Martin Berasategui

This was one of the most amazing dining experiences that I’ve ever had. Every dish delighted the senses and no detail left unconsidered. The service was terrific and our waitress Vicki really made us feel at home and welcome.

The recipient of more Michelin Stars than any Spanish born Chef, his eponymous restaurant in Lasarte-​Oria holding three ever since 2001, it seems strange that Martin Berasategui nonetheless seems to be underrated amongst peers in the Basque region, not to mention lists touting the world’s top Toques.
Located just a few miles from San Sebastian, the spacious confines of the dining room more lavish than the likes of even Azark or Mugaritz, it was just prior to 20h00 that a parking space was located at the base of a staircase with shrubbery obscuring views of a glass-​encased kitchen, Berasategui himself standing at the pass as a team of at least thirty were already at work across several highly-​polished stations.
Modern in design with no lack of refinement, white gloves reapplied by severs as silverware is replaced between plates, greetings in the foyer were followed by escort to a table built for four, the tile floors and spotlighting lent an air of naturalness by white orchids and wood fireplaces plus the linen that seems almost impossibly light.
Known to dabble less in Modernism than others, his cuisine more focused on immediacy and the bounty of Northeast Spain, it is before menus are presented that aperitifs, wine, and breads are offered, a la carte options bound to tempt while the € 205 tasting menu is strongly suggested and selected by most.
Offering a mix of old and new, the dishes dating back decades in some cases while others a timestamped to 2015, it is with two small bites touching on contrast that tasting is started, Berasategui’s savory Mille Feuille to follow with creamy foie gras layered by eel, the two bites leaving one wanting for several additional as the unctuous flavors dissipated to a linger that was slightly sweet.
Assuredly a place where ‘filling up’ on bread is a danger, the seed bread and foccacia of olives and anchovies particularly tempting, course two featured a frothy emulsion inside a porcelain «shell» hiding shrimp in an aromatic mousse, the follow-​up oyster bursting with warm brine amidst a chilly composition of vegetal notes, spice, and top notes of Spanish wine.
Skewing Japanese in a presentation of Ankimo on an umami-​rich backdrop of seaweed, mussels, and radishes in a salty green broth course six was the first in a string of five show-​stoppers, the moist black nugget a compression of fermented wild mushrooms while the broth around it offered the rich aroma of truffles both French and Italian atop a bed of stewed greens.
Channeling Bras’ «Gargouillou» with an eye-​catching salad studded with Slipper Lobster before offering a sous-​vide egg melding complex herbs to pork, plate nine continued a theme of using protein to compliment vegetation rather than the other way around, the crisp bits of salt cod and buttery scallops used to highlight Swiss Shard that ate like matchstick potatoes in a creamy broth made from the plant’s leaves and flavors of licorice.
Substantial in the penultimate savory, a pork-​veiled Hake fillet served alongside spinach pureed with black truffles and foamy flavors of K5 atop mounds of crab, it was admittedly a bit of surprise when the three-​bone Lamb Chop arrived in an equally pronounced portion, sighs of being ‘too full’ heard from other tables while the tender pink meat served with sweetbreads, cheesy fritter, and light citrus still saw me smiling and faring quite well.
Unable to resist a classic, Berasategui’s 1995 Vanilla Apple Pie replacing a 2015 palate cleanser at no additional charge, it seemed to tickle the Chef that such a request had been levied as he personally saw to its service, the crust seemingly a thousand shattering layers beneath pearls of sugar with boozy cream served in a sidecar, a quenelle of sour apple sorbet pleasantly refreshing between bites.
Again glancing modern with a boulder of chocolate that could have probably been compressed to a small bon-​bon were all the air squeezed out, it was with light hints of smoke that the meal came to its conclusion, the frozen components largely present for texture though the mint and whiskey’s interaction was indeed quite interesting, the same to be said of a sculpture crafted by the chef that presented petit fours and a shot of warm brandy-​spiked milk.

Yep, absolute fantastic. Well deserving of every one of its stars.
The dishes, while looking fantastic and we’ll designed, had taste as their number one objective. That’s the way it should be.
They are confident enough to post their recipe for the oyster online. Lightly poached, with a spicy apple foam, a cucumber granite ice, and a local yellow wine sauce. Two pearls made of seawater and Oyster juice. Taste great. Looks great. The recipe specifies nearly 6 hours of work. So why isn’t this great value.
I love the lobster salad most of all. A gigantic plate of assorted delicate salad leaves and the usual edible micro greens and flowers. But underneath it all is a film of delicate vegetable aspic.

