Misura San Sebastian -organic farm focused food

This is part 2 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series can be found at this link.

It was a long overnight (12 hour) flight from Hong Kong to London. After landing in London in the wee hours of the morning, we took another shorter flight to Bilbao, Spain, from which we drove a rental car about an hour to San Sebastian.

The drive from Bilbao to San Sebastian is refreshingly relaxing and a welcomed beginning to our trip in Spain. The roads are quiet, the signs are clear, and the overall journey was surprisingly smooth and pleasant.

After 20+ hours of travel, we decided to “take it easy” and just enjoy a simple, relaxing lunch at a restaurant called Misura located inside the new, eco-focused Hotel Arima, a wonderfully modern hotel with Scandinavian sensibilities located on the outskirts of San Sebastian. It reminded me a lot of Copenhagen.

Fighting jet lag and the aftermath of a long flight, we were thankful just to be able to sit back, catch up with our friends, and enjoy this lovely, vegetable-focused, modern tasting menu featuring all sorts of seasonal produce.

It was nice to be able to sit down to such a pleasant meal in such a relaxing environment. I loved the large, modern, and spacious feel of the restaurant, a welcomed relief and change from crowded Hong Kong. The service was friendly and surprisingly attentive given how few people were actually working during our lunch.

Azuki bean hummus, seeds, ‘piparra’
Quinoa, apple, turmeric,
spring onion salad
Calcot-style leek, white romesco, salmon with dill and citrus touches

And the food? It was really good.

We very much enjoyed the organic farm-focused food. I was personally thrilled with the vegetable-focused menu.

Although vegetables were featured, there was also plenty of protein. In fact, we were all stuffed after finishing the 11-course tasting menu (which was surprisingly reasonable at 70 Euros a person includes wine pairing and tax!).

I’m not at all surprised this was named one of the 12 hottest new restaurants by in San Sebastian by Eater.

Papadum-like flatbread
Beetroot, tomato and grape gazpacho

General Thoughts – Misura San Sebastian

Overall, we really enjoyed our lunch. My personal favorite courses were the earlier courses, such as the thin crispy papadum-like bread and the gorgeously refreshing beetroot, tomato, and grape gazpacho.

Cauliflower puree, 62° egg,
cod, smoked oil
Celeriac fillet, meuniere sauce, dates
Wild fish from the market, sauteed organic vegetables, EVOO,

I also really enjoyed the cauliflower puree (with 62° egg, cod, and smoked oil) and savored the delicious cortado at the end of the meal.

chicken at Misura San Sebastian — Criollo-style organic chicken, confit fennel

The overall portion size of the tasting menu was a bit much, and even the greatest eaters in our group had trouble finishing all of the food. The latter courses, especially, were a bit too large. The meal would be a lot more manageable if the fish and chicken courses were cut in half (though we do appreciate their generosity, nonetheless).

Fluffy carrot cake, caramelized carrots, cream cheese sorbet

In general, though, it was a lovely meal and a fantastic value. We were floored that we could get such a nice meal that included wine pairing and coffee for such a reasonable price.