Restaurante Zelai Txiki

https://www.theinfatuation.com/san-sebastian/guides/best-restaurants-san-sebastian-spain

The 25 Best Restaurants In San Sebastián - San Sebastián - The Infatuation

"Zelai Txiki up in the hills above the Gros neighborhood is one of the city’s local favorites. They’ve been open for two decades and continue to improve—adding a wood-fired oven (where they bake their own bread), expanding the wine cellar, and starting their own garden. All of these upgrades are exactly the reason why locals keep coming back, but the creamy rice with clams, grilled wild turbot kissed with garlic and olive oil, and whole suckling pig Segovia-style doesn’t hurt, either. When making a reservation, ask for a seat on the terrace that overlooks the city." - marti buckley

https://www.theinfatuation.com/san-sebastian/reviews/zelai-txiki

Zelai Txiki - Review - Gros - San Sebastián - The Infatuation

https://guide.michelin.com/en/pais-vasco/es-donostia-san-sebastian/restaurant/zelai-txiki

@michelinguide

"Zelai Txiki boasts a superb location on the slopes of Mt Ulía (hence the impressive views from its panoramic terrace) and even its own vegetable garden. On the extensive à la carte, with its strong focus on dishes inspired by the traditions of Basque cuisine (hake in a salsa verde with clams, Donostia-style spider crab in its shell, hake cheeks in batter or with a pil-pil sauce, etc), you can easily appreciate the importance given to the use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients of the highest quality. You’ll also find interesting daily suggestions plus an extensive tasting menu. The restaurant also makes its own bread every day with organic flour." - Michelin Inspector

The Best Sit-Down Meals in San Sebastián

"Suckling Pig and Super Views One of my favorite sit-down dining experiences in the city, Zelai Txiki has a couple things going for it. One is a gigantic terrace that overlooks the entire city. On a summer evening there are only a few places I would rather be. Call ahead to try one of Zelai Txiki's specialties: whole suckling roasted pig or suckling lamb. These are roasted in a wood-burning oven and are an experience that shouldn't be missed."

If You Only Have Three Days in San Sebastián

Alice Ho

Google

On a quiet residential district, up on a hill. Quaint place but pretty good food! Compared to our previous night of 3* Michelin, this one is actually even better. My husband’s order of suckling pig is generous and really yummy. Overall a great satisfying meal.

Robert Liu

Google

Enjoyed a lovely lunch on the terrace of this stylish hillside restaurant with a Michelin Green Star and a Repsol sun. The quality of all the food was excellent and the portion sizes were generous. Ordered the fish soup and croquettes and received a mushroom starter on the house. Particularly impressed with the delicate green salad that we ordered to accompany our mains. The service was very good as well. No problem with packing in the restaurant car park.

Cathy Woods

Google

Lovely restaurant and good food. Had so many great meals in San Sebastian which is why this didn't stand out for me. I had the Tuna taco which did not come with a taco but rather in a lovely bowl with a broth/sauce. Nice but lacked flavour

David Papp

Google

visited due to the green Michelin star. the four of us spent ~300€ on food and drinks had various starters, mains and dessert. the restaurant uses good quality ingredients, but the execution is mediocre at best problems: - one starter was the grilled octopus, the tentacles were full of sand. - the foie gras was OK, but it was nothing special, supermarket bought delivers the same experience; the dressing was tasting better, but that's not what one would order that dish for. - hake was fresh and good quality the dish itself was absolutely basic, swimming in the green sauce, aka fat, and it didnt have much of a taste. - the spider crab is not worth it at all, stew/lasagna like dish tasting a bit lke crab - pigeon: the well done version was actually really good, although it was "rose". the regular one was basically blue. - desserts: we had to order the french toast in advance. despite that, it was not properly prepared, it was way too wet, and the "curd"/ crust was way too sweet - service: we got the bread refilled all the time, and the dishes were served at the same time, also warm, but basically that's it, so delivered the absolute minimum one would expect. at this price range this restaurant simply cannot provide the experience one would expect, hence would not recommended. better tasting food costing half or 2/3 of the price tastes much better in the city. the ingredients were actually good, but it would be time this restaurant learns how to use them.

David Goring

Google

Fine dining at its best. A good varied menu. Lobster, prawns, wild pigeon, suckling pig all cooked and presented with passion.

Connor O'Sullivan

Google

The food was pretty underwhelming for a Michelin star restaurant, and given the price. We had far better tasting food at other restaurants/Pintxo bars during our stay in San Sebastian. Service was pretty poor for a Michelin star restaurant with dishes plonked on the table with no explanation of what we were being served. Staff spent ~15 minutes of our meal with ladders out right next to us, shouting to each other, to adjust the lighting to accommodate the desires of the table next to us which rather ruined the ambiance of the meal. And the bill took about 30 minutes to arrive at the end of the meal.

