Poor Northern Spain. Most travellers beeline down south to the overpowering Moorish monuments such as the Alhambra in Granada, the famous (and sometimes not so famous) beaches along the coastline of the Costa del Sol, and then across to Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and surrounding neighbourhoods to try some local tapas and pintxos.
Hang on. What was that? Firstly, the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona is the worst place to go to have an authentic experience (more about that another day) and secondly, pintxos and tapas, although now widely adopted, are not even local to Catalan cuisine anyway. The Catalans are far too civilised to call that kind carry on their own!
But if you are a true lover of food, lover of wine and lover of culture, then you need to visit Northern Spain.
This is the part of Spain where the locals outnumber the tourists, the food is almost guaranteed to be good on every corner, and wine of all different varieties is cheap and plentiful – 80 cents for a glass of Rioja anyone? Here are three cities in Northern Spain that every self-respecting food lover needs to add to their travel itinerary, stat.
Street art in Logroño – “The Camino de Santiago is done by tapas”
Santiago de Compostela
With its Mercado de Abastos that stocks over 130+ types of fish and shellfish which are then sold to the cities 1,000 restaurants and bars each day, it’s no wonder that Santiago de Compostela is a must for any food-loving traveller. In fact, Galicia as a whole has a very, let’s say, “refined” cuisine.
This is thanks to it’s 1,500+ kilometres of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean, coupled with it’s lush, Oceanic climate (think England or New Zealand) which means the cows, sheep and goats are all munching well and therefore producing great cheese. And I can’t forget Rías Baixas in the south of Galicia, which were the nice, smooth white wine Albariño is produced – the local Galician tipple that goes well with almost anything that the region has to offer.Yes, these are just a few reasons why you should be eating your way around Santiago de Compostela. From the basic taverns to the fancy restaurants, they are all serving up what people say is the best seafood in Spain. I would agree with them.
Yes, these are just a few reasons why you should be eating your way around Santiago de Compostela. From the basic taverns to the fancy restaurants, they are all serving up what people say is the best seafood in Spain. I would agree with them.
The streets of the old town at Santiago de Compostela
Photo Credit: J. A. Alcaide
The Best Restaurants in Santiago de Compostela
It means that at times you are spending a little bit more for some dishes, but when some of the products are such a delicacy that even the market price is at least 50 EUR per kilogram, it makes sense.
I always steer clear of Rúa Franco (the main road in town is NOT where you find the best quality food) and explore the cobbled back streets, finding whatever simple bar I come across for a quick drink and tapa. Though aside from this, it’s worth heading a little out of the old town to check out Bodegón Os Concheiros for a simple and authentic Galician pulpería – a local bar where they serve up the local speciality pulpo (octopus).
Some other places I love visiting in Santiago de Compostela are O Dezaseis – for a local Galician tavern, O Curro da Parra – for some high quality and creative tapas while sitting outside on the terrace, and Abastos 2.0 – for an evening wine and tapa and to just feel much more posh that I really am.
The star dish of Santiago de Compostela & Galicia – pulpo!
Photo Credit: Or Hiltch
San Sebastian
While Logroño is the place to go for a traditional pintxo experience (we will come to that shortly), San Sebastian is the place to go for a modern take on pintxos. But regardless of what city you are in, the basis of the tradition is more or less the same. Moving around from bar to bar, having one drink and one pintxo in each stop.
While many of San Sebastian’s pintxo bars in the Old Town will have the pintxos displayed on the bar top, these days, the best pintxos on offer are are the ones cooked to order. They are cooked up fresh and come out on a small plate, complete with a miniature knife and fork.
These pintxos could almost be likened to a bite-sized gourmet meal – think slightly seared tuna with poppy seeds drizzled with tomato puree, creamy barley risotto folded with blue cheese, and filo pastry sacks of crayfish with spicy pepper sauce and threads of leek. Yes, these are the kind of things you find on a txikiteo (pintxo bar crawl) in San Sebastian, and all of the seafood on offer washes down well with a glass of txakoli, the dry and lightly sparking Basque white wine.
The Best Pintxo Bars in San Sebastian
Some of my favourite places to visit in San Sebastian on my txikiteo are Borda Berri, La Cuchara de San Telmo, and Dakara Bi (but don’t be fooled at Dakara Bi – the best pintxos are not the ones you see on the bar top – look at the blackboard menu).
Once I have had my fill of savoury treats, my txikiteo is sometimes topped off with a slice of the best cheesecake in the world. I never thought I would succumb to the hype, but it’s true. Although La Viña serves “ordinary” food, the cheesecake is the reason many visitors come here – and don’t worry, they are certainly used to people coming in just to order cheesecake. There is plenty to go around!
Pintxos and wine at Dakara Bi in San Sebastian
Txokos – Private Gastronomic Societies in San Sebastian
Another thing unique to the Basque culture is the txokos. Txokos (in Basque), or sociedad gastronomícas (in Spanish), are “gastronomic societies” that essentially operate as private members clubs.