This is truly the definition of perfection! Are you only going to try out one of the top restaurants in San Sebastian? This is the place to choose. Flawless staff, excellent food. This is what 3 Michelin stars are all about!

Tout est presque excellent, l. ambiance, le service, les plats, le vin… Les plats sont délicieux, plein de couleurs et saveur, souvent assez surprenants, un mélange de gout parfois aux antipodes fait un mariage parfait dans la bouche. Un régale pour chacun qui aime la cuisine exquise. Cependant, pour moi certains mélanges ont été un peu trop expérimentales. Comme si le grand chef, il est grand, aucun doute, est allé si loin que les saveurs proposés devraient plutôt surprendre que de faire plaisir… Cependant, dans le menu dégustation il y a des perles, un mélanges crevettes, lentilles ou la magnifique salades — je crois un must ici, les desserts exquis… A recommander. Le service au top, serviable, souriant, discret, recommandation du vin a suivre aussi. Nous avons une plainte, comme d’habitude dans ce genre de restaurants, nous aimons descendre vers les cuisines. Nous avons demandé le serveur si nous pourrions le faire, il a dit oui et au final, il a oublié, c’est la première fois que cela nous arrive. je trouve ça inexcusable dans des endroits de ce niveau… De plus les serveurs changent, nous n’avons pas gardé le même tout au long du repas, incompréhensible. Enfin, les plats, a mon goût, arrivent un peu trop vite l’un après l’autre. On n’avait même pas le temps de respirer et le nouveau plat arrivé. Dommage, dommage… A revoir. Car tout aurait pu être parfait, de plus avec ce vu magnifique sur la nature… au final quand même expérience inoubliable !!! A recommander

Flawless. Perfection. The best dining experience I’ve ever had. My partner and I had the tasting menu here after a flavorless and underwhelming meal at Mugaritz the previous night. We almost cancelled our reservation at Martin B because we got cold feet about dropping another 500 Euros on another fancy Michelin meal. I cannot tell you how happy I am that we decided to go. It was very pricey but worth it. The service was impeccable – the staff highly professional yet still friendly and with lots of personality. Even though the restaurant is formal it does not feel stuffy or snobby. They get all the details right without seeming over the top or affected.
The food was out of this world. As each dish was served, it became my new favorite. The sea crunch tempura with a tiny, gorgeous cumquat on a spoon was delicious and beautiful. The oyster with an icy slush and spiced apple was good enough on its own but the presentation was also surprising and magical (I will not give away the surprise)! The vegetable hearts salad with seafood was exquisite, both in looks and taste. The wine recommendation from the Sommelier was perfectly on point and the gin and tonic was giant with the most amazing ice cubes I’ve ever seen. I could go on but you just need to experience this place for yourself. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford it than it really does not get much better than this.

Our first night in San Sebastian was at this Michellin 3 stars restaurant! What a treat it was. We appreciated every bit and the service was top notch. Timing of the food was perfect, and presentation was exquisite! It was a long meal and I was tired so it was tough staying awake. However I finished the meal and enjoyed this experience. The food was less experimental than it was at Mugaritz but the flavors here were amazing.

It was an exceptional dining experience. Every bit of the dining experience was on point. The entire staff is very friendly and accommodating.
You can literally see and feel how every part of the dining experience, whether it be the utensils or plates, was designed for the meal. The silverware has his name on them and all the plates compliment the food.
I liked the fact that the restaurant was away from any major cities. It is situated in the countryside and people who were pulling up in taxis one after another were all here for the experience. Quite literally, people from all over the world. To please this type of clientele means not only meeting the expectations but exceeding it. It’s a tremendous achievement.

first: the staff. on point. polished. knowledgeable. extremely well-​dressed.
service: nearly invisible but friendly and warm. perfect.
timing: course timing was impeccable.
food: taste of the food was intellectually interesting. textures were thought and mouth-​sensation provoking. the gastronomy was actually used to enhance the dish rather than wanna be «cool».
the menus are printed close to the beginning of the meal rather than other restaurants who give you a menu as a keepsake, this restaurant makes the changes for you and prints the menu for you to follow along (assuming you made changes to the tasting menu)
other notes: Martin was very hospitable. the kitchen was massive. the TV studio set was awesome.
Antonio the sommelier gave us two different wine pairings. the wines were spot on.
seasoning was perfect.
bread was one of the best ever and a nice refreshment (after having extremely mediocre bread all over Italy and Spain).
550 euros with two wine pairings and 2 tasting menus. i was expecting the bill to really hurt but not too bad. (only 160 for two wine pairings) 195euro x 2

I’ve eaten a lot of animals and plants within my lifetime. Hands down the best meal of my life! We came from South of France and didn’t have time to change. So I walked in with a hoodie. So not cool but they let us sit anyways. The meal was unbelievable. Every dish that came out was awesome. Again Best meal of my life.

