Eat Like Ushi

San Sebastian - one of the few cities on Earth I've actually fallen for. The culinary scene is just the tip considering it contains extreme fine and creative dining in 3 Michelin stars and Top 50 restaurants, the best in social basic dining with the old town pintxos bars, as well as typical Spanish markets with exceptional ingredients. I long to live here one day.

The pintxos crawl started at a place I missed back in 2009. I walked past it several times but elected not to go in. I can't recall why - perhaps it was too busy... but it is certainly the coolest looking place to eat at. The colours and atmosphere are electric.

- Makobe with Txips €3.7pp - wagyu beef slider with tomato ketchup in the bun;
- Zebitxe con Granada (tigreton de mejillon, mama de bakailu) €3.5 - cod ceviche with mussels;
- Bacalau Enkarbonao con Pepitas de Pimiento €3.7 - cod with red pepper seeds.

I think the food flavours are better at San Telmo, but nowhere creates and presents as well as here. The entire experience is enchanting.

San Sebastian pintxos stop #2. Probably my favourite restaurant of the lot in terms of flavours and the one place I missed out on back in 2009 (as it was closed on the day I tried). The food is outstanding. I often have reservations about the most highly recommended places in LP and RG, but this time it was spot on for a reason.

- Carrillera de Ternera al Vino Tinto - veal cheek in rioja red wine sauce;
- Vieira Toro Ennuelta Tocino Bellota - large sea scallop wrapped with Iberico bacon;
- Oreja de Cerdo Iberico Asada y Crudiente - roasted crunchy pork ear.

The ingredients sing to me - cheeks, ears, scallops. The menu also contains trotters, foie gras, suckling pig, octopus... what more could you want? If it wasn't for it being a pintxos crawl, I would have stayed longer.

Stop 3 on the pintxos crawl. By this time things were getting a little tiring and drunken and so it was soon time to wrap up. Even this bar was closing soon as so mine was the last order taken.

- Risotto de Hongos o de Idiazabal - mushroom and cheese risotto (closer to risoni);
- Kebab de Kostilla/Berika - beef rib.

Both were good although I think my mindset didn't allow me to appreciate them as they may deserve. There still remained plenty of places left after that night's visit to A Fuego Negro, San Telmo and Borda Berri (but those were the three I was most interested in). Others around include Izazpi, Txapetxa and Zeruka. Next time.

I went to several B&L chains. The first was the original in Mayfair when during a quiet weekday lunchtime I sampled the lobseter roll, chips and salad. It was definitely good although I did feel having a whole lobster to yourself would be more exciting than a roll. This was slightly put askew when I tried the whole lobster the first time and it wasn't so succulent as hoped.

After a few more I came around. In particular, I sought out the branches that had the massive sharing lobsters (Soho and Bank). 8-10 lb lobsters are an expensive delight, but chewing through the enormous claw and tails was such a happy experience. The unlimited supply of fries and salad is a bonus too.

Grab some friends, select the biggest lobster available, enjoy.

PS. I still can't figure out why you'd come here for a burger, even if it is Goodman steak...

One of my favourite things to do in each city is to visit the markets. Food markets are the only ones I frequent, loosely browsing at fresh items but more often looking for ready to eat items for a snack, a picnic or a quick social gathering.

Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid is one of my favourite in the world. It only occupies a small building, but the excellence of items and its central location next to the Plaza Mayor make it worth a visit.

My favourites are the jamon iberico bellota reserva, including cheaper versions such as floss, salchichon (sausages) and paleta (front legs), the freshly shucked oysters and pinxtos served on bread. There is also a lot of cheese, olives, sweets, icecream and fresh fish.

There is something for everyone.

Away from the Old Town, the other areas of San Sebastian are worth leisurely exploration. Gros is known for a more private beach area, and probably if nothing more, just another part of town to see.

Finding food here has more limited options and sometimes you just need to trust in the quality of the town. I think San Sebastian is very safe for that. Senra had a small number of pinxtos available on the counter and a full a la carte menu, as well as the distinct lack of English.

- Arroz con almejas (rice with clams) €20 - strong clam-flavoured rice porridge;
- Pulpo a la gallega (Galician octopus) €18 - I always forget what Galician-style octopus is (boiled, served with olive oil & paprika) until I order it again and remember why I shouldn't. This was a good version with tender meat. I just don't prefer it.

A recommended place for a stop when in Gros.

Despite San Sebastian's reputation for exceptional high-end gastronomy and similarly experiential tapas bars, sometimes a meal in the middle is what you are looking for. On this occasion, it was coincidentally a Monday which is when most restaurants and even a large number of tapas places are closed. Luckily Egosari (which has a pinxtos bar upstairs and a restaurant downstairs) was available, and my memory of eating here back in 2009 reaffirmed it as the chosen place for the evening.

They specialise in seafood as reflected by the majority of a la carte items available.

- Tepid salad of spider crab, prawns & scampi (ensalada de txangurro) €17.4 - sweet spider crab meat picked into mounds, served with salad, peeled prawns and a decorative scampi;
- Donostiarra's fish soup €6.2 - rich creamy fish soup with intense flavour;
- Casserole of anglerfish & hake with clams & shrimps (cazuela de rape) €18.4 - tender hake chunks and small clams served in what seemed to be the same soup as the above.

