Bilbao Restaurants

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Admittedly I'd been kinda nervous about entering my first bar here. These are very much local's haunts, busy with people who have come to have a nibble and to read the morning's paper, shoppers stopping off for a respite from their retail therapy and have a natter or business folks conducting their meetings in a far more civilised environment than their boardrooms.

The one I finally worked up the courage for was this one which was about half-full as I entered. A small group of business-types were clustered under the TV, a smart-suited single guy was reading his paper in the corner and a pair of elegantly-dressed grandish dames were craftily lacing their morning coffee with the local brandy whilst procuring freebies from the barman as the pintxos platters were being changed.

The bar itself was stunning with its carved wooden-railed countertop, gleaming brasses, mirrored display shelves and little Art Deco touches such as the faux skylight in the ornately-molded wooden equally-faux ceiling - the building is three stories high!

Favorite Dish: Not having my Spanish up to speed I had to do my "point and por favor" bit and ended with a delicously crunchy mini-baguette entitled "Bocadillo de Tortilla y Chorizo" which was a sort of brunch option being basically scrambled eggs with sausage. To accompany I had a quick espresso and then an equally-quick small beer and a total bill of about 5 Euros.

Nice nibble but I had to get to dash back to catch my boat. I was impressed with this bar and particulary the moveable feast of customers that came and went during my short visit. The only bugger was was that just as I started to get comfortable it was time to leave and I realised that I actually do speak a little more Spanish than just "Por Favor" I just hadn't gotten focused - Ach, I could have said "Gracias" as well!

Not having done any research on what to expect foodwise here in Bilbao I kinda wasted most of my morning wandering and trying to get a feel for the city. What I should have done is totally ignored all the digressionary diversions of the visual scenery and concentrated instead on getting to grips with the culinary diversity offered by the myriad of tiny bars and cafes with which every street was liberally seeded.

Every bar that I passed, or should I say every bar that caught my attention, were narrow one-room affairs whose counters were bedecked with colourful platters bearing the house's individual gastronomic specialities - pintxos (pinchos), the Basque Country's contribution to our ever-growing epicurian experience.

This seems to be a truly moveable feast, and one that moves in all four of our earthly dimensions - not only do the delicacies on offer continually change as one platter gets eaten but so too do the constituents according to the time of day.

Early-morning (well 8.30 am IS early here in Bilbao) the offerings were the sweeter, lighter things such as sugared pastries, chocolatines and fruity little tarts - all ideal for accompanying the morning's kick-start coffee. By mid-morning the sweeties were less in evidence as the tortillas took over and the first glass of wine, or small beer, of the day snuck in as an aperatif.

Towards lunchtime the savoury evolution continued as the chorizos and jamons began to vie with the gambas and octopi and the beers and wines became ancillary necessities rather than mere appetisers.

Unfortunately it was now time to head back to my boat and so I missed the rest of what could have been a very enjoyable culinary adventure ... but next time - Watch This Space!!

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We paid a brief visit to Ondartza Cafe in the Getxo region of Bilbao on New Year's Day 2013.

We had just crossed Puente Colgante from Portugalete and were walking along Calle Mayor towards Areeta metro station to head back to the centre of Bilbao. The rain was falling and we decided to seek shelter and have a drink in one of several cafes clustered around a shopping precinct.

Ondartza Cafe is small and cramped and was busy when we arrived around lunchtime. It had a very local feel to it; most of the clientele were elderly locals enjoying an afternoon drink and nibbling on the small selection of pintxos (Basque tapas) that were displayed on top of the bar.

We squeezed into a small corner of the bar, at a tiny table located below a couple of chalk boards that acted as wine lists. There was a good selection of local red and white wines, particularly Txakoli (a slightly sparkling Basque white wine) and Rioja red wine.

