Thanks for the comments. Unfortunately, if I want to do Mugaritz and Akellare then they have to be back to back day as only availability. And, I think Elkano is only available the first day. We were able to move Rekondo to the 4th day - might just have to do something light on our day trip to Bilbao and skip Alemeda to keep it to one per day.
If I were to forego one of those places, what would you suggest skipping?
Akellare.
Updating for the sole purpose of saying how terribly disappointed I am in the turn Mugaritz has taken. It used to be reference point for us when it came to service. Now the servers, while still warm and welcoming, seemed confused and bumbling, with many small but significant failures.
But the food is the worst part. With almost no exceptions, the best dishes are tasteless, and the worst just plain bad. They spun a tale of āa new philosophy honoring the ingredientsā but that meant no seasoning, no acid, no life, and often just no taste at all. Most of the food is finger food now, and some of it is so difficult to eat with your fingers, I begged for a fork. Other finger foods smelled so strongly of fish I had to wash my hands three times to get the stink out. āYes,ā said the one chef when I mentioned how uncomfortable it had been to eat a frozen crab dish (so cold it hurt my fingers, but quickly melting all over me as well), āthat is one of our most challenging dishes.ā Why do you need to challenge your diners in a way that will never be positive, only varying degrees of uncomfortable? It just went from bad to worse. Often, aggressive and not delicious flavors like grass or sprouted chia seeds overwhelmed what might have been good seafood. Far from honoring ingredients, the main ingredients sometimes got completely hidden behind a tasteless starchy outside.
Iām all for a philosophy, and I absolutely believe in honoring ingredients, but your food has to taste good. And this didnāt. I wondered if any of the 40 chefs in the kitchen would choose to eat any of the dishes they were serving. We used to love this restaurant and now itās just a temple to an idea that failed. Beautiful dishes and presentations, but they might as well have been made of cardboard and paint for all they appealed to the palate.
We left halfway through and will not be back.
Heading to Akelare for lunch today. Will report back.
George
I thought the lunch at Akelare was very, very good. This is my first 3*** in Spain so donāt really have a lot to compare it to. They offer three different tasting menus and as there were three of us we each ordered a different one. 2 more modern menus and 1 classic. They are all equally good with excellent, unique dishes. There were absolutely no misses. Some highlights were a lobster salad off of the classic menu. Iberico Shoulder (Presa), Pigeon and a wonderful piece of Hake over spring peas.
The wine list was very nice and we ordered a beautiful bottle of Albarino and a 1er Meursault from Roulot. They love there white wine cold in Spain. Something you have to watch out for IMO.
The view is great. It was foggy/cloudy when we started but it burned off during our meal so we had great views of the Atlantic.
Service was spot on. 1 of our waiters was a little soft spoken but I think that was more of a language barrier. Another woman, maybe a host was excellent and gave very detailed descriptions in perfect English. The chef came around to each table which I thought was a nice touch. We had a 5 min conversation with him (mostly about Alinea) which she translated.
My only complaint was that they sat a table of 16 people in the main dining room. It was very large and changed the atmosphere of the room. It made it feel much more crowded and unrefined.
Lunch was about 3.5 hours long. Pace was great and the time flew by. I would definitely go back. Maybe my dining companion will chime in and let you know what he thought as he has much more experience at this level of dining then I do.
George
Had a below averageā¦ borderline bad meal at Azurmendi. Donāt know if we caught them on an off day but the food was uninspiring, the service was terrible and the wine list is mediocre at best. Had a 1* meal in France at Ithurria the next day that blew it away.
I was really looking forward to this restaurantā¦ Saying I am disappointed is an understatement.
George
We were not impressed by Elkano in February of this year. If you want to try another restauarnt in Getaria I would recommend Kaia Kaipe. Also a must lunch is Ibai in San Sebastian. Must reserve 1-2 weeks in advance.
