This was supposedly the best seafood restaurants in Hondarribia. We gave it to attempts during our…read morestay there the first one the waiter was very lovely and spoke English. The white asparagus was amazing and that's about where the meal ended. We had ordered the deep-fried monkfish, and it was undercooked and extremely greasy as were the potatoes. Thinking we just didn't understand the menu. We gave it a second try and it was not any better the second time they said they did not have a reservation, but seated us anyway. Our second experience was even more underwhelming. We found this place to be overpriced and difficult to get into for no real reason after two attempts I would not recommend if you're looking for a good restaurant in this area I would recommend Almameda that just received is Michelin star and did not disappoint.

The experience here was superb. Our server, so-so with English, but then my Spanish is so-so; we…read moremade it work. When we pointed to items on the menu - we chose only fish/seafood for the evening - she'd go into the kitchen, bring out the fish to show us, confirming if if it was piece too big (she brought out a 1.5 kilo piece of turbot, which we could normally take care of, but we had ordered other dishes). The dishes were amazing: monkfish (cooked perfectly) & clams in a traditional Basque green sauce, anchovies with green chilies and onions, the bacalao al pil pil was beautiful, and a main course of a type of cod perfectly grilled. It's a modest-looking place, but don't let it fool you. The server made the evening very memorable. So, if you make out to this special little town, and you should, try this place.

After walking around looking for a tapas bar we found this restaurant. It had nice outdoor seating…read morethat was perfect since our dog was with us for lunch. We did order a few tapas that were tasty. Then I noticed the impressive sandwiches the other tables were ordering, so of course I had to have one too. I'm so glad I did! The sandwich I ordered I believe was call a Cuban. It was like a breakfast sandwich on a whole other level. It was huge! Seriously I'd back down to Spain for the day just to have that sandwich again. By the way did I mention the service was awesome.... We had a young guy that just made the whole experience fun. Our group of people spoke a few languages. So we were all trying our best to communicate in Spanish. Unfortunately we weren't very good. Luckily our server was able to understand us and even managed to make a few jokes. Overall in was a brilliant first lunch in Spain.

Outstanding Michellin star restaurant that was perfect from beginning to end. The seating is…read morespacious, the ambiance is relaxed, and the food was as good as it gets. The prefix menu changes frequently. Each course is served with Silver Service and explained. Pacing was perfect. I attached our menu to give a sense of what's offered.

From the moment we were greeted to our check the service was excellent! The waited was fluent in…read moreEnglish and described the menu with great descriptions. The started with local sardines and tomato jam that had the perfect balance. The regional in season white asparagus was so amazing, so tender and flavorful. The short rib we a special local dish that they added their own creatively to and the carrot purée was the right balance. We had local oysters in a local wine and like all things here it was great. Their belief is the source needs to be very close to the kitchen. The ambiance is clean with new designs and a pice of dirt wood at each table with the location. We would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Hondarribia is an extraordinary town with a gastronomic explosion…read more Few tourists (contrast with Saint Jean de Luz). Little urban blight (contrast with Donastia) Picturesque everywhere. (The ugly stuff was foisted off on the neighboring town of Irun.) And magnificent restaurants everywhere. Ironically - Cafe Exteberria is NOT one of the famous restaurants. If you want the places the New York Times or the food critics love - go down to the waterfront. The critics say - probably correctly - you will eat like a king. Cafe Exteberria is a neighborhood joint. It is in the old city within the ancient city walls. An unusual (and highly desirable) feature of the old city is that there is VERY LITTLE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT anywhere in the old city. There are not only few tourist stores. There are no stores period stop the end. In the Middle Ages, walled cities had the houses people lived in, a castle and nothing else. If you did business, you did it in the streets. Hondarribia has kept things exactly that way. Not a single house has been knocked down or cleared out for modern business. The houses have been upgraded for modern comforts. (They now have flush toilets instead of people dumping their bedpans in the street.) Everything else has been maintained. So if you want to eat, there are only two choices. There are some tavernas off of the central square. In the southern part of the old city far from the central square, there is Cafe Exteberria. It pretty much only takes care of the locals. It is a wonderful establishment. It carries a small but wonderful assortments of global microbrews. (None from the U.S.. but intriguing examples of Mexican, Danish and Scotch artisanal beers.) There is plenty of Spanish/Basque food and drink. They keep a local red vermouth in a barrel and serve it with fruit and ice. That is a fine fine beverage and I endorse it heartily. They have a nice little menu of sandwiches and pinxtos. We went with the omelet with tuna and the deep fried hot peppers. Fine dishes both. Two additional marks of class. a) The television was set to the Mainland Chinese channel (with Spanish subtitles.) While we ate we watched Chinese telenovelas. The middle aged owner of a business was scheming against his brothers and being morally corrected by the rest of his family. b) The owner has a first rate jazz collection - mostly in vinyl - which she plays as the background music. Great vermouth, fine basque food, Chinese telenovelas, and late fifties jazz vocals. What's not to like?

We splurged at this place on our last night Hondarribia with a group of ten and had a great time…read more The atmosphere of this upscale restaurant is luxurious with the upholstered chairs around the extravagantly decorated tables, the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the carpets on the wooden floor. In summer, so I have been told, is the terrace a beautiful spot as well. The chef greeted us very friendly and took the time to explain his menu and the specials of the day in a mix of Spanish, French and English. You could really see that he is passionate about the dishes he makes. The food was a revelation: The starters like a degustation starter, the fish soup or the filled raviolis, the mains like the filet steak, scallops with mushrooms or turbot and even the desert were all delicious. The service was one of the most attentive, caring and fun I have seen in a while. We really indulged ourselves and still paid less than 50 Euro per person, which in part is due to the fact that necessities like water or coffee are priced more than reasonable (3 and 2 Euro respectively). So if you feel like having an excellent dinner which still is reasonably priced, go for it.