Akelarre is a three Michelin star restaurant by Pedro Subijana well known for its modern and creative Basque cuisine located on top of Monte Igueldo in San Sebastián with a breathtaking view. Pedro Subijana is one of the all time greatest Spanish chefs and considered along with Juan Mari Arzak one of the "fathers" of the nouvelle cuisine in Spain. Service: 13/20
Service to our table was good, correct, generally informal and coordinated.
However, it is a shame that in a restaurant at this level a waitress, serving a table of two, spills the contents of a sauce boat on the floor (it happens, we are human) and serves the two dishes with the contents of only one sauce boat (compromising the kitchen's work) - all of this in front of the entire dining room. There was also a couple of times that the food came out of the kitchen and sat on the dining room waiting for another waiter to pick it up and serve it to the table, this slowness has or could have jeopardized the quality of the food. One feels also deceived when food critics in a table nearby receives special treatment (e.g. eating the same menu with better quality ingredients).
Restaurant décor and ambience: 15/20
Once we got out of the car and inspected the restaurant's surroundings, we felt immediately inebriated by the sounds and scents of the nature, but when we thought this could hardly get any better we were astonished with the incredibly breathtaking view of Akelarre's dining room...(the sky entirely engulfed by the sea's infinitude). This was promising if it was not for the Akelarre's "reception/reservation/services" desk being situated inside the dining room (close to the tables with phone calls being constantly made and received), as well as the front of house staff's gatherings in the dining room when the restaurant was still quiet. How can this take place in three-starred Michelin restaurant with four forks and knives?
Food: 17.5/20
Having visited Arzak and Mugartiz on the same week one may be tempted to not feel overwhelmed by the quality, creativity and geniality of the food, this was clearly not the case. Pedro Subijana is one of Spain's all time greatest Chefs and this is truly evidenced by the mixture of textures, unexpected combinations of ingredients, impressive variation of flavours and exhaustively detailed presentation. My wife and I decided to each try one of the two available tasting menus - Aranory and Bekarki - to share a comprehensive experience of Subijana's culinary art. We were both greeted with an unusual medicine kit as aperitifs, it is always a great start when the artists try to make things different and think and execute out of the box, remarkable the "Gel", the "Esponja" and the "Sales" (right picture). 
Into the menus, the "Moluscos en la Red del Pescador" (left picture) is not to be missed if you love the fresh fish and seafood with a touch of magic. 
The "Xangurro en Esencia sobre Blini de su Coral y Gurullos" is also the evidence of the quality of Basque's seafood and what a great Chef can make with it. If the fish and the seafood were almost always present in every dish that came out of the kitchen, the "Cordero a la Brasa con Posos del Vino" (right picture) rare, perfectly cooked, the savoury sauce and the crunchy and unexpected garnish makes this a dish of another world. 
However, the star of the day was indisputably the "Foie Fresco a la sárten com Escamas de Sal y Pimenta y Grano" (left picture), the texture and tenderness of the foie, so simple and luscious, with the "sal y pimenta". 
The desserts, all of them incredible, starting with the sublime hômage to melocóton with the "Flor the Melocóton" (three different ways to present the melocóton) (right picture), going to the beautifully presented "Leche y Uva, Queso y Vino en Evolución Paralela", followed by the textures of the "Xaxu com Helado Espumoso de Coco" and finally the extraordinary "Otra Tarta de Manzana" (have you ever eaten paper?) (picture below).
On the negative side: the dry "Salmonete Integral com "Fusili" de Salsas", the three bones in the "Rodaballo con su Kokotxa" (but to be fair the rodoballo was perfectly cooked and the dish reveals immense creativity) and the strange gelatin-textured "Navaja con Pata de Ternera" (not our favourite, personally speaking).
Wine list: 17.5/20
Complete wine list with great incidence on national wines. We have asked the sommelier to choose the wines to go with menus, good and inexpensive choices by the glass (inexpensive means they are not the best quality wines, but extremely pleasant).
Genre: Modern/Creative
Price: €180/person
Michelin: *** (2011: 94th S. Pellegrino World's best restaurant)
Date of visit: Summer 2011
Overall: 17/20
Pros: food quality, presentation and creativity, the restaurant and its surroundings, the foie, the cordero and the fresh fish and seafood.
Cons: The reception desk in the middle of the dining room, the errors by the front of house, the dry salmonete and the rodoballo's bones.
Akelarre
Paseo Padre Orcolaga, 56
20008 San Sebastián
Tel.: +34 943 311209
E-mail: restaurante@akelarre.net
http://http://www.akelarre.net/
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