Reviewer: Foodnut.com Martín Berasategui Loidi Kalea, 4 Lasarte-Oria, Gipuzkoa, CA 20160 |
One of the Best Meals We’ve ever had! In Lasarte-Oria(Gipuzkoa) about 15 minutes from foodie heaven San Sebastian, Spain, Martín Berasategui has been awarded three Michelin stars since 2001. Most people think about Arzak or Mugaritz, but you need to dine HERE! The chef holds eight stars in total, more than any other Spanish chef with many restaurants around the world. He has 3 stars at this restaurant, 3 stars in Barcelona at Restaurante Lasarte, and 2 stars in the Canary Islands.
Martín Berasategui’s decor was modern, elegant and understated. The tables are well spaced to give a sense of privacy and decorated with beautiful orchids. They even have handbag pedestals at each table.
You can make reservations online in English. You confirm the reservations by clicking on a link in email. Really easy!
Menu:
The Great Tasting Menu is priced pretty reasonably at 225€ for a 3 Michelin star restaurant. Several places are more expensive in the San Francisco area. This changes from time to time, with the menu showing the year that many items were added, an interesting detail we have not seen before.
You can order 1/2 portions of the fish courses and meat entrees, very handy because this are pretty sizable. With our a la carte order, we still were served complimentary amuse bouces and petit fours.
Service:
The waitress was very helpful. She assisted us in navigating the menu and ordering the top dishes. Her English was perfect. Pacing is slow, with meals lasting 3 hours. If you went to the restroom, your napkin was immediately folded. If you dripped on the tablecloth, a napkin was quickly dropped over the area. Napkins were also replaced from our lap, the first time we’ve had this.
Be sure to ask for a tour of the beautiful kitchen. They have 60 people in there, a crazy ratio considering there are only 50 guests dining at a time. The master himself was in the kitchen on our visit.
Martín Berasategui definitely deserves its 3 stars. The food, decor, and service was top notch. Every foodie should put San Sebastian on their must visit list, along with this restaurant.
Food Picks:
Mojito (18e) was surprisingly good with strong flavor and strength.
Bread Service was excellent. 5 different house made breads plus 4 special colored butters. Fig Walnut, Olive, Seeded, Sourdough, and White bread is offered. Butters include beet, salt, spinach and mushroom. They even have a person dedicated to manning a bread station, carving bread with black gloves!
Amuses:
2017 Rhubarb crunch with “Balfegó” tuna tartar and yuzu gel was a fantastic dish were you had the fish places on a red shrimp chip like cracker. Alternate dish replaced the fish with green peppers and capers.
1995 Mille-feuille of smoked eel, foie-gras, spring onions and green apple was designed to be eaten in 1 quick bite. A big piece that gave different flavors and textures with each chewing motion.
2017 Ham and truffle “tortilla” was also a 1 bite wonder. It gave a big pop in flavor with the bite.
2014 Red Shrimp Royale and dill with « Venta del Barón » oil – hard to believe these amuse bouches are included when you order a la carte. This was another great one. Very delicate flavors. We were instructed to dig all the way in and eat.
Alternate dish was their classic vegetable madly with asparagus, carrot, artichoke and more. Excellent mushroom gravy.
Alternate dish.
A la carte items:
2001 Vegetable hearts salad with seafood, cream of lettuce and iodized juice (44e) was quite a large and sophisticated dish, with lots of lobster. 3 different dolups of flavor asparagus with a tomato base.
2016 Red mullet with edible scale crystals, fennel with saffron and liquid baby squid bonbon (Half Portion 38e) We were supposed to eat the squid ink bonbon in one bite and not to leak any black ink. Two large pieces of mullet that offered a burst of flavor.
2015 Stuffed Iberian pork trotters, braised endives with quince paste and crunchy black pudding “pearls” (Half Portion 38e) was a large dish that contained a variety of items. Tender jelly like segments.
2017 Charcoal-roasted young pigeon with red endive and olive bites (71e) was simply fantastic, one of the best we have had. A medium rare dish with 3 pieces of breast. Foie bone marrow accompany the dish.
1995 Vanilla apple pie with granny smith sorbet (32e) takes an hour to make, so you are asked to order it in the beginning. They graciously plated it for 2. A pretty large sized portion nonetheless with flaky crust, more neutral apples and some fantastic sorbet. This was more of a gallette than an American style Apple Pie.
Petit Fours included 3 chocolates, 2 cakes, and 3 drinks.
Restaurant Map:
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