Before leaving Basque Country, one final round of pintxos. And very good they were too.
Zeruko used to be a classic old-style bar, but it seems to have undergone a revolution in its kitchen, turning it into one of the latest and hottest of San Sebastian's "new-wave" pintxos places (since the last time we were there, anyway). The plates arrayed on the counter look spectacular — and what comes out of the kitchen even more so.
Here are a few of the morsels we tried — plus a few more we merely eyeballed with a view to trying on the next pintxos crawl (which, sadly, never happened)...
This was the day's selection. We would have had one of everything if we'd had the time.
Amongst those we missed out on were the patties of morcilla and foie coated with ground pistachio (just visible in the top photo); the house-special smoked bacalao "La Hoguera" (literally the "bonfire", because it comes over a mini brazier); and these mysterious alien items studded with pine nuts (below)...
Among those we did manage to sample, this was one of the highlights: foie gras and battered bacalao, topped with a thin layer of meaty jelly enlivened with tart sherry vinegar...
A small sunny-side-up quail egg on a scattering of elvers, arranged on a "fin" of crispy deep-fried potato...
Goat cheese and apple (at the back); and at the front: skewers of spud, egg, tuna and green olive...
grilled artichokes...
And solomillo ("steak") of duck breast with more foie gras, served on an intense apple compote and a lovely swirl of berry fruit...
This in particular went brilliantly with the house red — a nice Rioja (David Moreno), proving that sometimes even an ordinary easy-drinking crianza can be exactly right.
The best way to sample the range of food here is to order the Tasting Menu (€25). interestingly, it's written in Spanish and French — but not Basque. Obviously it's aimed at out-of-town visitors rather than locals, and it did seem as though everyone in the bar was from other parts of Spain (with a few non-Spanish speakers as well).
Unfortunately we arrived at Zeruko the end of the evening, shortly before closing time, didn't have a chance to try everything, and never had time to go back.
Ah well, it's always nice to have something to look forward to for the next trip...
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