May L.
Yelp
We arrived in San Sebastian late friday night and wanted something to eat so we wandered around the area we were staying, only to find that most pintxos bars had already stopped serving food. Then we saw Hidalgo, bright with lights and noisy with people, so we went in and asked if we could get food. A quick yes and we sat down to look at the menu. They even have an English menu which was definitely very helpful as none of us spoke Spanish or Basque. The interior I have to say does not look fancy at all in fact it looks a bit ghetto with litter all over the floor (I guess that shows the popularity of the place if you think on the bright side as these are napkins left by customers throughout the night). We ordered three hot pintxos (which is the Basque verison of tapas) - tripe cooked in a ham sauce, foie gras cooked in an orange flavored sauce and ox cheek (forgive my crude translation). OOOO EMMMM GEEE - that was what I was saying in side after my first mouthful of the ox cheek, and each dish is better than the previous one. If ever you can experience a foodgasm as I saw another yelper's review, I have to say this is it. It is so good that we went back the following night. I finally googled it and found that the chef holds a michelin star when he opened the place. Sometimes I don't really trust the michelin guide but I guess I have to give it some credit because of this place. If you are in San Sebastian do cross the bridge to Gros (the less touristy business district), you will be amazed! And you get to avoid the hordes of tourists in the old town. We tried some of the pintxos bars in the old town which was jam packed with tourists but the quality of the food just cannot compare. This is no doubt food paradise!