The wine prices were very competitive, with house wines at just €1.10 a glass and aged wines at just €1.50 and €1.60 a glass. Some of the wines were listed under the heading of "Crianza" and others under the heading of "Reserva", with the latter being slightly more expensive. I've since researched the two terms and discovered that Crianza red wines have been aged for at least 2 years (with at least 6 months in oak barrels) and Reserva red wines have been aged for at least 3 years (at least one of which was in an oak barrel). The definitions are different for white and rose wines.

I started with a glass of Oxinbaltza Txakoli (€1.50). I had become fond of this white wine during our 5 days in Bilbao and found that it went down very easily. With the rain still falling, we were in no rush to head back outside, so we stayed for another drink. This time I opted for a glass of Marquesado Reserva Rioja (€1.60), a very enjoyable and slightly spicy red wine.

Cafe Ondartza is a local cafe in the Getxo area of Bilbao with a good selection of reasonably priced local wines!

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If you're looking for busy pintxos bars with lots of atmosphere in Bilbao, Plaza Nueva is a good place to start. This small enclosed square, a couple of minutes walk from Casco Viejo metro station, hosts a number of popular little bars with counter-tops full of tasty pintxos, free-flowing Txakoli wine and tables spilling out into the square.

We visited most of them during our stay in Bilbao in December 2012; both in the evening and during the daytime.

We visited Gastro Bar Gozatu on New Year's Day 2013. It was the only pintxos bar on Plaza Nueva that was open that day, and it wasn't very busy.

Compared to the other pintxos bars on Plaza Nueva, Gozatu had a more modern and upmarket feel to it. Terming itself a "Gastro Bar" is probably a good indicator of the image it wishes to portray. The interior was spacious with modern decor; high stools at the bar and at various surfaces and tables dotted throughout the dining room, bright ceiling lights and a flat screen TV.

The choice of pintxos on offer was rather sparse, but in fairness it was mid-morning on New Year's Day, it was the only place open and customers were relatively few. Anything is better than nothing!

The choice of pintxos consisted of baguettes filled with Iberico ham and various tortillas (Spanish omelettes) filled with potato or tuna and resting on slices of crusty bread.

I had a couple of potato omelettes (€2.00 each) and they were absolutely delicious. They were still warm and contained lots of egg and shredded potato. To accompany them, I opted for a glass of Rioja red wine at €2.10.

On the strength of the wonderful omelettes, I'd have liked to have returned to Gastro Bar Gozatu when it was busier and serving a more extensive range of pintxos, but unfortunately it was our final day in Bilbao so we never got chance to go back.

A modern, upmarket pintxos bar (or Gastro Bar!) on Plaza Nueva. Their omelettes are delicious!

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If you're looking for busy pintxos bars with lots of atmosphere in Bilbao, Plaza Nueva is a good place to start. This small enclosed square, a couple of minutes walk from Casco Viejo metro station, hosts a number of popular little bars with counter-tops full of tasty pintxos, free-flowing Txakoli wine and tables spilling out into the square.

We visited most of them during our stay in Bilbao in December 2012; both in the evening and during the daytime.

We visited Restaurante Bar Victor (not to be confused with nearby Victor Montes Bar) late on a Saturday evening. It was close to closing time and the evening crowds had started to disperse; we practically had the bar to ourselves.

As the crowds had thinned, so too had the displays of pintxos; they were pretty much depleted by this stage of the evening. There were a few remaining on the counter at Bar Victor and, unlike at the other pintxos bars we had visited in the square, they were of a sweet rather than savoury nature. This was the perfect place to end the evening with drinks and a dessert!

The sweet pintxos were more expensive than their savoury counterparts; I paid €2.70 for a delicious custard tart and Emma paid €2.40 for a large slab of creme caramel topped with orange sauce which she really enjoyed.

Drinks were reasonably priced with glasses of Txakoli wine (a slightly sparkling Basque white wine) costing €1.90 and cups of coffee and tea costing €1.70 each.

