Pintxos, San Sebastian

Casa Bartolo

July has been a bit overwhelming - turning the wrong side of 25, getting a new job (finally writing about food!) and spending a week's holiday in the Basque Country - inevitably something had to give and that was my blogging efforts.. but I'm back on the case this month.

Generally speaking, my holidays/trips away revolve around food (when I chose my placement year in France I went to Lyon for 'la gastronomie', lived above a boulangerie and..gained a stone), so for my summer holiday this year I was desperate to visit San Sebastian- apparently the place has more Michelin stars than any other city.

Mediocre bar, uninspiring tapas

Unfortunately me and my buddy Nicki didn't get to those starry establishments but certainly got the pintxos grazing/bar hopping down to a tee by the end of the week - not that either have ever really been a problem for me!

There's plenty on offer in the old town without breaking the bank. I have to say, we picked badly on occasions and ate and boozed at some pretty mediocre bars during the holiday but there were some gems along the way. For something cheap and cheerful Casa Bartolo is a good bet- there was always a good atmosphere in there, the discarded tissues that line the floor are a testament to that, the pintxos didn't centre solely around bread as others did and they serve up a mean sangria.

It's a blur - but Bar Zeruko?- wherever it was, it was on the other end of the spectrum (Calle Pescaderia- just down from bar Txepetxa which the guidebooks raved on about but was pretty uninspiring and the barman a little complacent). Its pintxos were more contemporary, original and the clientele older, with plumper wallets and waistlines - it was a classy place but price-wise wasn't markedly different to Bartolo's so is well worth a visit.

This was one of my pintxos highlights there- so simple- griddled, caramelised banana, jabugo ham and fig speared with a few leaves. Much of the rest of what we ate was unidentifiable but all beautifully constructed both aesthetically and more importantly in the taste department. I'll definitely be returning- either with someone who can speak more Spanish than I can- Hadders?!- or once I've brushed up on vocab as though half the fun of the trip was eating pintxos blindly, I'm sure there was a lot more on the menu here and at the other bars that we would have liked to have tucked into.

Leek cones

This, I think, was a quails egg on black pudding and a splash of Tabasco.

We left San Sebastian a little burnt, a lot more tired and heavier and somewhat blue to be returning to Bilbao for our flight home but stumbled across a lovely food festival/competition along the riverside which perked us right up. The locals above were rustling up stacks of my favourite padron peppers which filled the air with a lovely smoky smell and people were milling between the stalls, dipping in and out to check out the different pintxos on offer- it seemed to be a bit of a free-for-all - why don't they do more of this in England?!

I couldn't resist snapping the couple below in their turquoise boiler suits washing down squid under the fountain - I think they look like Wonka's little Oompa Loompas!

"Oompa Loompa doom-pa-dee-da, if you're not greedy you will go far.." - pffff?!

Pizza East, Shoreditch, E1

The dingy entrance to Pizza East is a bit disconcerting but don’t let that put you off. It’s on the corner of Shoreditch High Street and Bethnal Green Road and leads to a fantastic industrial space full of exposed pipes and distressed concrete walls.

After a warm up of Basil-flavoured Hoxton 'teas' (mojitos) with friends at the Book Club up the road we had a bottle of red while waiting impatiently for our table to free-up. It was 10pm and the boys amongst the group were ravenous. I was too. After some strategic loitering and glares from my pal Polly we were soon seated at a long studded steel refectory table in a prime spot next to the bar which was draped with legs of aged ham.

I nearly made the error of going for a ricotta-based 10” pizza base as the toppings sounded lush but our oversized Ray-ban spectacled waiter encouraged me to go for the Margherita and DIY it with San Daniele, buffalo mozzarella and a pot of pesto on the side - I was so glad I did as the tomato-sauce base was just like mama used to make!

The company was good and the prices were really reasonable despite the popularity of this new opening so I’m already scheming to go back. Some of our diners had to flee for the last train home to the burbs but Pol and I were set on a pud so shared the salted chocolate caramel tart. I love salty-sweet desserts- they seem to be appearing a lot more on menus these days. This tart could have been a fraction less salty but still hit the spot. It reminded me of some tapas I had in Barcelona at a great little bar called Tapac 24 (Ex- El Bulli Carles Abellan’s bar). There they serve Chocolate con sal, aceite y pan (Spanish), literally chocolate ice-cream with bread, olive oil and salt. Sounds grim but they use good oil and chocolate and the flavours are subtle and really work. If you only have time to go to one tapas bar there make it this one!

Tierra Brindisa, Broadwick St, W1

Jen (that’s my mum by the way) was down for the evening on Friday so we had some tapas at Tierra Brindisa on Broadwick Street. Normally she’s reluctant to look beyond Le Pain Quotidien on Great Marlborough Street but I managed to twist her arm this time.

I’ve had a disappointing meal at this branch of Brindisa before but I must have chosen badly on previous occasions as the dishes were really good. Brindisa in Borough is always heaving and used to have a no-booking policy but still had buckets of hungry eaters through their doors.

Whenever I go for tapas I have to have Padron peppers with sea salt. You can get the occasional hot one but generally they’re very mild - these weren’t quite as good as those I’ve tried at Saltyard and Dehesa but were nice enough, perhaps could have done with 5 minutes more roasting time.

Next was some iberico loin, one of the more reasonably priced charcuteries with country toast with aioli. Then roasted butternut squash with pancetta, wild mushrooms, pine nuts and Manchego cheese and seared foie gras with lentil stew and PX vinegar - never heard of the variety and thought it sounded like some sort of blue-rated vinegar.

The foie gras had the perfect melt in the mouth factor and the pancetta had a satisfying salty crunch which complemented the sweet squash really well. Only gripe would be that the lentil stew was quite soupy so either could have done with being reduced down to a thicker consistency or they should have equipped us with a spoon!

Grilled rack of lamb with oven potatoes and green olives was good, cooked to perfection as it was medium rare.

Deep fried Monte Enebro goats cheese with orange blossom honey was nice though came as a rather intimidating large hunk with a few beetroot crisps - I prefer less of it - Saltyard serves it in deep fried courgette flowers as a trademark dish and that is far superior.

Desserts were ok but didn’t bowl me over. I had the soft vanilla meringue with blood orange sorbet and passion fruit. The sorbet was refreshing and a real palette cleaner after the tapas gorging that had gone before but the meringue was average.

Jen had the Spanish flan with rhubarb compote which was a bit like a crème caramel, nice enough but no wow factor and Robert had the chocolate fondant with vanilla and flaked almonds- by far the best out of the three.