This was hands down the most amazing dining experience I’ve ever had in my life. Granted, this is my first 3 Michelin Star restaurant, but I’ve been to a few 1 – 2 star places, and Chef Martin Berasategui and his team deserve every star and it was worth every penny. It is only a 15 minute drive outside of San Sebastian to this beautiful location, and you get to experience what I can only imagine is molecular gastronomy cuisine at its best!
The dining room is very quiet and intimate with only 6 – 8 parties. There’s no background music or excessive décor. I suppose this is meant to allow you to fully appreciate the balance of flavors of each dish. My friend and I had the Chef’s tasting menu for 195 euros and ordered wine to go along with it. The staff is super attentive, and Chef Martin came out to greet all his diners at the end of the night.
We came in March which is a low travel season for Spain, so amazingly we were able to make a reservation just a few weeks in advance, but if visiting during a popular time, I’d reserve your spot well ahead of time!

The best dinner we have had on the planet earth!!! We had ours with wine pairing… all Spanish and all amazing! Would definitely try to eat here again on our next visit to San Sabe.

THE BEST MEAL OF MY LIFE. (ok. tied with Daniel in NYC.)
Fully deserving of the 3 Michelin Stars & every other award + recognition.
Came with my 2 sisters for my last lunch in San Sebastian (after dining at Akelarre and Mugaritz the two previous nights), and must say that this definitely outshone the other 2 by miles. While I felt like the other two had received much more hype, I had the best experience here, both service-​wise and food-​wise. There was absolutely nothing that I could complain about.
Food: I am now staring down at my 12-​course tasting menu while writing this review, and salivating as I recall the dishes I had. AHH. While I won’t actually list out descriptions of all 12 dishes, the most memorable 2 dishes for me were an appetizer with foie gras, smoked eel, spring onions, and apple (probably the most amazing combination of flavors of my life) and a salad with black fruit garlic, beet ceviche, and ice radish — I remember seeing the small pile of radish on the side of the plate and thinking it was salt crystals, until realizing that it was edible. and omg. so delicious and refreshing. Chef Martin Berasategui loves to use «emulsion» in his dishes, and while I usually don’t like how foamy/​airy it is, he utilized it so perfectly that he completely changed my opinion.
Service: Amazing. We were offered the option of dining inside or outside on the patio — chose the patio because of the nice weather, but noticed that they had enough tables to seat everyone outside or seat everyone inside. As for the waiters, I was impressed by 3 things. 1) They put on white gloves before touching our silverware & glasses, whether it was placing them on our table or refilling our water or wine. 2) They coordinated so that 3 people came at one time to place or remove dishes from our table. 3) They spoke English well — I know this may be less important to some people when dining in a foreign country, but I could actually understand their detailed descriptions of each dish & they could answer all our questions. Lastly, we got to meet Martin Berasategui and take photos with him when he came by our table, and he thanked us and shook our hands again when we were leaving the restaurant. (what an honor to meet such a talented chef!)
OVERALL: If you could only choose one restaurant to dine at in San Sebastian (or in the entire world haha), THIS IS THE ONE. It was the perfect combination of delicious & creative (Mugaritz — too creative that it sometimes lacked in tastiness, Akelare — though delicious, lacks creativity). MY NEW FAVORITE RESTAURANT!

An impressive culinary experience; tasting menu is a must! Meticulously prepared and served series of dishes, with a clear scheme of lighter to more intense, some a little uneven but all interesting. Highlight of the evening was the incredibly friendly and helpful sommelier, who worked out for us a tasting menu of all Spanish wines, perfectly synched with what we were eating; ask for it, it’s not on the menu, and changes all the time. Service initially a little uneven, but smoothed out nicely, and everyone extremely friendly, professional. Gorgeous space, airy, not crowded. Not for the budget-​conscious. Reservations essential, best more than 1 month ahead

C’est avec des amis et nos enfants (8 et 9 ans) que nous avons expérimenté le restaurant de Martin Berasategui. Unanimement ce repas aura été un des meilleurs que nous ayons fait. Le service est parfait, sans être trop obséquieux. Les plats du menu dégustation étaient tous d’un raffinement extrême: aux mariages de saveurs subtiles se disputaient les harmonies de couleur faisant de chaque plat une oeuvre d’art gustative et visuelle.
Un sans faute!

