Yes, you read that right! You can eat a 9 course tasting menu right in Bilbao City Centre for just 35€. And it's amazing!
It makes sense that if you're a tourist you know about Michelin Star tasting menus in Bilbao, which are one of the reasons why my hometown has become so popular in recent years!
However, the reason why I started The Northern Spaniard is to help you discover hidden gems like the one I will talk about today.
This recommendation is NOT SPONSORED.
In The Northern Spaniard you will never find a sponsored recommendation.
📝 How it works
This restaurant doesn't have a set menu. They have one on their website, but when you go, they have a menu that day that may vary from one day to the other.
So basically you don't really know what you're going to eat when you go. They will ask you if there's something you don't like, and adapt it for you. In my case, there's nothing I don't eat so they could just bring anything to me and I would eat it!
🧑🍳 3 Different Rounds
- First, they start with an initial round of 4 different courses.
- Then, they ask you if you would like to continue and order another 3 courses.
- Finally, they ask you if you want to continue and order the final 2 courses.
The price you will pay changes depending on how many you eat. In my case, I ordered the whole 9 courses and the price was 35€.
🍲 The Main Thing: The Food
Let's get into matter. How and what was the food?
The food was really good. It's not reliant on expensive ingredients like Michelin Star restaurants normally are. In this case, you will try multiple well-prepared and original dishes that are pleasant to see and tasty to eat! We could say that it's like a non-fancy tasting menu. It's original and kind of refined, but not fancy.
🤔 Is it for you?
I think this restaurant is not for you if you're after a fancy experience. I would say it could be a bit like a fancier, siting-down version of Pintxos.
I recommend this restaurant for people who are into food and like to cook, as you will get ideas that you could replicate at home with ingredients that you can buy in most supermarkets.
I would also recommend it for people who would like to try different things without breaking the bank, or people who just like to eat in general and don't need fancy experiences.
😄 What Did I Eat Here?
As I said, I ordered the full 9 course menu. Here is a breakdown of the dishes and some pictures I took:
The 9 Courses:
- Tomato-filled Blown Bread over Black Olives Cream and topped with Sardine Pieces.
- Parmesan Cheese & Red Onion Croquettes.
- Wild Boar-filled Cannelloni with Pumpkin Bechamel.
- Fried Cauliflower over Smoked Bechamel, topped with a thin layer of Pork Belly.
- Grilled Cuttlefish Cubes with Homemade Ali-Oli.
- Spring Roll filled with Pork, covered in a Slightly Spicy Mango Sauce, wrapped in lettuce.
- Cream/Soup of Basque Beans, Green Curry and Cod.
- Roasted Goat Gyozas with Date Puré & Gravy from the roasting.
- Hard-Wheat Shell filled with Custard, with Homemade Mango Cream, Mint, and Pineapple Cream.
Pictures of each of the courses
🍽️ Ambiance & Service
The decoration of the place was cool, with some graffity-like mural on the wall, and a big window facing the square in front. There was abundant natural light. The tables & cutlery were from Ikea, although it didn't feel cheap.
The service was a bit slow, but you could feel that it was managed with passion and love for the restaurant and what it represents. The ambiance was relaxed, and set for enjoying your meal. We spent around 2h in the restaurant.