Great staff and history of ciders/cidres on tap! Ciders are popular in this region and they make…read morevarious flavors. The ciders are fresh.

A very unique experience…read more If you have never been to a cider house in Basque Country and do not have an experience or local friend with you, it will take a you a few minutes (or even longer!) to figure out what to do when you walk into one! You are given a glass, walked over to a long wooden table, left with a plate full of delicious chorizo, which usually arrives within the first minutes, and left there to figure the rest out for yourselves! We were fortunate to have a good friend who was born and raised in the area, so he coached us when we visited Petritegi. Our group got a table next to the rows of cider barrels, so all we had to do was get up, take three steps, and fill up our glasses with cider right out of a barrel. Just as we were sitting down, someone in the hall behind us yelled out "txotx!" (pronounced "CHOACH") and a whole bunch people around the hall jumped up and started walking towards him! Our friend told us that "txotx" means the person is about to open the tap on one of the huge barrels. All interested parties are supposed to stand up from their meals, get in line, and hold their glass at just the right angle to catch a couple of fingers of cider from that hissing stream. A lady who was standing behind me on the line saw me filling up my glass, and said, "No, no! pour just a little and keep coming back for more!" Apparently, the idea is to drink your cider while it is still bubbly from the pour. See, you are supposed to hold your glass as far away from the tab as possible so the one inch or so that your pour has as much air bubbles in it as possible! Needless to say that we all got cider all over our hands until we finally got a hang of it and stated txotxing left and right!! Meanwhile at the table the food kept coming! Salt cod omelette, Fried salt cod with peppers, bone-in ribeye steak and for Dessert (cheese, quince jelly, walnuts, almond 'tiles' and 'cigarettes'). Cider and bread were included of course! This meal at Petritegi was one of the most memorable parts of our group of six. We laughed, we drank, we laughed, we talked, we laughed, we ate and we laughed some more and in between we yelled out txotx as often as we could!

This is can't-miss if you're in the San Sebastián area. We were staying in San Sebastián, got a…read moretaxi to drive us to Petritegi. We had a reservation for a tour at 11am. Fascinating to see the apple orchards and see how they make cider. So much fun trying to catch cider with a cup as they open the spigot from the giant barrel and cider comes streaming. The traditional Basque meal we had was incredible: sausage, cod omelet, fried cod with bell peppers, huge steak, finished with walnuts, cheese and butter cookies. AND all you can drink cider, ofc. Afterwards we walked to town and caught a bus back to San Sebastián. Perfect outing.

We were in San Sebastián for the week and found this great bar for one of the best ciders we had!!!…read more Great location, and very friendly.

After a couple of nights of pintxo hopping in Donostia's old town, my wife and I were looking to…read moreenjoy a sit-down dinner. We came to the right spot. Sidreria Beharri is a Basque cider house. But instead of a fixed menu featuring all you can drink cider, we chose a different selection. We started off with two glases of Txakoli, or Basque sparkling white wine, along with a plate of sliced fresh tomatoes garnished with olive oil and salt. Splendid! Our main dish was rape, or angler fish, which was recommended by our server. It was a great suggestion. The fish was filleted and its soft white meat was grilled with butter, olive oil and parsley, and it came with thinly sliced potatoes grilled in the same sauce. It was outstanding. We finished off the meal with a nice slice of cheesecake-fluffy but not too sweet. The servers were attentive and answered all our questions, and the atmosphere was lively as other guests enjoyed the fixed meals that came with unlimited glasses of cidra, or Basque hard cider, which they filled from a wooden barrel. I highly recommend this fine establishment.

This Family run Basque Cider house is only open about three months out of the whole year (for 2011,…read moreJan 21-Apr 30th). But if it is open, and you're anywhere near San Sebastian, make a reservation and GO! I don't want to give too much away about the experience, but suffice it to say that this visit was one of the most fun of our trip so far. Super friendly folks, and as far as we could tell, we were the only people there who weren't longtime friends of the family. They've had the cider house in the family for something like 40+ years. They seemed so surprised to see us that they asked how we ended up there... In any case, it was definitely an evening that will be one of the highlights of our trip. I can't wait to go back! Txotx! (note that Zelaia is in Hernani just south of Astigarraga...about half an hour from San Seb)

This was a culinary experience like no other. This cider house in Basque Country is one of the…read morefinest. Just having the cider poured directly from an old wooden cider vast to your glass is unreal, and as good as it gets. Yes, the cider is excellent, but we can of forget about the food. A series of courses that come at an un-rushed pace make a great compliment to this whole experience. It all starts with some chorizo and freshly baked bread. Then you make sure to get more cider, and you will receive the tortilla de bacalao. This fish tortilla is incredible good, you cannot even know there is fish, just this amazing flavor that you try to guess bite after bite. Then you will have an amazing roasted cod with peppers and some finely sliced lightly battered fried onions. In case you still hungry, a very thick piece of rib eye is on the way, no worries. This beautiful cut (called chuleton) and grilled over open flames from charcoal is done just perfectly. Meat here are all grass fed, so no need to talk about quality. And of course you would have been going for more cider. Make sure you take your time and watch your pace, it is not a race. This experience may take a few hours, it is up to you. At the end, you will have some sweets your ways. You will experience some sort of butter cookies with membrillo and Idiazabal cheese. This was an outstanding experience, and very reasonable priced. If in San Sebastián, this place is a visit that must be done. Oh, before I forget, the service was excellent. The waitress staff was always making sure we were happy and well taken care of.

We were looking for a traditional "cider house" meal and boy did we find it. Look no further -The…read morefood was fantastic and the experience was nothing short of awesome. The experience consists of a 5 course meal (set menu) which consists of little chorizo bites followed by an amazing cod omelette and then a plate of some of the best cod we've tried served with some perfectly fried crispy onions. the last dish tops them all with a huge aged steak cooked to perfection (a bit rare) before a dessert of cheeses and quince paste - all washed down with a variety of surprisingly unique tart ciders. As amazing as the food was, the experience surpassed it with regular calls to the barrels to pour yourself your own refreshing glass of cider and mingle with the locals. The staff is amazing- they took the time to tell us the long family history (15 generations!) in the ciderhouse following family recipes and explaining the menu and traditions. The best surprise was a new champagne like cider they offered us to try. We liked so much we even bought a case to take home.

From the owner: Sidrería tradicional en Astigarraga.read more