When autumn arrives and the wild mushroom season opens in the Basque hills, Ganbara becomes a kind of temple. Their setas a la plancha — wild mushrooms grilled with garlic and a thread of olive oil — are the single best thing you can eat standing up in this city. The rest of the bar is excellent, but it exists in the shadow of those mushrooms.
Location
Parte Vieja, San Sebastián
Map
Insider Intel
Setas a la plancha (grilled wild mushrooms) from September through December — this is the dish that defines the bar. Outside mushroom season, the foie gras pintxo and the spider crab (txangurro) are exceptional. The ham is carved from whole legs behind the bar and it shows.
Autumn is the pilgrimage season, specifically October and November when mushroom varieties peak. For any time of year, arrive at 1pm or 8pm sharp. The bar fills in minutes and the best pintxos go first.
Ganbara also has a proper restaurant in the back, but the bar is where the magic happens. Expect to stand, expect to jostle, expect to drop napkins on the floor like everyone else. The wild mushroom season is roughly September to December — outside this window the bar is still excellent, but you'll miss the headline act. Prices are higher than average for pintxos bars, justified by the quality of ingredients.