B is for Bilbao

Bilbao - where the letter B features heavily.  If there's a pun to be had, the municipal authorities have thunk it: Bilboats, Bilbuses, Bilbars...  

Bilbao - industrial city shrouded in mists that if not descending from the Vizcaya hills, issue forth from Guggenheim bankside in the form of Fujiko Nakaya's fog sculpture. Didn't anyone tell her? She needn't have bothered, for the rain in Spain has left the plain and lingers mostly here...

Bilbao - home to Koons' 43 foot-tall flower-power West Highland Terrier ETA once tried blow up, and Foster's metro entrances, as if landed from Herbert's Dune, known locally as fosteritos. Bonkers and brilliant is Bilbao. 

Richard Serra 

The fish called Guggenheim must be visited if only for the Richard Serra room and architectural tour on audio guide which comes free with entry fee. And once done, you can focus on what Bilbao does best: pintxos. Don't ask for tapas if you can help it: pintxo is the correct Basque term whether it comes skewered on a tooth pick, heaped on bread or prepared in a small dish - it's all pintxos. And they're fenomenal. 

The annual competition Muestra de Bares de Pintxos keeps the bars in healthy competition. Good for us. The winners are awarded berets which are proudly displayed in picture frames. The bars I recommend have their fair share and are in and about El Casco Viejo (the old quater). Within walking distance of one another I urge you to try them in txikiteo fashion - Basque for a bar + pintxo crawl. Txikito is Basque for a small glass of wine. By the by, barhopping constitutes something of a regional sport. And given the number of excellent eateries, it's just about the only way to sample what Bilbao has to offer in a few days.   

Bar Lekeito, Diputacion 1

Great atmosphere: portly men wearing berets, drinking Zapiain cider with National Geographic on constant stream on telly above. A glass of txakoli (Basque sparkling white) at 1.60€ a pop goes well with the tortilla paisana, the pintxo this bar does best, followed closely by their bacalao which they do a number of ways. The tortilla paisana is made of spinach and chorizo - you can distinguish it from the others tortillas they do as it has mayo latticework on top.

tortilla paisana

pintxo bacalao

Casa Victor Montes, Plaza Nueva 8, El Casco Viejo 

On Plaza Nueva is the fabulous Victor Montes. Here they do montaditos best, a pintxo heaped high on a slice of bread. Look out for the cast iron beer pump shaped like an arm with tankard in hand. The raw pintxo bacalao was superb, the house white a chardonnay from bodega Enate. 

Husband and I were of two minds whether to miss out flight back to London so tempted were we to return to the likes of Victor Montes and Bar Gatz (see below) for more. 

Victor Montes crew

cangrejo

bacalao

bonito

Bar Gatz, Santa Maria 10, El Casco Viejo

At all bars they have a pintxo called gilda - a simple assembly of ingredients on toothpick. Gilda means lollipop. The Gatz gilda supports anchovy, onion and guindilla (Spanish green chilli pepper), heaped over with chopped cebolla and olive oil. They also have portions of bonito del norte served much the same way. Both well deserve the txikito of chilled Rey Santo Rueda they serve. 

By the by, Gatz has multiple beret awards that fill the walls of the bar. Their best pintxo to my mind is bacalao al pil-pil. The bacalao is served with a slice of garlic, of chilli and an emulsion of cod gelatin and olive oil which gives it a glaze. They are delicious and go pretty quick: when we rucked up the in the late pms, they had sold out.  We returned the following day, not begrudgingly, for an early lunch and our bacalao al pil-pil fill, which we had with txakoli, poured into cup from great height.

bacalao al pil-pil

steak tartare

piquillo stuffed with bacalao

Bukoi, calle Nueva, El Casco Viejo 

Of the four restaurants (Sasibil, Berton Bukoi and Gelatxu) all belonging to one owner, Bukoi was our favourite.

pan tumaca

ración pata negra

We had a ración of 1/4 kg Jamon Iberico 'Pata Negra' for 17€, hand sliced on a vintage Berkel Slicer from Rotterdam. Warning: they dong a horse-themed bell when the plate of ham is ready. I near flew off my seat. The ding-donging was frequent as the lady in regional dress was slicing ham pretty much the whole time we were there. It was served with pan tumaca. We drank a Rioja from bodega P. Peciña was served in Reidel-esque tumblers, the beer in what looked to me like champagne flutes. And we giggled at the 'smashed eggs', 'bailed prawn' and 'burned junket' [sic, sic & sic]  listed on the English menu handed to Husband.

The pintxo de foie at Sasibil on c/Jardines 8 was rather good too.

From Bilbao husband and I moved on to La Rioja, which you can read about here. Otherwise you can return to the main North Spain post by clicking here.