Spain is amazingly affordable for a comfort traveler, but eating some divine food can set you back a whole lot. This post was supposed to highlight top three places to visit for those who love good food, but after writing down a few paragraphs I realized that only one place truly resonated the most with me and it was San Sebastian.
I went to Spain in the summer of 2015 and it was quite the adventure finding my way through the food dives and dumps. Yes guys, not every restaurant serves good food as my friends and I got to learn.
An important lesson I learned was to not trust that every restaurant would serve good food, seek reviews first to whittle out the terrible. Also note that not all well reviewed places offer good food, some reviewers do not know what good food really should taste like (no offense). So I follow this combo rule; seek places with local or online great reviews, patronized by a healthy number of locals, and gut feeling. My combo rule is certainly not foolproof, but it has not failed me yet.
Some restaurants that serve crap food are still crowded because they are cheap and many tourists are not too fussed about good food, try to steer clear of such places.
Overall, a big part of my travel time in Spain was spent trying out the food and wine from the South to North…and the Northern part of Spain, the Basque region, blew me away.
Let’s start with the wine
For Wine Lovers – visit La Rioja region
The language, the food, the music, the people, and often times, many forget to properly experience the wines of Spain. But not I.
I knew I wanted to roam around Spain for a few weeks, and a highlight I could NOT skip was La Rioja region of Spain. My experience with Spanish wine was very limited and I figured a day spent tasting different blends would serve as a crash course.
For those keen on going to Spain and love to try the wine culture, make sure to give Inma from Rioja Wine Trips a shout. I sent an email to several wine tasting tour guides with only 5 hours notice (yes, I sometime procrastinate), and this lady was the only one who took pity on me and showed me a customized taster of the region.
She met up with me in the city I was staying at, Logrono, the capital of La Rioja and from there, we drove through the region to experience a good variety of what La Rioja had to offer.
We tried some wine in a private cellar carved beneath an old castle and this experience took me back to my first wine tasting experience about 9 years ago in Germany. I have since seeked many wine experiences, but none had me giggling like a schoolgirl who just discovered a new treasure like this one. It was like a ‘welcome back to your beginning, let’s see how you have developed your taste buds.’ Not so well I fear.
The wine itself was superb. The almost perfect balance of full bodied flavour with just enough tannins to shock my taste bud into acceptance. Okay…I’m talking too much now abi? I have many friends who just prefer a simple bottle of sweet white wine and so do I! But I really respect the ones that make me sit down to appreciate and listen close enough to better understand the complexity and hard work that goes into its production.
My wine guide offered some cheese and bread, but for those who love to taste, do not eat such until after done tasting…it muddles and confuses the flavour. You do not want an aged cheese flavor murking the flavor of the wine you just drank, no?
From there we went to a couple local wineries that impressed me enough to involve my wallet into buying a few bottles to go back to Lagos with.
Over all, for the lovers of wine, Spain’s La Rioja is a region to visit. It is also not too far from the San Sebastian, a city where every food lover should visit.
Now, let’s get on with the city for food lovers…
San Sebastian aka Donostia
I was in foodie heaven in San Sebastian, a resort town in Spain’s Basque Country . The home of the most Michelin starred restaurants in the world after Kyoto, Japan. And with a blend of French inspired Spanish food, all the restaurants I ate at were spectacular.
San Sebastian may be the place I will retire to when I earn enough bank notes to afford a comfortable home and enjoy the life God planned for me.
Also, If north of Spain or south of France is on your travel agenda, please spend a couple of days at least in San Sebastian and delve into one of the best foodie culture on earth!
I did not know about San Sebastian until I started researching places to visit in Spain around Logrono. The minute I saw rave reviews about the food culture in San Sebastian, I knew my mouth had to witness its greatness.
My friends and I just so happened to be in town during Semana Grande (Big Week), so the crowd was overwhelming and a lot of restaurants were booked to the max! My friends are not so fussy about food discovery as I am, so I went on a solo mission to experience food in the Basque region. With Semana Grande in full force and all the top reviewed restaurants booked to the max, I had to figure out another option.
Luckily, I found San Sebastian Food, a company that focuses on showcasing the food in San Sebastian through food tastings, wine pairings, and the history behind the food culture at their favorite restaurants. I signed up for the Pintxo Hunting package (135 euro) and I was not disappointed. There is a reason they are on the Top 10 list of food tour companies in the world.
We had wine pairings at each restaurant and by the time we were done eating, I swore off eating rubbish junk food, eh hem, for the moment. Besides the Pintxo Hunting I did with San Sebastian Food, every meal I had in the city made my heart sing…don’t judge me for sounding cliche, but I still have lusty dreams about the food there and I really want to go back to give the city more than 48 hours of my time.
I traveled with three other people and we all did not want leave. We ended up missing our bus to Logrono and got a fabulous finale lunch before heading off to the next town. I have since become that person that advertises San Sebastian as a ‘must experience’ city for those planning to visit Spain, even when they don’t ask my opinions 
. You Really Have To Go There! Though if you have no plans to miss the bus, visit the site for bus information.
I also enjoyed the food in Sevilla and Barcelona, but San Sebastian’s food experience will forever stay with me.
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