There’s a Michelin®-starred restaurant, Asador Etxebarri, one of the top 50 in the world...
...in the tiny village of Axpe Atxondo in the Vizcaya province of the Basque Country (in Spain, not the undergarment section of M&S)
It’s in the Urkiola mountain range so a bit tricky to get to and well off the beaten track, which only adds to the attraction.
It’s odd in that everything is cooked on an open fire...
...including things you wouldn’t necessarily associate with grill cooking...
...and those of you who know us will understand how that appeals, see HERE if in any doubt.
Víctor Arguinzoniz prepares his own wood for the kitchen...
...from different species of tree depending on what he’s cooking
He designed the grills & tools himself and explains that this is how the cooking was done when he was a kid, they had no gas or electric so all the cooking was done on a wood fire.
He makes his own butter, cheese & chorizo...
...does his own smoking...
...grows his own vegetables...
...and keeps chickens.
He raises...
...and butchers the cattle...
...to produce the fabulous steaks he cooks
Of course there’s a heavy emphasis too on fish...
...and shellfish, he gets these wonderful prawns from Palamós in Cataluña
He serves a taster menu based on what’s freshly available, they even have a sommelier to match & tailor wines to the individual courses. The restaurant has been featured on TV by the likes of Rick Stein, Neil Perry and Anthony Bourdain, we would have gone last year at the end of our tour except that it closes for the whole of August. It gets “Marmite” reviews, most loving it but some hating it, I guess everything smoked isn’t everybody’s cup of coffee but I do love barbecue food myself. But there’s only one way to find out if it’s up to all the hype and that’s to try it out for ourselves, then at least we can make our own judgement
This year is the Silver wedding anniversary of the long-suffering Mrs Muz to myself, so conjuring up a visit would be appropriate I thought. How convenient that Muzette was to disappear for a week to Barcelona with school, freeing up a few days in which to do it. No point trying to take Bongy for such a short adventure so we thought of doing it on public transport, a kind of “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” trip for lunch in Spain
But you know us, if it’s worth doing it’s worth overdoing
So, take Muzette to school (in the Bongo) and drop her off...
...“Bye – missing you already
”
Oh, hang on a minute...
...better make sure she’s actually gone
Swiftly back home then park Bongy up for several days...
...jump on the bus into Manchester city centre...
...and a free shuttle while they dig up Saint Peter’s Square station...
...get a tram to the airport...
...and allow EasyJet to whisk us away...
...Good evening Bilbao!
Bizkaiko Zubia, or Bilbao’s transporter bridge over the Nervión – Mrs Muz successfully piloted Bongy over this in the last tour
Barceló Bilbao Nervión hotel...
...in downtown Bilbao
A really nice suite...
...with His & Hers sinks...
...and His & Hers beds – guaranteed a good night’s sleep
Cheers
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
Bilbao Metro...
...from Abando to Bolueta
EuskoTren...
...from Bolueta to Durango
BizkaiBus from Durango to Arrazola...
...and then from Arrazola to Axpe Atxondo...
...up into the Urkiola mountains
Finally here and in plenty of time
That dress Mrs Muz last wore 25 years ago
Church of San Juan Bautista, Axpe Atxondo
A shrine in the village square
Asador Etxebarri
Asador Etxebarri
Asador Etxebarri
Looks like they’re well ahead preparing the wood
Erm, I hope this doesn’t find its way onto the plate
Time to sample their home-made IPA-style beer, very refreshing too before the food onslaught...
Chorizo sandwich – deliciously simple
Artisan bread ready for...
...goats’ milk butter and volcanic salt, an amazingly smoky taste...
...and buffalo cheese with acacia honey & hazelnuts. If only this were available in the shops!
“Cracker” on the menu – with mushrooms & anchovy paste
So far so good, everything perfect
Cod croquette
Tomato. With lemon thyme, so simple and yet so nice, perfectly seasoned with the thyme giving it some real punch
Salted anchovies on toasted bread – again so simple but amazing
Sea anemone. This was, erm, interesting, probably the only dish I’d purposely avoid
Goose barnacles, huge ones too
Palamós prawns, I’ve no idea how they cooked these to be so soft & tender...
...these were huge too, that’s a pound coin on the plate
Baby octopus with its ink and caramelised onion
King bolete mushroom & aubergine. There was something else (herb) in this too that I couldn’t identify but another simple & amazingly tasty dish
White tuna, bonito they call it. Very nice
Red mullet with green bell pepper
Now the beef chop...
...I was struggling by now, I left most of my salad
Words can’t adequately describe how tender & succulent this was...
...blitzed on one side and with sea salt the only seasoning required. Just amazing
Remember they were plying us with six different wines too, whites, reds, fizz and port
This was a nice touch – I’d been in correspondence with them to see whether this plan could work, but not since February, and they remembered why we were here
Reduced milk ice cream with beetroot juice
Curd, violet & blueberries
Mignardises and éclats de cacao
Coffee
Víctor Arguinzoniz – the master of simplicity
Back on the road, ALSA coach to Santander – this service runs from Barcelona to Santiago and takes two days
Santander - here we get the Brittany Ferries Pont-Aven to Plymouth
This is the service (and vessel) we originally had booked for last year’s tour, until we learnt that Louis Dreyfus had started a rival service from Gijón which, apart from being a lot cheaper, also gave us the extra couple of days we needed to do the León, Burgos and Pamplona section of that tour.
Last year, after three weeks on the road we just wanted to get our heads down, we wouldn’t have been able to properly enjoy the facilities on board
But this year...
Ah yes, I’d been in correspondence with Brittany Ferries too...
...and they remembered why we were here too. Cheers!
These cabins aren’t too shabby, with their own balconies too
Piano bar - Le Fastnet
A really relaxing trip back home
Something else they arranged was for wildlife guides to rope off a section of deck 10...
...and help people spot & identify what was going on in the water...
...the Bay of Biscay is thriving with porpoises, whales and...
...dolphins!
Pre-arranged breakfast
French frigate D652...
...seeing off someone who had strayed into their territorial waters
It’s late afternoon now so stop at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth...
...our room is on the fifth floor...
...in the round bit
Good views too, our ferry still in the port...
...and RFA A390 fast fleet tanker in The Sound
Train to Manchester...
Not a bad service – to Cheltenham at least
...and bus back home...
...with about 30 minutes or so to spare before we collect Muzette...
“Done anything interesting while I was away?”
“No, not really, popped out for some lunch the other day but that’s about it...”
So there you have it – a well planned & executed trip
And the verdict on the restaurant – just amazing – and the steak, indescribable 
Oh yeah, the train from Cheltenham, cost more than the flights to Bilbao and standing room only, they could learn a lot from the Spanish public transport systems
.