We visited Bar Victor late in the evening; at other times of the day, the restaurant offers savoury pintxos and set menu meals. You can see a sample of their menu on their website HERE - the prices appear steep, but do include lots of seafood, beef and alcoholic beverages.

A good place for drinks and desserts on Plaza Nueva!

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If you're looking for busy pintxos bars with lots of atmosphere in Bilbao, Plaza Nueva is a good place to start. This small enclosed square, a couple of minutes walk from Casco Viejo metro station, hosts a number of popular little bars with counter-tops full of tasty pintxos, free-flowing Txakoli wine and tables spilling out into the square.

We visited most of them during our stay in Bilbao in December 2012; both in the evening and during the daytime.

We visited Victor Montes Bar on a Saturday evening. It was busy and lively (as all the pintxos bars on Plaza Nueva were that evening) and we battled our way through the crowds to get to the bar. Victor Montes always looked a little bit more sophisticated and upmarket than the other bars on Plaza Nueva (maybe it was just the ornate signage), but the atmosphere inside was pretty much the same as at the other surrounding eateries.

This was perhaps the busiest bar that we visited in Bilbao. There were large crowds standing outside the bar, while inside was standing room only (and not very much at that!). The ground floor was sub-divided with the pintxos bar on one side and a more formal sit down restaurant on the other side. We stayed in the pintxos bar side and stood shoulder to shoulder at the bar while we chose our drinks and pintxos. It was a little uncomfortable, more so than at any other pintxos bar we visited, and we struggled to move along the bar to see the displays of pintxos.

When we did manage to see the pintxos, they were largely bread-based; lots of sandwiches and baguettes, filled or topped with seafood, meat, cheese, peppers, tomatoes, anchovies and chorizo. There was a particularly good selection of breads topped with various cheeses (including brie and stilton) and walnuts and lots of seafood mayonnaise options.

The pintxos (Basque tapas) were priced between €1.50 and €2.00 each and glasses of Txakoli wine (a slightly sparkling Basque white wine) were a similar price.

I had a couple of pintxos:

The first one was a slice of crusty bread topped with a generous portion of egg and seafood mayonnaise.

The second one was a mini croissant filled with prawn and crab mayonnaise.

The were both enjoyable (and went well with the glass of Txakoli I ordered), but both were pretty standard pintxos, nothing special, and were less creative than some of the offerings at other nearby pintxos bars.

We could see into the sit down restaurant part from where we were standing and the food looked very good. We could also smell the food being served, and it certainly whetted the appetite! Emma's parents were particularly keen to try the oxtail stew that was being served. We asked one of the waiting staff for a menu so that we could see whether it would be worth returning another evening for a proper meal. The prices were very steep. A set 3 course meal was around €50 per person. We resolved to stick to the cheaper pintxos side of the restaurant!

One of the more upmarket pintxos bar on Plaza Nueva, but still with a lively atmosphere and some good value pintxos and Txakoli wine! The sit down part of the restaurant is relatively expensive.

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We ate at Cafe Panko one evening during our stay in Bilbao in December 2012.

Cafe Panko is located on Marques del Puerto, just a couple of minutes walk from Moyua metro station and the popular Plaza Moyua square.

I'll be honest, I didn't really want to eat at Cafe Panko. I was in Bilbao, home to hundreds of traditional pintxos bars, and I wanted to undertake a crawl of them, eating various local delicacies on my way. However, my girlfriend's parents wanted to have a proper sit down meal, something more substantial than pintxos, so we compromised and made our way inside.

Peering through the windows from the outside, Cafe Panko had looked a bit pretentious for my liking. It was bright and modern, the clientele looked smartly dressed and the place looked more like a patisserie or a bakery than a restaurant.

It was busy, but the waiter pulled out all the stops to find us a table. We had to wait for 15 or 20 minutes until the kitchen started serving hot meals at 8pm.