Each dish was delicious. My only slight gripe was both dishes with the soup seemed to be the same base - not disappointing from a flavour point of view, but rather it would have been nice to have been informed so I could choose something with more variety.

Next time I'd order the Crab Salad and try the cazuela. If the cazuela had a different base, I'd have the fish soup also. I didn't see any of the items under the 'seafood' header on the night, but I'm sure they'd be good too.

After the joy of eating in a typical Polish milk bar (Bar Smak) and the disappointment in the street food (zapiekanka from Plac Nowy), it was time to upgrade and try some finer cuisine.

Pod Aniolami seemed to have a lot going for it, not least being the translation of its name "Under the Angels", the gothic cellar built in the 13th century, and of course the reputation for good food coming from multiple websites (especially meat and fish).

It isn't expensive per se (PLN130), just more than you'd expect from other alternatives and more local places. Like everywhere else in the world, you pay for location, service and quality. Pod Aniolami formed a good memorable meal and I would be happy to return, with more focus on their specialties.

- Homemade Lard with country wholemeal bread - lard & bacon bits spread onto bread forming a rich buttery decadent treat;
- Lettuce with Spicy Ewe's Milk Cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers & vinaigrette - token fresh salad with very soft mild cheese;
- Pierogi stuffed with meat/mushrooms/cabbage, cottage cheese/potato/onion, pan-fried with butter & onion, served with cranberries - pan-fried pierogi had the best outside texture as I'm not a fan of the thick boiled Eastern European standard. The cranberry sauce was the standard feature bringing the pierogi to life;
- Traditional Polish Red Borsch - clear, hot, thin, sweet beetroot soup. Very good;
- Veal Chops marinated in herbs, with forest chanterelles, green asparagus, garlic butter - decent veal although not especially tender, with nice crispy potatoes;
- Famous homemade Apple Cake with vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, egg liqueur - deliciously soft warm mesh of apples, soft crust, cinnamon and fresh blueberries;
- Two slices of mild Polish highlander's ewe's cheese (oscypek) from Rantulowa;
- Prunes macerated in alcohol - intensely alcoholic with a touch of prune sweetness;
- complimentary mint vodka shot. 

Next time I would order the Homemade Lard, soup (such as borsch, zurek or fish soup) and a focus on the grilled dishes from a la carte. I wouldn't order anything with cheese and none of them seemed to really have any significant flavour. Given enough people (15-25) and notice, they also offer large fired items like whole young pig, boar's leg or Polish lamb all which sound delicious.

Plac Nowy is a known area for 3 things - meat and sausages at Grill na Kazimierzu, the Polish sandwich zapiekanki at every other vendor in the giant circle of the plaza, and being the area where people go at night for drinks. 

Sadly as I was there on a Monday night, there was no nightlife of people at all - irritating because the hostel staff specifically told us to go there for it. I don't think it had anything to do with not being local as we walked the entire area and even asked a bargirl in the one place we found open, who confirmed nothing happens there on Mondays/weekdays.

Still, two out of three is ok.

Grill na Kazimierzu

A little stand in one corner that has loads of bbq options cooking in anticipation of the crowds. The lady running it didn't speak English but there is picture signs for guidance or alternatively point at what you like on the grill. I tried a sausage (simple, standard, satisfying, nothing amazing) and a piece of the local delicacy bbq cheese (which is quite dry and not particularly tasty).

Zapiekanki

This Polish sandwich is what the afterwork crowd, the local youth, and the budget travellers seem to try. It is effectively a very long bread half topped with a plethora of options to resemble a pizza. Various meats, vegetables, cheeses and sauces are added and then baked to be warm and bread crisp. I hadn't researched if any one was particularly better than the others, but they all seemed to look the same. I chose one that had no English on the menu and had other customers there already.

My selection of chicken, cheese, tomato sauce and spring onion was pretty terrible. The bread was crisp but had no intrinsic flavour, the chicken didn't have much flavour either, the cheese was melted but bland. In the end it tasted like bread with tomato sauce and a jumble of flavourless meat/cheese. I ate a few bites and left the rest on a bench top for a friendly hungry soul to have.

Next time I would order from Plac Nowy only on a night when there was more atmosphere (likely Thurs-Sat). Kazimierzu will satisfy the basic sausage cravings. I would be willing to give zapienkaki another try, but I'd have to choose my vendor and toppings much more carefully.

If you are after a mid-morning/afternoon snack, A Blikle is recommended in guidebooks and online. Warsaw seems to have quite a lot of decent looking bakeries and patisseries along the main road extending from Plac Zamkowy all the way down until Ul. Nowy Swiat. A Blikle seemed to be one with reputation.

I only tried a cheesecake slice with strawberry. It was satisfying with the cheesecake being very smooth but only a mild flavour and the strawberry jelly layer adding much more sweetness.

Most people seemed to be buying this item I'm unfamiliar with called paczek z lukrem, which seems to be a frosted donut topped with candied fruit. I didn't have the stomach space to try one, but it's on my list for next time.