Sorry to hear this, George. I saw on a mutual friendās Facebook page that you were headed there and I almost said something, but didnāt want to quell your excitement based on my poor experience there two years ago. My husband liked the food even less than I did, and both of us found the service to be amateur at best. The overall experience and set up was, to us, silly and affected and the kitchen was the most soulless, depressing food preparation space Iāve ever encountered. The food was not bad, but was forgettable, and couldnāt fight its way above the atmosphere and front of house issues. I do not understand how it gets the praise it does.
I have a friend who went to Kaia Kaipe when I went to Elkano. I think his meal was much better. (Although my meal at Elkano wasnāt bad) He said the best seafood meal he has ever eaten. He has been around too. His wife is from the Basque area. Wine list is amazing too.
Couldnāt agree with your comments more. I found the entire garden part of the meal poorly executed and rushed. My son has a mild nut allergy. 3 dishes showed up in front of him with nuts the last being a dessert covered in peanuts.
Went to Diver XO in Madrid a few days afterā¦ Now THAT was was a fabulous and incredibly unique meal. I would go back there in a second.
George
Just reviving this thread as we are planning to head back to San Sebastian in the last week of July. We were there in August 2015. I picked Sarahās post because out of the places we ate at (Elkano lunch - fabulous experience; Arzak lunch - again, and surprisingly based on some comments here, fabulous experience, and Mugaritz) Mugaritz was very disappointing. And like Sarah said, the food just didnāt taste all that good at all. Perhaps itās the fact that expectations are so high and thus the drop so sharp. But based on that experience I would not go back.
This time we are spending 6 and a half days. Thinking Azurmendi - since we did not get to eat there last time - for lunch, coupled with a visit to Guggenheim. But the latest posts on them do not seem promising.
Also I am thinking Etxebarri for another lunch, perhaps coupled with a visit to Lopez de Heredia. Again, we missed Etxebarri last time, and again some posts (on other forums as well) seem to go both ways. By the way did they turn into a tasting menu place only? I seem to recall seeing some pictures of a la crate menus a while back, but everything recent that I read is tasting menu, and not only that but the price has increased to the level of Azurmendi, Mugaritz, etc. Which might be fine, but Iād like to be mentally prepared 
Finally, we are planning on Elkano again based on our experience.
Ibai, maybe, because it might be too much to try all of them, and Rekondo maybe for wines.
Does anyone have any recent updates on San Sebastian dining (lunch rather) scene?
I was there in November. Elkano was awesome for lunch (I walked in without a reso, and was really surprised I got a table!).
Dinner at Akelarre was disappointing. The service was fantastic, but the first couple dishes were so salty, I had to complain. And I like aggressively seasoned food. With the exception of a pigeon with mole dish (stunning) and the yogurt jar dessert, none of the dishes really blew me away. I expected a lot more of the restaurant based on its stature and cost. Perhaps I should have ordered one of the other menus, but my AirBnb hosts commented theyāve heard similar complaints over the past year.
I absolutely loved dinner at Kokotxa. In my opinion, it blew Akelarre out of the water. Very ingredient focused, clean flavours, interesting combinations, and everything was perfectly executed. Service really good too. I know which of these two places I will go next time I am in San Sebastian! Not to mention I could eat here 2x for what Akelarre cost. They have a really solid wine list and itās pretty well priced. I ordered the 2012 Telmo Rodriguez As Caborcas and I think it was about 43-48 Euro, which is lower than what I paid for it in Ontario. I ordered the larger of the two tasting menus.
For non-tasting menus/pintxos crawl, I donāt know how many times I ended up at Atari and Bar Gandarias. At Atari, they had an orzo with squid and squid ink that was fantastic. Bar Gandarias had kick ass solomillo, foie gras, and risotto with wild mushrooms and Idiazabal. Both places had a great selection of sherry by the glass, Gandarias in particular. Not to mention they serve sherry with 5oz pours and they also have a WineStation for some of their better bottles to serve BTG.
Casa Urola served a fantastic scallop with aji blanco. La Cuchara de San Telmo serves kick ass cotxinita asada. Some of the crispiest pig skin Iāve ever had on suckling pig.