In the Basque culture the woman is the boss of the household, so the men had to come up with a creative way to escape and have some time away from the family. There is no solid answer as to how the txokos started, though the first records of them in San Sebastian date back to the late 19th century. They could have possibly began by the local fishermen returning from the sea and gathering for something to eat.
Regardless of how the txokos (meaning a “cosy corner” in Basque) started, little did they know back then that they would turn into a way of preserving – and also evolving – Basque cuisine.
The idea is the txoko is that the men gather with their menfolk and cook together, which has allowed them to not only preserve the traditional Basque recipes, but also evolve the Basque cuisine too. After all, the Basques are known to be adapt to evolving and moving things forward.
Nowadays, the policies in the clubs vary. Some clubs will allow woman to be members, while others still do not allow woman to be members but allow them to enter – they are just not allowed to do any work, which means the cooking and cleaning is left to the men! I am still failing to find a problem with this…
This is an experience that the average tourist can’t try – you cannot just turn up at a txoko without being invited by a member, and membership is very limited and often passed down from father to son.
I am lucky enough to know someone who is a member, so I have visited a txoko on a number of occasions, but if you want to have the experience too, San Sebastian Urban Adventures offer a visit to a txoko as a custom made tour.
The beautiful beach of La Concha at San Sebastian, on the Bay of Biscay in Northern Spain
Photo Credit: Emmanuel DYAN
Logroño
Call me biased, but trust me when I say that Logroño has the most unique pintxo culture in Northern Spain. Zona Laurel includes Calle Laurel and no more than three other surrounding streets, and is the most famous place to go on a ruta de pintxo (pintxo bar crawl) in Logroño. This small area of pedestrianised streets in Logroño’s Casco Antiguo, has more than 70 pintxo bars crammed in side by side, which means not only the bars, but the streets too, are often taken over by hungry locals.
Where as San Sebastian is great to experience more modern and innovative pintxos, Logroño likes to keep things real. For most of the part, there are no fancy flairs, just good honest food. Many of the choices still come served in the traditional way, skewered and/or on top of a piece of bread (after all, the word pintxo comes from the Spanish word pinchar, meaning, to pierce). Although some modern twists have started to sneak their way into Zona Laurel, the extravagance of San Sebastian has stayed right where it belongs.
Logroño is still the best for a authentic experience where you are will share your evening with locals of all ages. Everybody, from those in prams to those with walking sticks, come out in the evenings to enjoy socialising over a bite or two.
Calle Laurel, the street where the main concentration of Logroño’s pintxo bars are found.
Photo Credit: avidday
The Best Pinxto Bars in Logroño
I have so many favourite pintxo bars around Zona Laurel that it is hard to just choose a few, but if I had to pick…well. Where to start? I would have to say Bar Soriano, for the iconic mushroom pintxo and the experience of eating in a place where the ONLY thing they sell is their one speciality, Juan y Pinchame to get a little bit of aloha in your life with a prawn and pineapple skewer, and Bar Sebas for some pimentos rellonos – red peppers stuffed with meat or cod.
So are these fantastically food orientated cities tempting you to visit Northern Spain? Sure, Northern Spain might not have the Alhambra like Granada, the Alcazar like Seville, and the Mezquita like Cordoba, and it may be off the well trodden tourist trail. But not only are these cities and their culture a completely different experience to larger cities in Spain, each of them is also a food lovers paradise – good food, good value, and an authentic cultural experience.
Logroño’s star pintxo – mushrooms at Bar Soriano
Have you visited any of these places before? Would it be somewhere you would add to your travel plans?
Psssst: Here are the addresses of the above-mentioned bars and restaurants, so you can try them for yourself.
Santiago de Compostela
Bodegón Os Concheiros – Rúa dos Concheiros 2
Dezaseis – Calle San Pedro, 16 Bajo
O Curro da Parra – Rúa Travesa, 20
Abastos 2.0 – Rúa das Ameas, 13
San Sebastian
Borda Berri – Fermin Calbeton 12
La Cuchara de San Telmo – Calle 31 de Agosto, 28
Dakara Bi – Calle 31 de Agosto, 27
La Viña – Calle 31 de Agosto, 3
Logroño
Bar Soriano – Travesía de Laurel, 2
Juan y Pinchame – Calle Laurel, 9
Bar Sebas – Calle del Albornoz, 3
Anju@TravelingNoodles.com says
Reading your post early morning is not a great idea. Now my breakfast of oatmeal is not appetizing anymore.
Cyra says
Ha ha ha, well if it makes you feel any better my breakfast this morning was a horrible and overpriced airport breakfast 😛 Thanks for stopping by!
Kim says
For a first time trip to Spain I still say Madrid, Seville and Granada is the best introduction. Easter processions are intense in Sevilla but it will be an unforgettable experience, quite moving even if you’re not Catholic.
Cyra says
It depends on what you are after. I have personally travelled with many first-time visitors to Spain (as their guide) on trips just to visit the north, and they have loved the experience– it’s totally different to what people are expecting. But if you set on seeking out sun, flamenco, Moorish monuments, then of course places like Seville and Granada are the best. But comparing the north and south of Spain is like comparing chalk and cheese.