Azurmendi

Azurmendi isn’t found in the shadows of the gleaming titanium-clad Guggenheim, but instead in a rather dull commercial district outside town. Don’t let this, or the somewhat institutional dining room, put you off, however, since Michelin-starred chef Eneko Atxa is very much the standard-bearer of the new generation of Basque chefs. Atxa’s short menu changes regularly, but such dishes as his oysters with caviar in seawater mousse and griddled scallops topped with flying-fish roe and bathed in squid bouillon are spectacular. And the dessert not to miss is his heavenly “textures of chocolate” trilogy of ice cream, soft cake and airy mousse.