3 Michelin Stars and 8th Best Restaurant in the World Arzak is a greatexperience

Our visit to Arzak restaurant in San Sebastián was everything we could hope for.   From the moment you pull up to the door someone is anticipating your every need.  The menu could give you sticker shock and there's no doubt it is expensive.  The tasting menu could be more than a lot of people would want to eat and must be taken by everyone at the table.  They offered excellent advice on appropriate serving sizes and everything could be ordered in half portions and they encouraged it, which made everything seem a bit more affordable.  Lunch and dinner menus are exactly the same.

Chef Juan Mari Arzak is happy and approachable.  He has a lot to be proud of.  

Scorpion fish mousse with kataifi.  1st amuse bouche was a big hit with us.

Amuse bouche #2.  Gilda with carrot and ssam-jang.  A nice touch of spice.

Amuse bouche #3.  Marinated anchovy with fish mousse and strawberry.  Absolutely delicious.

Amuse bouche #4 Proscuitto wrapped melon with bitter raspberry drink.

Hard to imagine.

Amuse bouche #5 was a chorizo in tonic water, presented on a crushed can of tonic.

Grilled lobster with tomato water, crisps of spinach and turmeric.  

Spider crab in a rock.  You had to break through the crust to eat the crab mousse inside.

Seasonal vegetables.  Asparagus, peas, radishes and mushrooms.

Fillet of seabass marinated in gin and juniper with potato crisps.

Monkfish with crispy lobster roe.

The whole meal was amazingly presented but this red mullet with oak leaves was served on a sea through plate with a tablet showing the ocean underneath.

The finish to the meal was a selection of sweets prepared as nuts, bolts, keys, flowers.  Endless goodness.