A bit of a drive from old town San Sebastian but well worth it! I do not recommend driving here if you are not familiar with the area. Even sitting in the taxi we felt confused as to where we were going.
When you first walk in it feels almost as if you are walking in a hotel or office building. Everyone is very formal and you are not sure what to make of it. I was a bit concerned this would be a very stuffy restaurant but after we were seated, the staff lightened up and we really enjoyed both our waiter and the sommelier.
We had Arzak the prior night so the bar was set pretty high! Although I favor Arzak, we still had a lovely meal. I thoroughly enjoyed the liquid chili paired with the grilled sole. It gave the dish a slight kick without overwhelming the dish. The vanilla apple pie was perfect. Beautifully presented and just the right amount of tartness.
Roast foie gras with seaweed resting on horseradish curd, fermented soy broth and hazelnut salt Warm vegetable hearts salad with seafood, cream of lettuce and iodized juice Grilled sirloin Luismi over a bed of Swiss chard chlorophyll and cheese bonbon Grilled Sole with liquid chilli and smoked fish snout Vanilla apple pie with granny smith sorbet Chocolate soufflé, caramel and cinnamon ice cream, and cacao cream

for me, martin berasategui was a little better than arzak but not quite as good as mugaritz. the tomato gel salad was one of my favorite dishes in a long time.

This is, by far, the best place I’ve been in a while.
Service, quality, taste, originality, you name it.
Too much to describe for such a short space. If you can go, don’t doubt it. Once in a lifetime experience!
Be ready to spend some $$$ and make sure you make a reservation in advance.

Entre los mejores de Euskadi sin ninguna duda. Todo bueno la comida, el sitio y el servicio

Élite. Genial su degustación. Garrote!

«Egiten baduk beharra, jango duk ogia»
If you work, you will eat bread. So is the Basque saying that is prominently written in Euskera on the entrance to Martin Berasategui’s flagship restaurant. As an ancient proverb it is the equivalent to «if you want something you must work hard for it». This is the motto in which the famed Basque chef approaches his work, food, service and it shows. In yet another remote town outside of Donstia is Lasarte whose picturesque views of nature are that of a resort. After getting lost (yet again, a theme of our journey here) we finally made it to our destination. This was to be our last meal in the Pais Vasco, and it surely ended up being a great one.
We came up from the employee car port, not knowing there was a huge parking lot that overlooked the grounds, which we’d find after our meal, making our way up the steps to the main dining room. We are greeted cordially by many as we are led to our beautiful table overlooking the grounds, through large picture windows. What is the staff to diner ratio here? I didn’t count but I knew it was large. We briefly looked at the menus but we were here for the «Great Degustation Menu». I think some of the translations sound funny but that’s what was give to us in printed form:
–Salmon Keia, lightly smoked with seaweed, powdered hazelnut, coffee, vanilla
–Mille-​feuille of smoked eel, foie-​gras, spring onions and green apple
–Iberian Canneloni Bacon, squid, white wine
–Little pearls of fennel in raw, risotto and emulsion form
–Cheese and Carabana Oil bubbles, endives, red onion juice, Iberian Ham
–Farm egg with beet root and liquid herb salad. Carpaccio of Basque stew and cheese
–Warm vegetable hearts salad with seafood, cream of lettuce, and idionized juice
–Roaster Red Mullet with crystals of soft scales, juice of white chocolate with seaweed
–Roasted Araiz’s Pigeon, fresh pasta with mushrooms and spring onions, truffle cream
–Tripes stew in the traditional Basque style
–Cold essence of basil and grean bean, lime sherbert and juniper granite with almond
–Chocolate and acacia honey with irish coffee
All I can say is wow. We sure picked correctly for our last meal. Perhaps the most progressive of the meals of the Basque Country we had and definitely among the runners of the greatest meals there too. Service was very formal. Each time they handed you silverware it was in a gloved hand. The staff were dressed sharper than I ever have been even at weddings. The level of comfort and professionalism that rivals that of Per Se and the French Laundry. It took a handful of curious questions, the effort to educate ourselves on their cuisine and culture, and how they felt about how food was moving forward, finally broke the servers down to a more comfortable rapport. Again, our enthusiasm for a culture’s food led them to embrace us in their knowledge and warmth of hospitality. After experiencing this meal (and the many others in the surrounding area), I can see why Spain’s cuisine has been so revered over the last decade. They certainly delivered in spades and the staff at Martin Berasategui are at the top of their game.

Un des meilleurs restaurants au monde.
Un pur régal. Pas de cuisine moléculaire ni de chichi. Le respect des produits tout en les magnifiant…