Euskal Etxea Taberna

Basque tapas - or pintxos - were a revelation. If you've never had anything but the traditional Spanish tapas, then do yourself a flavour. These are not for sharing (you wouldn't want to) but for experiencing. Be sure to have a glass of Txakoli too.

Fast, friendly service. Amazing food. Lovely spot for people-watching (if you can get a table outside).

Just go.

Basque food is always special and this place does a perfect representation of it. We went to the restaurant as where you need to order from menu. Even though pintxos are the star of the show, all plates were truly amazing. They give you complimentary chistorra, a tasty way to start the meal. We got the piquillo with crab, the albóndigas and the gorilla with anchoas which was nothing like the tortillas we have tried before. We closed with the goxua, a basque dessert which was their version of crema catalana, sweeet. We will be back for the Pintxos.

We were in the standing room part of the bar for about half an hour but it wasn't terrible. The food variety was really great and incorporated different meats, seafood, cheese and veggie options. I enjoyed this concept of choosing a variety of bites. It's a popular concept and highly recommended when visiting Barcelona!

This Basque restaurant comes highly recommended from a trusted local.

The recommendation is right on target.

It is in the Vella Ciudat which has a lot of tourist places and a lot of young people hang out and get plowed places.

But Euskal Etxea is the real deal.

One mark of its real dealness.

Hidden in the back is a Basque Social Center.

You, the foreigner, are not allowed in.

This is members only.

Inside, they have pinxtos that they don't have outside.

There are lots of Basques hanging out there.

But the exterior restaurant is designed to pay the bills for the Social Club.

They do a fine job of making the food so amazing

That outsiders really WILL come through the door and pay the bills for the Social Club.

For food this good, I will pay the bills for just about anyone.

* * *

We had a full three course sit down dinner rather than pintxos.

Pinxtos (Basque appetizers on a stick) are wonderful stuff.

I could eat 6000 of them.

But serious sitdown Basque eating is major major good eating.

It is hard for me to turn down a serious Basque meal.

* * *

Not everything was wonderful.

Absolutely positively skip the squid with black ink.

The cook deviates from standard classic Spanish/Basque formulas ...

The innovations really do not work.

* * *

However, when this restaurant hits,

You have a dish to remember.

Lasting gastronomic memories include:

The house hand stuffed sausage provided as a free appetizer.

OMG.

The blood pudding.

OMG.

The raw tuna timbales.

OMG.

The Donastia fish soup.

Nice enough.

The plain ordinary vegetable plate for boring vegetarians.

Surprisingly OMG.

Much less interesting than the Basque dishes.

But they have an extraordinary local source for their vegetables.

Their just plain asparagus stalks are huge.

Most big asparagus stalks taste like nothing.

Their big asparagus stalks taste three times more like asparagus than any asparagus you have had at home.

Their plain garden peas are just as superior.

Okay, enough's enough with the healthy stuff.

The croquettes.

OMG.

The duck breast.

OMG.

The Txuleta (Basque steak on a bone.)

Pass on that one. It is legendary elsewhere and just a salt steak here.

Desserts.

OMG. Plural.

* * *

As you can see there are just a whole lot of OMG's here.

So you probably want to check this place out.

Or you could just go to Donastia.

But if you are not going to Basqueland itself,

This is a fine fine fine second best.

This has to be one of my favorite Barcelona restaurants! I was giving up on finding good food/tapas that was not deep-fried.
Its Basque food. Love the small pieces of food with toothpicks. You go up to the counter and pick up what you want and they charge you per toothpick - about 2€ per pintxos.
The waiter will also come by at your table every five minutes with a new offering.
It's really good food and an amazing experience a must visit when you're in Barcelona!
My total bill with about 8 pieces, 2 beers and desert came to 26€
Super friendly and attentive staff.

I dedicated a whole afternoon to finding the best pintxos in Barcelona. Although these were the only ones I had while I was there, the flavor combinations were so awesome.

This restaurant is Basque, and has a full menu but also plates on plates of pintxos at the front of the restaurant that are self serve. It's a la carte and they count your toothpicks (there's a toothpick holding together each pintxo) at the end and charge you per piece. Around 2 Euro per pintxo?

My server was so nice (and handsome) and explained all the different pintxos to me, all sorts of meats and cheeses, hot and cold ones. I picked 4 per his recommendation, all so fantastic. He also suggested a basque cider for me to taste, it was not as sweet as the ciders I'm used to in the US, but so refreshing with my pintxos.

The tables in the front are high tops and really easy to hang out in, I read some local newspapers and I enjoyed my meal, and the server checked in with me multiple times to make sure I was having s great experience.

When I hear my friends say they're going to Spain, this restaurant is among my MUST SEEs in Barcelona! Awesome food, amazing service.

Pintxos, pintxos, pintxos!

Swung by Euskal Etxea for a quick snack while sightseeing in Barcelona. It's an ideal spot to take a break from all the walking, and refuel with some bite sized snacks and coffee/beer. During lunch time the restaurant has an open front room with platters of pintxos and bar seating for folks to pick their bites. All ingredients were incredibly fresh, resting on a fluffy slice of baguette.

Next time in Barcelona I will definitely be stopping by again!

I'm always forgetting the name of this place! Dang! I have no idea how to pronounce the name (help!).Seriously one of the most memorable parts about my visit to Barcelona. My sister heard of this place from her friend who studied abroad in Barcelona and recommended this tapas bar to us!

Dumb comment: Okay, I'll admit I had no idea what tapas were before I came her. I thought tapas were the same thing as Filipino tapa which is dried or cured beef lol. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.

I was actually whining about coming here because I was lazy to walk to the Gothic Quarter all the way from Las Ramblas but I'm sure glad I did!

It's a trendy place where you just grab as many tapas as you want from the bar and you pay later, honor system. The tapas they served were mainly small sandwiches or bruschetta-style snacks along with croissants stuffed with meat. It was about 1.80 euro per tapa I believe. You MUST go there if you're ever in Barcelona!

It's crowded with a mix of locals and tourists so you know this place is happening!

As a place to have a few beers with friends, this place is really good. As a place to just eat, it leaves a lot to be desired. First it offers bite sized goodies which are a version of tapas with a generous influence, as far as preparation is concerned, from sushi.

The whole idea is very good, it's a busy place and it is not hard to get plenty of food whilst yakking and having a few drinks. However, many of the foods are presented on a bed of bread, and pastry cups.

On this night, the bread was stale and the pastry cups were soft. It was a Tuesday night but it was still very busy and there was no reasonable excuse for the bases of the finger foods to be so disappointing.

However, the people we went there with said this was not normally the case. Maybe we will try it again when next we are in Spain. Maybe not.

I don't think they are quite fond of tourists. Seems more a place for locals. Challenge to know what each pinchos were as the staff seemed annoyed by us asking. despite having a reservation no table for pinchos available, although this was not known at the time of making the reservation.