An evening in San Sebastián

Our readers may have been picking up on an alarming trend- all of our photos of San Sebastián have been during the daytime. Have our travelers lost their appetite for the night? Not really. I can explain. Our first two days in San Sebastián were so gluttonous, and so deliciously good, that we ate enough by 6pm to get us through the next morning. We were afraid to step outside the hostel, lest we eat another pintxo and ruin our taste for mushrooms or tuna or perfectly cooked beef forever. Yesterday was our first day of waking up from our siesta and saying "lets go walk around and get some pintxos." 

So I present you San Sebastián a la noche.

We started by walking 50 feet to the harbor and getting the evening twilight over the western part of the city. If you look closely you can see a sliver of moon to the right of Cam's head:

The city operates in 4th gear during the daytime (it struggles in 1st gear anytime before 11am). As soon as the clock strikes 9, the clutch goes in and the shift into 5th is as smooth as a 2009 Rioja Crianza:

Our first stop was a repeat visit to Bar Goiz Bargi for the "gambas." Gambas = 

shrimp:

They cook three fresh shrimp perfectly on the grill. They cover it in ridiculously delicious sauce that is hard to describe. They put that over a slice of fresh baguette. One of the most addicting foods I have ever eaten:

Next we went down to Beti-Jai. The vibe is sophisticated and cool:

The veal cheek and smoked tuna with pepper and caramelized onion were very good:

But the big score here was the wine. We became big fans of the Valserrano 2008 Reserva. Notice the bartender in the background doing the proper high pour of the local Basque wine Txokoli:

We finished the night off at Astelena. This place looks pretty old (it has been around since 1960) and the fluorescent lights inside made it feel distinctively Central American:

But our first bite confirmed this place as a contender as our favorite pintxo bar in San Sebastián. And the guy behind the bar was genuinely nice and gave us some great recommendations:

The menu is ALL good;

Txiporon (squid) on the left and Rabo (oxtail) on the right. Some of the best plates we've had in Europe:

Crepes, Basque style. On the left we had foie gras and mushrooms. On the right, salmon, potato, and cheese. Our "rich" meters needed recalibrating after these:

On our way home we passed by this place. It is NOT a restaurant. It is a cooking club for men. The men rotate who is cooking for the night, and the rest provide criticism for the cook. Emblematic of San Sebastián as a gastronomic town: