Borda Berri

One of the few places we went back to twice, Borda Berri’s veal cheeks was one of my 5 fave things I ate in San Sebastian (and we tried veal cheeks I think in 3 other places and preferred Borda Berri’s version). I also really enjoyed both the cheese and mushroom risottos. It’s a great place for a more traditional atmosphere although some of their dishes are more unusual like squid ink ravioli. Having read the other reviews I must go back to try the pork rib, octopus and tuna! There’s no seating and pintxos are made to order.

The veal cheeks here are delicious. All of the food here looks so good and they are amazingly fast at taking orders and delivering food. It’s quite overwhelming when everyone is ordering at the same time. I wasn’t a huge fan of the risotto, it was ok, but the flavor of the cheese wasn’t my thing.

Great pintxos at quite affordable prices in the middle of old town. Can greatly recommend the octopus (pulpo) dish and the risotto dish. Be patient though as this and many other bars in the area are usually pretty crowded

You just can’t stop at two pinxchos at Berri. We tried it the veal cheeks, the pork chop, and the crispy pig ear. All excellent. The risotto is so popular they ran out by 2030 pm. Highly recommended.

Wine was great, food was phenomenal; this place is no joke! Service wasn’t warm, but they definitely got the job done! They weren’t unkind at all, just don’t expect the American in-​your-​face friendliness. The food is so good you won’t mind at all anyway. The dining environment can be a big crowded, and we had to stand around for a spot to open up at the bar, but the food really makes it all worth the wait. The price is also very very friendly! Thoroughly recommend this place!

Crowded and busy, so you know it’s good! The pulpo was delicious!

Sin duda Borda Berri se caracteriza por su risotto de idiazabal, muy bueno. Tienen mucha variedad de pintxos, pero como en Donosti hay que elegir uno en cada sitio porque si no te quedarías atrapado en el mismo bar y la gracia es ir yendo a pintxo por bar, yo siempre me decanto por el risotto.
Lo único malo del sitio es que a veces van tan a tope porque tiene tanto éxito que cuesta que te atiendan. Por lo demás, calidad-​precio también está muy bien.

Borda Berri was my second favorite pinxo bar, although I did try the most items here. It’s definitely a little more on the non-​traditional side, which I liked! It was also one of the few that didn’t have pinxo options on the bar — everything is made to order.
The first night I came here, it was packed and they were pretty much out of everything I’d intended to order. I ended up with bonito (tuna), solomillo (steak), queso de cabras (goats cheese). All amazing. Tuna is rare with a flavored glaze, the solomillo is perfectly textured, and the goats cheese with herbs was to die for.
The next day, we came earlier and actually ate everything we’d originally wanted: pulpo (octopus), carrillera (beef cheek), and risotto. The pulpo was spectacular. It is so hard to make octopus right, but this one was so tender and flavorful. Same goes for the melt-​in-​your-​mouth beef cheek. The risotto was really creamy and rich, almost overly so for my personal palate. I can see why most people like it, but it was the one thing I would skip should I return.
Overall, amazing pinxos. Can’t go wrong no matter what you order. Squeeze your way to the front and order, and have someone save you a spot on the counter. If you do that, you’re good to go.

KenScale: 8.0÷10
Borda Berri is another well-​known pintxos bar in San Sebastian in the city’s old quarters that seem to have endless bars showcasing the Basque cuisine. It just looks like a bar with not much space for eating, but I didn’t mind standing up while nibbling on pintxos as I had been driving a lot during my stay in the Basque. After a long tasting menu lunch at Azurmendi that day, my stomach was still somewhat full but I decided to march along and stop by San Sebastian to cap my culinary journey in the Basque here.
The menus at Borda Berri look deceptively simple, but all of the dishes I had tried had interesting twists. You can get all of these at pintxos size, half portion and full portion. I was impressed with the creamy risotto with Basque sheep’s cheese. It’s certainly not an ordinary risotto and the rich yet delightful flavor of cheese was all over the rice. Fillet steak with wholegrain mustard vinaigrette came with red pepper and was cooked very nicely as well. This place has been well-​known for its veal cheeks with red wine sauce, so obviously I had to try that. The meat was very tender and the red wine sauce, instead of over-​seasoned, added another dimension to the texture of the meat. I was beyond full at this point, but if I wasn’t, I probably would’ve gobbled up the entire portion of the meat by myself.
The bar has lively atmosphere even at 9 p.m. at night when I walked in. You can order a glass of wine or beer to complement your meal. While exploring these pinxtos bars in the Basque area, I wish I had larger stomach to try as many dishes as possible. At places like Borda Berri, there were at least a couple of other dishes that I would’ve loved to try. It is another of solid destinations to explore the beauty of pintxos in a casual atmosphere.

Salir de tapas en Donostia es una de las experiencias de las que ningún amante de la comida debiera privarse.
Dado dicho contexto, Borda Berri es un must total. El concepto de las tapas le queda corto, siendo un lugar que ofrece alta cocina en miniatura. Frecuentado por igual por locales y turistas, el ambiente es otro de los rubros en los que suma puntos.
En particular, nosotros le entramos –entre otras cosas– a un magret de pato acompañado con un tinto de la región; recuerdo con el que sin duda atormentaremos a nuestros nietos eventualmente.
La relación precio/​calidad es muy buena, así que no hay más que decir que: si está por el país vasco, vayan!

Fabulous tapas, cook to order tapas with a wide selections, beef cheek, octopus and spare rods are awesome! Will definitely be coming back!

Come here for the veal cheek! It’s fatty and the texture is soft and chewy. This was another one on the list from Mugaritz to try. I heard the risotto and the kebab were good too but the cheek was so pretty heavy and we had a few more places to hit.
Get the cheek! It’s like nothing we have ever had! Also be aggressive at ordering or else no one will ever get your order. B

The veal cheeks… that risotto… oh my.

Pintxo to get: stewed beef cheeks.
Order one (if you really feel like ordering another dish, the mushroom risotto is pretty good) and wash it down with a glass of red and move on to the next pintxo bar :)

This was my favorite pinxto place in San Sebastian.
That is saying something.
Here is the things that I think you need to eat (in order of my preference for them):
RISOTTO-​creamy, smooth, rich, absolutely perfect. The best mac and cheese you’ve never had and could never even imagine. So simple and so perfect. I dream about it.
PORK RIB KEBAB-​holy crap. This was so amazing. Curry spiced and falling off the bone tender. I think this is only available in the evening opening hours. This has the perfect combination of soft and succulent meat and the crispy grilled skin that spanish grilled meat seems to achieve so perfectly. This had me weak in the knees. We had two.
VEAL CHEEKS-​duh. everyone’s favorite. The classic and roast pepper versions are both devastatingly worth it.
TUNA-​with orange and vermouth glaze. seared and kept perfectly rare on the inside. sensationally delicious. I licked the plate.
In reality, everything there is worth tasting. It was the best of the best food I hate in my week in this region and I can’t wait to be back.

Risotto has just been upgraded from a side dish to a main dish! Jokes aside, the Idiazabel (cheese made from sheep milk) mushroom risotto here is heavenly.
Any evening you come here it will likely be packed, and a pain to squeeze up the bar. They serve pintxos, but unlike most of the places on this street where the food is spread out at the bar buffet-​style, these bite-​sized dishes are ordered from a chalkboard menu and made fresh from the kitchen in the back. The food is fresher this way, but will take longer to get to you. The menu is also in Catalan so even Spanish-​speakers may have trouble discerning all the words and it’s sometimes hard to get a waiter to translate.
Standing at the bar near the kitchen, we found that pulpo (octopus) was by far the most popular dish ordered, followed closely by the risotto which I absolutely recommend you try even if you are vegan or normally opposed to eating cheese (my boyfriend and I are vegans and we both agreed it was worth it.) We came here on a recommendation for the risotto so it’s the only thing we tried.
The hours reported on Unilocal are NOT correct! We were here around 8pm the first time, but tried again the next day around 12 and again at 2:30pm but they were still closed so they may only be open for evenings.

Es mi preferido en Donostia. Una exquisitez cada plato, menudo punto, te preguntas, como lo harán? Puede estar este bocado tan exquisito y perfecto?
Las carrilleras exquisitas, el pulpo con membrillo super original y conseguido, el ravioli relleno de chipiron ya es de levitar. El queso de cabra crujiente hace las veces de continuación de exquisiteces y postre, más aún si sigues degustando un buen vino.
Imprescindible visitarlo

Siempre que voy a San Sebastián es un placer para los sentidos, ciudad bellísima y una gastronomía que quita el sentido. Recomendado por otros Unilocalers, no dudé en acercarme a la taberna de Borda Berri, y como ocurre siempre que vas a un lugar visitado por otros compañeros, nunca defrauda.
Cerveza bien tirada en vaso de sidra en primer lugar. Y después unos pintxos increíbles. El risoto, pulpo, kebak o carrillera fueron algunos de lo que probamos.
Os dejo una foto para ver el
la carta. Que pena no haber tenido más hambre para seguir probando el resto.
No le llego a dar 5 estrellas, porque a las 15:30 cerraron cocina, y me pareció demasiado pronto para ser domingo y en España.
Pero si pasáis por el casco antiguo de esta maravillosa ciudad, no dejéis de daros una vuelta por este lugar. :)

I had some of the best food I’ve ever tasted ever here at Borda Berri. So so delicious. Every bite was amazing. It’s more of a sit-​down-​at-​the-​bar and order type of restaurant, and all the food is made to order in the back, so everything was hot and fresh. The beef cheek and pork ears are simply perfect. At the touch of your fork they peeled right off, and then melted in your mouth. I would give Borda Berri more stars on Unilocal if I could!

