. Great spot to grab a coffee and relax! On nice days it's a great…read moreplace to people watch in the old town

Listed as open but it appears CLOSED DOWN. Either that or they are very closed on Tuesday at 6:50…read morepm- no one answers door... so sad. ** seems that they are closed between 3 and 7 pm ** walked by around 8:30 and the doors were open... too bad they didn't update their hours of service on the web. Better luck next time.

We went very local for dinner tonight. About a mile from hotel. The owner spoke a very fast…read morebasque Spanish. I couldn't catch but a few words. No menu. This husband wife team just tells you the specials. He tried to pantomime some methods of cooking and ingredients. He was trying so hard. It will be a good memory. Below is what we got when we ordered our one word meal. Wife - pork. Me - fish. My dish was scrambled eggs zucchini and cod (I think). Traditional from what I can gather. It was very good and yet something I would have never put together. Wife had a chunk of pork loin that was pressed onto a griddle or cast iron pan. The crust on it was great. I'm betting the pig was local too, very tasty. The bread was fresh very good. Wine was very good. Venjeo. The whole meal with a bottle of vino and terrace seating. $34 euro. I went inside to pay and the guy has won some cooking trophy's. Lots of locals showed up around 9 pm.

This place gets five stars for the wagyu hamburguesas alone. It's like rare wagyu beef on an…read moreeverything bagel! Exceedingly good. I had to have 2 orders. In general, good solid tapas, a good wine and beer list, and overall the best food I've had in Spain so far. Overall the service is pretty sluggish, and not a lot of English spoken here, but hey, it's in Spain. If you want English go to England.

One of the best places for "Pintxos" or tapas in this area around the Calle Licenciado Poza and the…read moreCalle del Maestro Garcia Rivero. Lively, original Pintxos and friendly staff ! Not to be missed !