We ordered drinks while we waited. Emma's dad and I ordered jugs of beer (great value at just €4.50 each for around four glasses of beer in each jug). The waiter brought us a jug between us and then brought a second jug for us to share part way through the meal. This made more sense than having two jugs on the table at once. Emma and her mum shared a bottle of 2008 Navarrsotillo Rioja Crianza red wine (€12).

The menu wasn't particularly extensive, but featured a selection of salads, sandwiches, soups, burgers, pizza and a few meat and fish dishes.

Emma's parents both opted for the steak (€15), which came served coated in breadcrumbs with an accompanying cheese sauce.

Emma and I decided to share a platter of 8 pintxos (€12) as we figured it would fill a gap while leaving room for a pintxos bar crawl later in the evening. We didn't know whether we could choose the pintxos ourselves (there was a small selection displayed on top of the bar) or whether we would be served with a pre-chosen selection. It was the latter – but it was an impressive and eclectic selection that was presented to us:

A mini burger with melted cheese in a toasted breadcake. The burger was a little rarer than either of us would usually order, but it was very nice.
A bowl of Japanese-style noodles with soy sauce, tofu and beef.
A bowl of fried rice with pork belly meat and vegetables.
A small slice of bread topped with goats cheese and cranberry sauce.
A skewer of beef and mushrooms in a light batter.
A chicken teriyaki skewer with an accompanying cheese sauce.
A bowl of chicken curry and rice.
A piece of bacalau (codfish) in a cheese sauce.

All of the dishes were tasty and well presented and the platter as a whole contained a good mixture of meat and seafood, local and oriental flavours. It wasn't what we had been expecting, but it was a nice change from the traditional Basque pintxos we'd been eating throughout our trip. At just €1.50 per dish, the prices also compared favourably with many of the pintxos bars in Bilbao; I hadn't been expecting that either!

I hadn't been hopeful of having an enjoyable meal (or good value for money) at Cafe Panko...but I was wrong on both counts!

A tasty selection of eclectic pintxos and great value jugs of beer! Much better than I had been expecting!

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If you're looking for busy pintxos bars with lots of atmosphere in Bilbao, Plaza Nueva is a good place to start. This small enclosed square, a couple of minutes walk from Casco Viejo metro station, hosts a number of popular little bars with counter-tops full of tasty pintxos, free-flowing Txakoli wine and tables spilling out into the square.

We visited most of them during our stay in Bilbao in December 2012; both in the evening and during the daytime.

We visited Bar Charly on a Saturday evening. We'd already had a substantial meal that evening, but still had room for a few pintxos and drinks.

Bar Charly was busy that evening (as were all the pintxos bars in Plaza Nueva), but most people were standing out front, so we managed to get a table without any difficulty. Compared to many of the other pintxos bars on the square, Bar Charly felt more local than touristy and had a simpler, no-frills interior. That's not to say that the other places felt touristy; they didn't, at least not in December, it's just that Bar Charly felt particularly local.

A TV in the corner of the bar was showing the final stages of a football friendly game between the Basque National Team and Bolivia which was being played in nearby San Sebastian. I watched with interest as the local side completed a comprehensive 6-1 victory.

There was a reasonable spread of pintxos displayed on the bar, including various sandwiches, Spanish omelettes, cherry tomatoes, "gildas" (skewers of olives, peppers and anchovies), prawns, fish, cheese, ham and chorizo. There was also a sign advertising glasses of Txakoli wine (a slightly sparkling Basque white wine) and local Rioja red wine for €1.60 a glass – this proved impossible to resist! We ordered 3 glasses of Txakoli and a coffee con leche (the latter costing €1.35).

The pintxos were priced at €1.80 each – we picked a couple of particularly tempting looking slices of bread topped with huge wedges of brie, walnuts and cranberry sauce and a hotdog bun filled with a large chorizo sausage.

Good value pintxos...and Txakoli and Rioja wines...in a local bar on Plaza Nueva in the heart of Bilbao's old town!