Asador Etxebarri

Situated in a farming community half way between San Sebastian and the Bilbao Airport is a tucked away cottage that took human's most primitive method of cooking and turned it an art form. Asador Etxebarri is know for their use of the wood-burning grill as documented on Anthony Bordain's No Reservations: Spain. With it's high acclaim and countless accolades including it's rank at number 50 on San Pellegrino's World's Best Restaurants, we made a detour for lunch prior to returning to the Bilbao Airport from San Sebastian.

The menu offers a variety of items a la carte but we went for the tasting menu as it seemed to offer a great variety of items and left the hard decisions up to the kitchen.

1. Gazepacho - This cool tomato soup was a great way to start the meal and cleanse the palate. A slight hint of olive oil and citrus, we felt like we started off on the right foot.

2. Handmade Goat Butter - Part of the thinking at Asador Etxebarri is if something can be eaten, it can be grilled. Case in point: butter. Not really grilled as much as it was smoked. The butter was still slightly cool and didn't feel as grotesque as if you were taking a bite of Land O' Lakes out of the fridge. It was probably the highest ratio of butter to bread we'd ever had. A pleasant smokiness was infused within while the crispy bread help to make you not feel completely disgusting. Topped with thin slices of mushrooms.

3. Grilled oyster - Warm and creamy. The sent and taste of the ocean was very apparent.

4. Grilled goose barnacles - Our first time having barnacles. These were the most expensive a la carte items on the menu. We required some guidance from our server as to the best way to eat these.

You hold the hard outer shell and simply twist it from the rough tubular casing which yields the edible portion within. To our surprise, these things tend to squirt their juices quite a distance when pried open. The texture was a cross between a clam and lobster tail - a bit chewy but with a meaty consistency. The flesh was pleasantly salty and delicious and quite fun to eat.

5. Grilled Palamos prawns - A large shrimp similar to the spot prawn we have here in California. Very meaty and very sweet. We felt that this preparation was slighly undercooked. The sea salt helped enhance the crustacean's natural sweetness. And of course we sucked the head.

6. Grilled baby octopus - Served atop a sweet onion puree and charcoal paste. The octopods were very tender but were it not for the puree, we felt that dish would have lacked much depth.

7. Grilled peas - Served in a white ceramic cup, these peas were surprisingly good. They packed a pleasant punch with their natural sweetness and smoky flavor. Very good indeed.

8. Grilled egg yolk - One of the few dishes that fell a little short. A bit of a goopy mess. The egg yolks were smoky and hardy and mixed in with thin slices of mushrooms. The combination yielded a subtle earthy flavor but wouldn't say that we'd get this again.

9. Grilled lemon fish - A firm white fish similar to halibut in texture. However, this preparation wasn't cooked all the way through, similar to seared tuna. We didn't care too much for this fish but the peeled tomato was delicious.

10. Grilled beef on bone - By this point we were beginning to suffer from food fatigue. Normally, a steak presentation of this magnitude would force the salivary glands into overdrive. But instead, it was met with a collective groan as we realized how much more food we needed to consume. Perhaps it was the full stomach that didn't allow us to really appreciate this beautiful cut of meat. Cooked more towards the rarer side of medium-rare, this steak was charred and bloody. We were surprised to find that it wasn't as tender as expected, but this did yield a very beefy flavor. Unfortunately, a large chunk of this beef went uneaten.

11. Smoked milk ice cream - If it can be eaten, it can be grilled. Much like the butter served earlier, who would have thought to smoke ice cream? This sheep's milk version was a bit more tangy and complimented the berry syrup underneath very nicely. Both were tart and sweet but in different ways and intensities. Surprisingly tasty.

12. Grilled cheese flan - Flan: tasty yet boring. But grilled flan from sheep's milk...this may have been the best dessert we've ever had. EVER! This is a dessert that would make me return to this restaurant. It had the traditional sweet caramel flavors of flan. It was very soft in consistency, almost like a thick cream. However, the sheep's milk made all the difference. Again, the light tartness semt this flan into a different stratosphere. Absolutely amazing.

The flan was a fantastic way to end our time in Basque country. After all the meals in San Sebastian, this quiet, unpretentious meal was a nice way to bookend this part of the trip. The meal was very solid overall with highlights being the barnacles, peas and that fantastic flan. We did ask for a kitchen tour at the end of our meal but our server informed us that it wouldn't be available until all the diners were served. As we had a flight to catch, we didn't stick around that long. Asador Etxebarri is doing some amazing things with fire, smoke and coals and it's definitely a place to check out at least once. Just make sure they're serving flan that day.