Ibaia - Bayonne

This restaurant is on the banks of the river Nive amongst many others. We asked our hotel receptionist for a Basque restaurant and this was one of 3 she recommended. It was a little early for service but the staff welcomed us and indeed to start with we were the only guests. We decided to start with the tomato bread which they prepared to order and was straight out of the oven. It was good but needed seasoning. Then we both had lamb, We had 3 chops each still joined together very tasty and cooked to perfection for us and still pink. But we did find it rather difficult to carve ! I had new potatoes cooked in the oven and the other had mixed veg. So we did a bit of sharing! There was no sauce with it which was a pity. We had a nice bottle of Rioja Paco Garcia to drink with it. For dessert we had mango tart which was sweet and with too much vanilla. But in spite of the above comments it was a nice meal and we were happy that we 'd chosen to go! By the time we left the restaurant was almost full. The girl who served us spoke good English.

I went there with 2 friends. We enjoyed a good time with great tapas and a beautiful place. Not expensive ~20e/person.

We have stopped here to eat tapas as in most restaurants of the city. There was only one table left as all the others were taken by young couples or little groups. The staff was friendly and patient and food was good with a good choice of cold and hot tapas, why fish, meat or vegetables. The local charcuterie is good. Price was ok.

We went to two tapa's bars before arriving at Ibaia alongside the river. It had a great deal more atmosphere and the food quality was much better. We had fried peppers and simple potatoes and local wine and mixed with what appeared to be locals. Well worth a try.

Reception, drinks and tapas at the top, nice atmosphere and child at the very early age. correct rates given the quality. Brief I recommend!