It was nice to visit LdH, but donāt expect much of a tasting. They only poured the 2005 Bosconia and Tondonia (Tinto) and served a bit of jamon. They donāt taste the whites or Gran Reservas. If youāre interested in buying one bottle of Tondonia Blanco, you need to purchase six bottles of Tondonia Tinto. And if you want one of any Gran Reserva, you need to purchase twelve bottles of Tondonia Tinto. Meh.
I wanted to eat at Rekondo, but they were closed for vacation.
Anyway, thatās all off the top of my head. Iāll see if I have anything else interesting in my notes.
Jay thanks so much for the info!
I was expecting/hoping the visit at Lopez de Heredia to be some mind blowing experience. Thanks for letting me know how it was. We might end up skipping it, especially if it is 2 hours long, as it says on their website - especially if we end up bringing the kid along. I have only visited Piemontese wineries and had some great visits. Any other wineries in Rioja that you recommend?
Thanks again!
I would be interested in thoughts from others on Akalare. I am headed back to San Sebastian the end of May.
The visit to LdH was interesting, because they took me through the cellars, I got to see the library of old bottles, the cooperage, the vineyards, etc. My host was very nice. I am just trying to set expectations on what to expect from a tasting perspective.
As a complete contrast, Bodegas Roda is right next door. Their style is the complete opposite of LdH, but you can just pop in to their tasting bar and try things BTG without having to do a tour. They also have jamon and other charcuterie you can order. Itās not free, but I drank the Roda I 1997, 2009, and 2010, and thought they were delicious. You can also buy back vintages directly from their shop. Next time I am in the area, Iāll arrange an actual tour of the winery.
I also visited Hermanos Pecina, as I know their importer here in Ontario. Mikel was awesome showing me around, and even drove me out to their vineyards and to see the old, 13th (?) century church that adorns their label. Pecina may not have the cult following of an LdH, but all their wines were great, especially their Reserva, Gran Reserva, and single vineyard Iscorta 2010. They opened a Crianza 2006 from the library as well and it was fantastic. I canāt believe how well it showed.
I was only in Haro for the day, but was still happy with the visits I made. Give yourself a lot of time to drive from SS, and donāt forget to bring lots of money for tolls on the autopistola! Basically 10 Euro each time you leave SS. 
Just to give another perspective on Lopez de Heredia, we loved our visit there. Maria Jose was our host and it was great to hear first hand the history of her family. Walking the vineyards was really cool as was seeing the cooper. Iām not a big fan of wine ātastingā in general and actually prefer that part of a visit to be short and sweet so I was fine with what we had at ldh.
If you are a fan of the ldh and are in the area, itās a must visit IMO.
Spot on post. We absolutely loved our visit to LdH but itās not about the tasting. We also visited Roda. I donāt really drink Roda, but the winery is absolutely stunning, and they popped a bottle of Cirsion (a $200 wine) for just my wife and me so we could try it. Worth a stop if you have time.
NB: My avatar picture is from the LdH cellar.
We had a very enjoyable meal at Akelare in Sept 2017. The views are breathtaking, a short taxi from San SebastiĆ”n, and the chef was meeting all guests at the door before service - we had an 8:30 reservation so on the early side. Itās a fairly small restaurant, so fairly quiet.
No surprises here as they do the option of three tasting menus for dinner. We did the classic menu, with a meat option beef or pigeon. We got one of each - neither of us liked the pigeon with mole. Menus are on their website. Nice wine list with the sommelier steering toward, you guessed it, Spanish wines.
It was an excellent meal but it felt safe. The starters were tasty and appetite provoking. The foie gras was my favorite course and the mushrooms on the pasta dish were amazing. They gave us an extra dessert as we were celebrating. Hubby really liked the broken jar of yogurt but I was put off by the taste. Overall, it was an excellent meal but it wasnāt the best meal of our trip - that honor went to one star Les Perdrix de Troplong Mondot.
And here is the pasta with āmushroomsā
Thanks Lori!