Calle Somera, h 14:00
Let the Bilbo
Beer Quest begin!
It’s a warm
Sunday afternoon. We have a lucky start today, since it happens to be the
International Day of Veganism and, for the occasion, Calle Somera is having a Vegan Pintxos Contest promoted by the local organization Piztiak Konpartsa Animalista.
Bea is a vegan, Alex a vegetarian and Ivan a food enthusiast, so we are quite
happy of the event.
We
therefore enter our first place: BIKANDI. It’s a traditional restaurant of Basque
cuisine and, in spite of the hams hanging from the ceiling, they have joined
the vegan contest with a plate of fried vegetables. The guys have a cold
Heineken, scientifically described as “easy” and “not disgusting, a
three-out-of-five stars”. Hey, future food critics here!
We warmed
up… or refreshed ourselves… Ah well, anyway it’s time to press on, so we head
towards JAUNAK. The green pintxo here is a yummy mix of
stir-fried vegetables on the classic baguete bread. The beer, a draft Amstel
lager.
After some
twenty minutes, we decide to move to our third destination: GURE ETXEA. We
order a classic Mahou and snack on a marmalade, onion and tofu pintxo. We also
meet Helen, a fellow expat from England, who is brave enough to join us for the
rest of the day. Beer brings people together once more. Well done, beer.
Our fourth bar is a small, smoky, crowded and
absolutely unmissable place called MOTRIKES. If you fancy the idea of snacking
on great grilled mushrooms soaked in spicy oil – and we do –, well, you’ve come
to the right place. The caña here is again a Mahou, which pairs nicely with the
champignons.
At this
point, unfortunately, the veg food is over… but our thirst has not yet been
quenched. Therefore, we leave Calle Somera for Plaza Unamuno, where our last
place for today awaits: THE BEETLE BAR. Good for smoothies, coffees and cakes,
this café lacks not a cup of Estrella Galicia for us – fancy and drinkable.
And for
today we are done… Our first quest episode has been more like a preliminary
reconnaissance. Alex has proposed to print stamp cards and get stamps or
signatures by pub owners that we visit. We are definitely getting closer to a
professional touch.
Updates
next week or so with our second episode! Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment