As I mentioned previously; Sundays (and Mondays) weren't prime days for many of the better Pintxos (tapas) places during the off season in San Sebastian.
Still, I knew of one place on my list that was open. Right across from The Basilica of Santa Maria del Coro is Atari Gastroteka.
Atari came highly recommended by Candice, so we were glad they were open and doing some pretty good business. I quickly noticed "another Atari" around the corner. Sirimiri Atari Akademy, so I thought why not start there?
It seems that Sirmiri is more of a craft cocktail place. Since it was relatively early; just after 7pm, we managed to get a seat at the counter in the back.
Not in the mood for the typical pintxos on the counter, sitting at a table means ordering the pintxos calientes….basically items off the menu, which suited us fine. The missus got a tinto and I had a crianza (an older aged wine).
We really enjoyed sitting here because we got to watch the garde manger area and the folks expediting the dishes. And isn't that a sous vide immersion circulator?
Of course we started with the Foie Gras Terrine. Remember when I coined the term "Basque Butter"? Well, I think this is a perfect example of that…..looks like a stick of butter, doesn't it?
This was quite a huge portion. It was nicely "foie forward", the pear puree added a mild sweetness without going overboard, the butter toasts were almost like brioche. Hard to fault this.
The Ensalada de Queso de Cabra wasn't very exciting. But we felt a bit guilty having all that foie.
The Solomillo was very tasty, though a bit on the chewy side.
That cherry compote did a nice job of cutting the rice mushroom based sauce. Nice dish.
At this point we had finished our wine and decided to make it Atari times 2 and go next door.
Man, the bar was packed.
We asked on of the Servers for a table and she said it would be a short wait. So the missus got a glass of Txacoli and I got a beer. I really didn't get my hopes up because the place was so busy, but wouldn't you know it, somehow the woman found me about 10 minutes later and told me our table was ready. I was quite impressed and thankful. I told her I really appreciated her work and she said, "oh, do not worry…..this is your table, all night if you want, please enjoy!" And we did our best…..
Starting with the Huevo a Baja Temperatura – basically an egg cooked at a low temp….. The Missus was in heaven.
The texture was amazing, rich and velvety, the flavors tempered by the jamon; this was really good.
Only to be topped by the Foie a la Plancha – this was so good, seared, rich, the flavor amazing.
And yet, the Carrillera (pork cheeks) might have easily been the best item of the evening…perhaps of our entire stay in San Sebastian.
Fork tender, the sauce having a slight hint of sweet, teetering on the edge of too rich….but just holding that line. The texture of the pork was just plain perfect for me. Not falling to pieces, but yielding to the touch.
Plus our Server was just amazing. So busy, but also very friendly and efficient.
So, perhaps we missed out on places like Zeruko, Ganbara, La Cuchara de San Telmo, and A Fuego Negro, but we got to do Atari times two, and that made our stay in San Sebastian a success.
Sirimiri Atari Akademy and Atari Gastroteka
Calle Mayor 18
San Sebastian/Donostia, Spain
After dinner we took a walk around. Business was picking up, but things were still rather quite as we walked to the muelle (port).
Then past the City Hall……
Then back to the apartment for a nightcap of Txakoli……..
We'd finally gotten a taste of San Sebastian…..