No conozco todos los restaurantes y sitios de tapas de Donosti, ni mucho menos. He estado por allí de trabajo y me he dejado guiar con gran acierto por las reseñas de compañeros y amigos. Y sólo puedo decir que he estado en grandes sitios!
El centro de Donosti esta bien (incluso cuando uno tiene que ir solo), este local de tapas se llena hasta la bandera y un poco más, no es caro, y la verdad q tomarse un kebab o darse al famosos risoto de idiazabal (mejor con no demasiado) es todo un placer.
El servicio y la atención es buena, quizá puedas estar un pelín incómodo por la cantidad de gente que se puede juntar. A mí me gustó aun estando solo.

Borda Berri, I FREAKIN’ LOVE YOU!
This establishment had the single best pinxto dish out of the 20+ I tried over my two nights stay in San Sebastian.
Peppers stuffed with veal cheeks and goat cheese is the biznizz, better than the veal cheek with red wine sauce. They say you only want to try two or three pinxtos in each establishment and then move on, I wouldn’t mind sticking around and eating 6 of the same dish because it was the most savory, flavor packed, perfect execution of meat, cheese, veggie and sauce dish San Sebastian has to offer.

Our 2^nd stop on our pinxto tour. We ordered the shrimp skewer pintox, peppers with salt, and chipirones (baby squid) with a nice round of txakoli. The shrimp skewers were my fave and also nice to have a vegetable. We want more!
Love the buzz about all of these places. We started talking to one of the locals (you know it’s gotta be good then!) and he was asking why we came to visit San Sebastian. To eat of course! Its amazing it really comes down to the individual to pay for the food. You never want to start having bad food karma!

Prices are very good here for what you get. And what you get is very fresh and tasty.
Staff were generally friendly but it took a while to order. I attribute that to the kitchen being backed up as the place was absolutely packed.
If you’re in Sanse, going for pintxos, then this place is a must.

Increible, lo mejor el risoto de idiazabal y el kebab. El foei muy bueno también.
El sitio es pequeño pero muy «grande», volvemos segurisimo.
La única pega es que llamamos para reservar al teléfono que aparece aquí y al llegar nos dijeron que no era el teléfono correcto, ellos no reservan pq no hay comedor, es una barra, pero la comida y el personal se lo merece…

World class, one of the very best for price-​to-​value.
Expect them to be closed, and when they are rarely and briefly open to be standing room only. The food is amazing and the wine and service is very good.
I liked the pig ears best, and ordered them twice. The perfect blend of crispy and fatty, with a lovely Chimichurri sauce.

Wow I love this place! Small and unassuming, and full of buzz. Get here early or there will not even be standing room.
The food is seriously good here… really good and no-​one takes themselves to seriously.
The wine options are plentiful and good, and of course there is beer on tap.
We returned numerous time and tried all the dishes from the menu… some true standouts included the Ravioli with leeks, Euskal Pork ribs ‘kebab’, Crispy pigs ear, roasted octopus…
This place is a must and such value for money…

Muy bueno y con un servicio muy divertido. Pide el kebab pq está bueniiiisssssimo, y los risotos están muy buenos también!!!
Volveremos!!!

Borda Berri was recommended by our Airbnb host. Out of the five places I tried in San Sebastian, it was my second favorite. (My favorite was Atari.)
There was barely any stools in the restaurant, and everyone stood at the bar or along the walls. All the dishes of the day were written on a chalkboard in Spanish. Everything on the menu ranged from 2.5−3.5EUR. The dishes were all beautifully plated.
* Veal cheeks in red wine sauce — 3EUR
Delicious!
* Rice with squid — 3EUR
This had a mild kick to it and reminded me of kimchi fried rice sans kimchi.
* Risotto with Idiazabal cheese — 3.5EUR
Yummy. Idiazabal cheese works well with risotto.
* Ravioli with gizzard, leeks, lemongrass — 2.5EUR
This was the only thing I wouldn’t order again. The sauce was too sweet for my liking.
Our red wine was only 1.4EUR/glass, and it wasn’t even the cheapest one on the list.

De lo mejor en DONOSTI !!!
Unos de mis preferidos!!!
Todo muy bueno!