Politena - San Sebastian

Grata sorpresa, probamos sitio del menú del día y nos ha sorprendido gratamente. Muy buena comida, trato espectacular. Y todo menú del día. Repetiremos cuando volvamos por Donosti

Relación/ calidad /precio estupenda. Tuvimos una comida familiar y tomamos el menú degustación. Servicio correcto. Cocina tradicional y de calidad. Raciones buenas y postres exquisitos. zorionak, volveremos

Out Walking and getting hungry so we took the stair 1 floor up to this small and busy restaurant. There was no menu to read instead the waitress told me what we could have. It was all a setlunch with starter, main and dessert and about 4-6 too choose from in each. Food was well prepared even if not all was to our liking. Bill came to 30,10 with coffee each menu was 13 Euro tax 10% or was that service charge who knows they call it IVA.

So this review i do with great pleasure as I remember my visit. You must have read some other reviews mentioning the grandma's dining room. Well, it was truly like going into someone’s apartment, because that's what it was.. converted to a public restaurant, but it's an apartment. On the ground floor, there is just a doorway with steps, a menu board just outside, if you’re not careful you will miss this little gem entirely as you pass by. The restaurant is on the first floor. We had reservations, however you can just show up, but by the looks of the staircase as we exited from dinner, it is a good idea to make one. There were maybe only 6 tables. nice quaint dinner setting, we had a most reasonable bottle of Rose' for the table, my friend who is a local, but was dining there for the first time, was a bit puzzled by the price, he thought it was a little high for a per glass price, but too low for a bottle, to our great surprise the 9 Euro, was the bottle. pretty good wine too. Great food, the flavors where perfect and the seafood was cooked to perfection. I even tried the kokochas that the Basque are so famous for, and i loved it. So our server when we were ordering it, was giving us every chance to back out from trying it, I have rarely been served by someone that honest. She basically expressed that it is a special dish, so we all nodded and said Si' but she explained she was saying the dish isn't liked by all, and it is one of the more expensive dishes on the menu. We really appreciated her candor, but we didn't come this far, and watched Mr Bourdain’s special twice for nothing. So we had it, and boy am I glad we did, I friggin loved those things, in the garlic sauce like they prepared it, so good. But again, she said, a lot of people end up not really liking them. I left San Sebastian without trying them fried, and that is a regret. All in all her idea of expensive was like 15 Euro per person, and 30 for two on the Kokochas plater. That is quite reasonable to me, plus you get a huge chunk of grilled Hake, and a few clams, we had dinner for four with a bottle of wine that was 92 Euro total.

We were looking for something a little quieter and more authentic to the area. Pinxtos are fine and available everywhere here, but real, authentic Basque cuisine is sometimes hard to find. The fish soup was excellent. The entrees of grilled sole and grilled entrecôte were superbly prepared. Simple and delicious. The wait staff were attentive and helpful. This seemed to be a place that locals frequented. Highly recommended for a home style meal with cheerful staff. And at a reasonable price.