Bought my Roscón from Don Manuel and was floored by the flavor and quality. The nata was light,…read moreflavorful, and overly sweet. The best surprise came in the middle when instead of the Jesus, there was small magnet of the famous tile of Bilbao. Incredible! Can't wait to buy another next year.

Excellent pastries. Large selection. Great flavor. Well, except the bunuelos, which were greasy…read morefrom being fried at too low of a temperature. . There's take away or seating on the right. I'm feeling gracious at giving four stars, though. The service is not good. The people who work there are nice. They helped me pick stuff out and were nice about my attempts at speaking Spanish. But the set up is as inefficient as possible. After picking out my items to have a seat, the items took forever to get to me. Why??? Are they doing through a metal detector? It was difficult to tell if the person who takes the pastries to the table is really doing something or just wasting my time. I do know that whenever I went to pay, the server had always disappeared -- a real feat in such a small space.

Highly recommend this place. Bilbao is known for Bollos de mantequilla, or rolls of butter. It's…read morebeen famous since the early 1800s. It's a sweet brioche with sugar sprinkled on it that's cut in half and filled with a sweet cream made of butter and eggs. So soft and sweet. Service was excellent! It's a beautiful shop! There was a line, and I didn't know what to get, and the nice lady told me that this is famous in Bilbao. 2.30 euros for one delicious ball. I wish I had gotten more!

This place is a typical bakery of literally hundreds of bakeries in this city. The cakes and…read morepastries are made from the finest ingredients and sold fresh. They are placed on little gold paper trays elaborately wrapped in expensive paper and tied with a ribbon. My two pies cost £5.65. The servers do not handle money rather it's a separate till away from the food counter.

Really cute little bakery. The pastries were fresh and delicious. The coffee was good too, but…read moreit's pretty hard to find a bad cup of coffee in Spain.

Perhaps the best Ice-cream bar i've ever been to. So many good flavours to choose from. Warnings to…read morethose who hates decision-making! I would especially recommend the gofre (belgic waffle) and white chocolate flavoured Ice-cream.

While in Bilbao, I told myself that I had to stick to a diet because in three days, I would be…read morebikini-clad in San Sebastian. That thought lasted all of 5 hours because as soon as I passed Nossi-Be, I backpedaled to take another look. From the glass window, I saw a display case of at least 30 flavors of ice cream. So then I told myself that unless they had turron de Jijona ice cream (my favorite flavor, which I have never seen outside of Spain), I was "just looking". But can I ever "just look"? In addition to turron de Jijona ice cream, Nossi-Be had some of the most creative, original, and surprisingly delicious flavors that I have ever seen in an ice cream shop. Have you ever tried kalimotxo [1] ice cream? Smoked salmon? Or how about bacalao al pil pil [2] ice cream? The woman at the ice cream counter began to get impatient with me as I tasted spoonful after spoonful of the bacalao (it's really good, trust me!), chipirones en su tinta (squid in ink), and foie gras flavors. Although I am a fan of the sweet-savory flavor combination, I had already promised myself a turron ice cream. And because I couldn't resist how dark the chocolate with marcona almonds looked (or tasted), I ordered a scoop of that as well. So much for that wearing a bikini thing. Given my perpetual state of weak willpower and/or my superfluous boy troubles, I've eaten a lot of ice cream. And this was by far the best ice cream I've had in Spain (or ever, for that matter). The chocolate with marcona almonds was just packed with almonds and bittersweet, yet creamy dark chocolate. The turron flavor was as though I had just bitten into a piece of turron de Jijona. There was so much honey, something most turron ice cream usually lacks. It wasn't sugary the way most ice cream can be; all of the sweetness was naturally derived from the ingredients used. This was definitely an expensive treat (just under 5 euro), but completely worth it. The nice thing about Nossi-Be is that it's not simply an ice cream stand, like some of the places in Casco Viejo. Grab a seat and enjoy, rather than having your ice cream on the run. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/kalimotxo-drink_n_1428364.html [2] http://spanishfood.about.com/od/fishseafoodrecipes/r/bacalaopilpil.htm

With a delicious dinner done, it was time for dessert and when I spotted Amorino, it was to be…read moregelato. A short queue but handled quickly, they have a dozen or so flavors of gelato and espresso brewed to order. The one gent behind the counter was friendly and spoke English clearly enough to be able to help us tourists get our sweets. I chose the Pistachio, which for a small was a very good portion. Smooth, creamy and with a few pistachios mixed through. Delicious. When he asked if I would also like a macaron with it, how could I say no? The caramel macaron was perfect with the gelato.