Senna

Google

Food was fine, but the second we sat down someone walked immediately up to ask what we wanted to order. We had just the menus in hand. Not even 5 minutes after, they asked again Then for the whole evening they were pushing us to order faster for everything. At the entrees, asking if we already decided what we wanted for dessert. They asked us this 4 times before we even had our main course! Pushing and telling us that they were closing the kitchen. This was around 22:00, in the menu it says clearly that the kitchen is open past 00:00. Before even ordering dessert, they asked us if they could already order a taxi for us. Felt very unwanted here. Hospitality level is the lowest as can be. Not your moneys worth!! Also they have a weird obsession with sorbet ice cream, it’s with every entree

Rutas Afa

Google

Great experience in this place. I came recommended by a friend and it did not disappoint us! Excellent tasting menu, the only contra at the very beginning they served dishes when we did not finish the previous ones. Then everything went smoothly. Very recommendable!

Brski B.

Yelp

Zelai Txiki was the 'fanciest' of the restaurants we visited, but also the most disappointing. The amuse bouche was a dull mushroom velouté that required salt, though the crispy (deep fried, wrapped in something like wonton skin) boletus/porcini was delicious. Most of the food needed a little bit of salt, which someone at my table requested. We tried a type of foie ravioli with shaved black truffle. The scent of truffle was weak and the taste quite dull. The large red prawn on a bed of creamy rice (risotto) was fine. The fish soup, like most of the food here, was pretty to look at, but it had a thudding 'fish' punch rather than tasting 'of the sea.' (I understand this sounds like an unsophisticated opinion, but the flavor just didn't appeal to a party that enjoys bouillabaisse very much.) Well-prepared lamb chops tasted well prepared. The suckling pig was chopped and stuffed and rolled in its own skin, presented as a thick cylinder approximately 4 inches long. The skin reminded me of crispy chicken skin, and it was the best pig skin I ever tried. The pork was excellent but other than the preparation required to present it, it was not exciting to eat. The roasted pigeon was allegedly good, but it also went unfinished. The 'artisan bread' baked onsite was shockingly mediocre. The French fries were floppy and lukewarm. The desserts - a strawberry shortcake and a reimagined 'French toast' - were both good. Service, excellent. Ambiance, also excellent.

Kam A.

Yelp

My wife and I just arrived in San Sebastián and wanted some good seafood near our hotel. I looked on yelp and found this jem very close to our hotel. The food was wonderful and the staff was very attentive. While they recommend making reservations, we were lucky and had an open table ready for us. I knew I liked this place when they told us up front to look at the desert menu since some of their popular dishes require some additional prep. We had the seafood soup, rice and clams soup and the Rape a la parrilla. We had a nice local white wine with dinner which was less than 30 Euros! For desert we had the apple crisp with ice cream. My only complaint was the hill we had to climb since we walked up from our hotel.

Greg G.

Yelp

Incredible food and service, try the traditional basque dishes, truly a unique and superior culinary experience. Also, the service was impeccable, next level with a positive vibe with a tremendous attention towards delivering an awesome dining experience.

Christina G.

Yelp

Fabulous food and attention to every detail on every level of service. Going back tonight.

Judy B.

Yelp

The concierge at our hotel recommended this place and it exceeded our expectations in every way. The food was incredible, the service impeccable. And our waiter had the best smile!

Jeff P.

Yelp

I am surprised and delighted to be writing the first yelp review of this excellent restaurant. Zelai Txiki stands out for its superb cuisine and ambience in a city that claims more Michelin stars than any other place on Earth. Service was attentive and very capable. We dined outside on a terrace overlooking the city. My spouse and I started with a full order of the house foie served brilliantly with a cinnamon toast - a creative and perfect combination. We continued with dividing a full order of lobster salad, which was delicious and refreshing. The main course was baby lamb roasted to perfection in a wood fired oven and served with potatoes and a green salad - all superb. Dessert was a chocolate pot paired unforgettably with a sensational passion fruit sorbet. We selected a Rioja recommended by the maitre d for this amazing dinner. This 24 € bottle of wine may be the best wine value I've ever had in a restaurant. Throughout the evening, the word I heard most often from other guests was "perfect" and that's how I would describe our experience. Without doubt, our dinner at Zelai Txiki was the culinary highlight of our visit to Spain, which included very fine dining at leading restaurants in Barcelona, Madrid and elsewhere in San Sebastián.

https://www.theinfatuation.com/san-sebastian/guides/best-restaurants-san-sebastian-spain

The 25 Best Restaurants In San Sebastián - San Sebastián - The Infatuation

https://www.theinfatuation.com/san-sebastian/reviews/zelai-txiki

Zelai Txiki - Review - Gros - San Sebastián - The Infatuation

https://guide.michelin.com/en/pais-vasco/es-donostia-san-sebastian/restaurant/zelai-txiki

@michelinguide

The Best Sit-Down Meals in San Sebastián

If You Only Have Three Days in San Sebastián