We recently went for dinner at Arzak for my 30th. I always try to visit restaurants with no expectations and not try compare experiences. That said, San Sebastián is a food destination and you’d expect a restaurant with such high acclaim to deliver perhaps even higher standards than others we’ve visited.
We opted for the flexible tasting menu as neither of us fancied a full wine paring on this occasion. On paper the menu looked great, the additional course choices and fish of the day options were interesting.
We started with a glass of Cava to have with the snacks and bread. The wine was lovely, a great representation of the style and was reasonably priced. The snacks and bread were a different story. The only one that even slightly memorable was the fried garlic soup which was punchy and technically well executed. The bread wasn’t exactly inspiring, if anything the sourdough was slightly stale… butter and olive oil options were good.
The first course was cured Mackerel with tomatoes, preserved lemon and a fruit emulsion. It was plated absolutely beautifully but everything just fell a little flat. The mackerel was strangely mild in flavour but well seasoned and the tomatoes were excellent. The fruit emulsion just didn’t really bring anything to the dish.
Next we had a choice of prawns or hake jowls. Neither of which were better than any iteration from the local pintxos bars. Both dishes were under-seasoned. They had deep fried the prawn head separately for you though which is always fun to eat.
Next was the egg dish. For something that was ‘saline’ and served with an anchovy garum, more anchovies and capers it was remarkably under-seasoned. The garum was great, just needed more of it.
Next were the two fish of the day courses. We both opted for the squid and while it was well executed it seemed more at home in a local taberna than a 3* restaurant.
Next were the two ‘main courses’. I opted for the pigeon and my wife had the lamb. This is where things improved. The pigeon dish was absolutely delightful. The bitter carob and orange complemented it perfectly. The lamb dish was really interesting. I’ve always enjoyed lamb when paired with seaweed and this was no exception.
The ‘sweet’ courses were, to me, the highlights of the meal and I typically don’t have a sweet tooth. They gave us an additional dessert to share as well. I can’t for the life of me remember all of the ingredients but it was served with a liquorice and green olive ice cream. Certainly the most memorable bite from the meal.
Overall the food was good, I know this probably doesn’t read as such, but I certainly expect more from a 3*. It also wasn’t very innovative. I felt a lot of what was served could have been at any other fine dining restaurant across Europe. I was expecting more of the ‘evolutionary, investigative, and avant-garde’ side of new basque cuisine and this didn’t feel like any of those things.
The thing that really irked me was the service. All of the waiters were completely passive. They spent no time explaining the dishes, or asked how the meal was. Really the bare minimum. They also made some weird comments when we requested two glasses of the Pedro Jimenez. The only positive part of the service was speaking to Elena. She was lovely, explained some of the dishes with real passion and took time to ask us questions about our trip and meal.
Finally, the restaurant also felt weirdly clinical. Almost like new age hospital with all the bright white lighting. I know it’s ‘modern’ in design but it just wasn’t a comfortable space to dine in. Although, this feeling could have been exacerbated by the bad service.
by O_Ksh