A stop on the food tour, Basquery is half bakery and half brew pub and half tapas. It's a neat…read morespace that is below ground level and with lots of exposed brick and stone, a lot of character. I liked the place. The Basque region and Spain in general are really more about wine than they are about beer, so to find a brewpub - and a great one, at that - was unexpected and a terrific find. Typical brewpub beer menu on offer with an APA, an IPA, a session stout and a Golden Ale on tap. There is probably more, but this was enough for a taste of Bilbao's beer culture startup.

Cool little brewery and bakery. Great service. I started out in Spanish but the servers had no…read moreproblems speaking English too. I tried the beer flight, which was delicious and a great deal! There was a stout, with great coffee notes but not too strong (I'm not normally a stout fan, but loved this one). There was a fruit beer with mango purée - that was my appetizer. Then I tried the Weiss-style, also delish, and an IPA. I was super hungry and over ordered, but I had a mixed meat and cheese board and patatas bravas, both of which were very tasty. Their in-house made bread was nice - crunchy crust and soft center. Definitely a little gem and worth a visit. They also have a rugby theme going, so good for all you rugby fans out there.

Great service & friendly staff! The gelato is delicious, my family visited during our trip to…read moreBilbao. Very clean inside too.

Best in Bilbao! Very tasty gelato! Mango with raspberry was my choice with macarron topping!read more

Chocolate truffle. Do you need to know more than that?…read more Baking pastries and desserts for over 160 years, Arrese has learned how to do it right. Breads, treats and for me, a truffle dusted in cocoa powder was all I needed to get my appetite whetted for the rest of the day. OMG. Sorry no, picture. I ate it and y'all are just an afterthought on this one.

Items Selected: Chocolate and Vanilla Truffles…read morePersian Palmier el Caramelo Pastel Crema with Citrus Meringue and Chocolate Shell Cream Pastry Basque Tart Pine Nut and Lemon Tart Located on the pedestrian only Gran Via with an opening hour of 09h00 in the same space it has occupied since 1852, Arrese is widely considered to be the "grand-dame" of Basque Pasteleria and arriving just as metal shutters were lifted the store itself certainly did resemble something withstanding the test of time while the baked goods were themselves hit-and miss. Now one of several outlets, their boxed chocolates and nougat available even in gift stores at BIO, it was admittedly with some surprise that my early morning arrival was met by Spanish only service, but trying as I might to limit the selection to just a few items it was not long before six pastries were boxed and bagged along with several chocolates intended for myself as well as gifts for others. Really no different than most in terms of the offerings, several familiar shapes of baked goods and cakes presented alongside cookies in a dazzling array of colors it was with mild weather finally present that seating was found at a bench bordering the brick road and beginning lightly with a cream donut the sweetness was quite limited, the same to be said of a small Gateau Basque that was either overcooked or a day-old with custard that had become gelatinous and hardened. Improving with a Pastel Crema featuring a crown far shorter than that at Suiza it was with the chocolate shell peeled away that attention was turned to the most unique pastry of the group and with a light orange core not unlike that of a Carballon the layer of pine nuts offered unique flavors of buttered toast atop the bold citrus, each bite compelling me to take another. Deciding at this point to taste the truffles, both sugar dusted confections featuring a thin outer shell over a core that was creamy and smooth, it was finally in two crispy concoctions that Arrese tasting did culminate, the Persian reference standard with a buttercream center while the Palmier was far too sweet for for solo indulgence beneath a quarter-inch thick shellack of caramelized sugar.

Im glad there are various locations so you dont have to trek all the way downtown. I was able to…read moreget what i needed, fresh & easy.

For Spain standard it was tourist friendly. I ordered a coffee to go and was able to get it. Nice…read morepastry selections and the ambience was comfortable.

I went into the cafe to do some work. When I entered it was very busy. I tried to walk into the…read moreback to see if there were any free seats. Twice when I attempted to pass through the narrow hall to the back seating area the manager cut me off to walk towards the back. I said nothing to her. Instead, I asked one of the servers if there were any free seats in that area. She said no. I made a comment to her about how at least business was good if they were so busy and left. The manager followed me out of the cafe and was speaking to me in Spanish. I told her twice that I didn't understand. She continued to follow me down the block, harassing me telling me that I wasn't welcome back. Then she continued to rant and yell. She kept standing in front of me, yelling in my face. I repeatedly told her to back up and leave me alone. She responded by telling me to back up. She continued to harass me, insult me and grabbed my broken arm that is on a sling. She wouldn't leave me alone. Eventually, two men who worked at different business on the same street has to physically separate us and remove the woman.