Tondonia 1970

This gorgeously mature exemplar of one of the classic old-school Riojas is dominated by notes of toast (from the long stay in oak) and coffee, which remain constant over the evening; but it is also truffley, with cherries still in there, and hints of caramel and blue cheese making appearances. The tannins are smooth and discreet in this 41 year-old wine, making it very easy drinking. In no way is it over the hill; I could easily imagine it going on for longer. Superb – a real pleasure.

The pintxo trail in San Sebastián

“Pintxo” is the Basque version of the Spanish “pincho”, bar snacks, not tapas exactly – the word “tapas”, properly used, refers to the small snack given free with a drink in many parts of Spain. Pinchos you pay for separately, and their indubitable heartland is in that capital of gastronomic ferment, San Sebastián in the Spanish Basque Country. We packed a lot of bars and pintxos into a short stay. In approximate order of preference, these are (most of) the bars we ate at and (many of) the pintxos we tried.

A Fuego Negro Pay attention to the waiter here; he’s charming, but gets a slightly psychopathic smile if he thinks you are not giving him his due attention.

-          Mole helado is an ice cream made from Mexican mole sauce, and it is the most sublime gastronomic memory I take away from San Sebastián, and that includes our trip to Mugaritz. It comes with pickled ear.

-          Ajoblanco is normally a cold Southern Spanish soup based on garlic and almonds; here it comes as a bonbón (a bonbon, a sweetie, really a bubble that bursts and needs to be enjoyed in one mouthful).

-          The signature dish here is the tiny Kobe Burger, Kobe beef served on a red “ketchup bun” with banana chips on the side.

-          I’m sure we also enjoyed the chicken and seaweed pintxo, but its memory has disappeared in the shadow of the other dishes.

La Cuchara de San Telmo Often difficult to squeeze in here. Old school rather than molecular, but delicious.

-          Oreja is pig’s ear, prepared just right for those of us who love these things.

-          The risotto is not made with rice but orzo pasta (which looks like large grains of rice) and goat’s cheese – lovely.

-          The grilled octopus was, again, just right.

Zeruko A “molecular” style place. The pintxos all look like modernistic works of art, and the better ones would be worthy of a place in the tasting menu of the great molecular Basque restaurants. But some flops too.

-          Erizo de mar is sea urchin, made into a rich cream and prepared in its shell, so delicious we repeated.

-          The hoguera (hearth) is a salt cod dish you smoke yourself; the grill is part of the presentation of the dish. It comes with a test-tube of slightly sweet “liquid salad”. A stellar dish.

-          Bacalao (cod) is also served as a cold cream with tiny cheese sticks; lovely.

-          A bubble of something green and gelatinous served on a ceramic spoon reveals itself as the great taste combination of anchovy and pickled pepper.

-          Foie and mushroom is more visually impressive than gastronomically breathtaking; a mushroomy cream is wrapped in a transparent jelly and topped by what looks like shredded gold, and turns out to be painted burnt potato. More odd than good.

-          Pulpo a la gallega is Galician-style octopus, a.k.a. with paprika: here, it comes as a fascinating-looking lollipop. But not much octopus, it’s mostly mashed potato.

-          A green-studded log is morcilla (roughly, Spanish black pudding) covered in pistachio. It flops rather badly as the barman barely heats it and morcilla needs to come hot.

-          Membrillo (quince paste) is a natural accompaniment to matured sheep cheese; it comes here as a Membrillo cube with the cheese inset. But a little quince goes a long way, and here there is so much it makes N1 feel sick.

Borda Berri  Supposed to have good veal cheeks, but in our rush to get through three bars before the end of the lunch shift – with most kitchens closing at 3:30 or 4 – we didn’t get round to trying them.

-          Marmitako is a traditional Basque stew of potato, tuna and peppers. Rustic peasant food, good with a hunk of bread.

-          Gazpacho is another classic Southern Spanish cold soup. Here it is served with tuna, and supposedly made with watermelon alongside the traditional tomato, garlic, oil, vinegar and peppers. The tuna didn’t honestly add anything, and I couldn’t perceive any watermelon influence – N1 said she thought it had a slightly sweeter-than-usual note.

-          Vieiras (scallops) were perfectly done.

Casa Senra The place to come for croquetas – a good half-dozen different varieties. We had morcilla croquettes and a separate pincho of morcilla for good measure. Quite a nice nutty flavoured morcilla.

Bergara A bit of a disappointment, really – advertises the fact that it has previously won the prize for Best Pincho Bar in Spain (which presumably means the world) but it feels like it may have been resting on its laurels for too long. Everything was fine, but nothing was stellar.

-          Foie gras prepared in Port was suitably rich, calling for raisins and a glass of sweet wine.

-          Txipiron encebollada (squid with onions) comes as a piece of squid bursting juicy liquid when you poke at it.

-          Anchovy tortilla is a fishy take on the classic Spanish potato omelette.

-          There was also a piece of fried bread with a hard-boiled egg on it, with shredded egg white on top of that. N1 liked it – I think on textural grounds – I’m not sure I really saw the point.

And the two that got away…

Astelena We knew this place from a previous visit. Great for frogs’ legs and grilled quail.

Gandarias We really meant to get here to try the milhojas de manitas y hongos (millefeuille of pigs’ trotter with mushrooms) but there are only so many food slots in the day…go to San Sebastián.