ELKANO

Elkano
An establishment that sets standards of grilling. This is without doubt one of the culinary temples of wood-fired cooking in which there is little requirement to overwork textures or flavours. The temple of Turbot. TheTurbot was wow. Fresh, fatty and perfectly cooked. The best grilled turbot you'll eat anywhere. Roasted whole, skin and all, and served with a simple dressing,

Very friendly service

The best meal we had during this San Sebastián trip, we did the tasting menu with the added spider crab dish which was insanely rich and delicious. Getaria is only a short drive away, highly recommend

Fantastic fresh produce treated with respect and magnificently cooked. Service was amongst the best on a month long trip of Spain, sommelier a little grumpy and arrogant but the rest of the staff made up for it.

Fantastic experience - service was great (very helpful with recommendations and explanations), as was the food. Not a lot more to say - turbot is obviously a must do, and highly recommend the crab head/fish soup too.

Wonderful service from start to finish, historical restaurant in a traditional setting. Two of us, we ordered half portion of grilled Kokotxas; 1/2 crab shell starter (served warm and arguably the best we’ve had), two delicious generous portions of soup “shots” (fish and langoustine cream), and grilled monkfish as our main. Every ingredient and dish was minimally seasoned to testify how freshly sourced they are. Would highly recommend if you’re a seafood lover.

The kokotxas and the turbot were the stars of the tasting menu, but every single course was full of new flavors and textures! We had a difficult time deciding on ordering off the menu or going with the tasting menu. But I would definitely recommend the tasting menu. The turbot at the end was half of the fish, so a very generous amount!!!

An incredible gastronomic experience! Only the highest quality ingredients are used, which gave the dinner a unique experience. Everything is extremely fresh, perfectly balanced flavors. It's hard to piont out one dish as they were all wow: crab, langoustines, peas, mini calamari and of course turbot. Once again, thank you very much for a unique evening🙏

Phenomenal meal! The whole fish was just spectacular. Staff, service and grilling of items is perfection.

We had lunch at Elkano and its truly an amazing place. We were visiting from NYC and meeting our family for a special family reunion. We were a group of 15 (2 grandparents, 8 adults and 7 teens/young adults).

The setting is elegant and classic but without feeling stuffy. The service was superb. I later learned that Aitor, who took our order, was actually the chef and son of the founder. I have to say he was amazing and helped us navigate the menu and essentially create our own bespoke tasting menu. Some tasted the Kokoxas and others the lobster heads. In all we tasted about half the menu. For fish the turbot/rodaballo is a must which is served and presented in 3 parts. We also had the monkfish/rape that was served as a course before the rodaballo. In all, just tell Aitor what you want to have he will ensure that it's the right portions and served in the right order. Everything was seamless and needless to say delicious.

Two special notes:
We had a couple of non-fish eaters and that was not a problem, they had delicious solomillo that was cooked to perfection, "al punto".

Also living in Manhattan and having been to many of the Greek restaurants that also charge by the pound and always over serve it was very refreshing to be in a place that served the right portions and at the end was very reasonable given the quality. Thank you Aitor!

Were in town for a short time. Wanted some delicious seafood. So we came across this place.

They are a couple min walk uphill from the seaport. Have indoor and outdoor seating. We were sat near the window, luckily because it was very hot outside. They have a small menu, but everything on it is next level.

All of their fish is grilled outside and has a amazing smoky taste.

Great service as well. I highly recommend.

Outstanding seafood! The grilled turbot would leave you speechless. Definitely a deserves a return visit.

Crème de la crème! Top of quality produce and dishes. Stunning place. Pure focus on produce. Had a soft shell crab to start with and their flagship turbot as main. Absolute masterpiece of fish. Also, they know everything about the fish and they gladly share this knowledge with their guests. Torrijas for dessert and super nice white Garnacha wine. A dream lunch. Loved it!

Definitely worth a visit! We ordered fish soup as starter, was a special one but having Turbot as a very fulfilling maincourse, overall we were over-fulfilled. Owner coming to explain things in detail was very nice. Next time we’ll focus on Turbot only🐡. One travel advice: if you are travelling from Donostia(SanSebastian), the last bus from Geteria is at 23.00 and nothing after. Elkano can call taxis though..

Masterpiece, From the atmosphere
At the fisherman’s town Getaria, to the beautiful entrance with the outdoor charcoal grill, to to deep understanding of their products.
Great service, very good deserts as well.
Definitely worthy for Michelin star.

WOW. What a meal. Definitely one of the best places I ate at in my whole life.

They don’t hide behind anything just honest good ingredients and simple cooking and that is really hard to do.

The crudo with lemon was just an amazing refreshing start.

The turbot throat was loved by everyone and seems as a popular choice in here but it was not to my personal liking.

Then came the fish. That magnificent fish. Simply grilled over charcoal and its one of life’s best pleasures. Each part had its own texture and taste and the servers knew that. They even emulsified the cooking juices with lemon to serve as a sauce. Now thats really good cooking 👍🏻

They did a steak for us even though they are a fish restaurant and guess what. That tasted amazing too.

The menu had some great great options that I wish I could’ve tried that day.

The desserts where simple but nice. A berry and cheese ice cream delivered the same flavor you would get in a cheesecake but in a different perspective.

The level of devotion to the art of fishing that ELKANO projects is definitely received to the lucky guests.
This is an almost 70 years old business that is not trying to invent lukewarm water and doesn’t feel old or rusty.
The food is simple and honest with the absolute best ingredients that the sea (the Maritime Republic as Aitor, the owner, calls it) and the land.
They do not stop mentioning how the fish swim, where do they like to be, what do they eat, why do they have in that are that colour of skin. The biological research that there is behind is quite incredible.
How they express it and make you want to research yourself and study more is actually outstanding.
The service is very good, not uptight at all, but very attentive. 0 parafernalia and at the same time close and warm but with elegance.
The wine list is beautiful, the right length, showing very small producers, and putting a big accent on natural wine. Nico is in charge of the wines and he is just so kind and sweet, he chose two fab wines for the meal. He rapidly got our style and taste and nailed it with both wines.
The knowledge and homage put into the fishermen, how important is their work and how much we need more restaurants talking about this. Because we need to show more respect to our fishermen to catch fish in a sustainable way so the seas are not empty, there is a good balance and also the job of fishermen are protected and more honourable.
Aitor today talked about history, how the way they cooked has been the way food is cooked for so so long. How Juan Sebastian Elcano that was born in Getaria did the first around the world trip and actually came back. They would cook with charcoal on the ship and this is the origin of the concept of the restaurant.
Also how Juan Sebastian Elcano left from Cádiz and actually ELKANO decided a few years ago to open a restaurant there, called Cataria.
I can’t wait to visit them again and also visit Cataria.
Well done, I normally don’t really enjoy fully fine dining because it normally is very outdated and boring and most of the times is more of a show than anything else.
But today, with this 1 star Michelin restaurant, that is so humble and perfect, that really they don’t think that are so important although they are, just shows me that most Michelin star restaurants have lost it and they might need to work on their egos and learn from ELKANO.

Fresh and healthy fish grilled to perfection, makes a perfect meal on it's own.
We ate a turbot caught just before a full moon where they are fatter and juicier...and it was just heaven with in particular gelatinous bits adding an uncommon taste.

Elkano is definitely worth the trip to Getaria. The most exciting bite I had was the bitter piece of the turbot, which was completely unexpected. The entire tasting menu was exceptionally prepared and presented. It was quite a treat to have Aitor break down the turbot and explain each part. We are so glad we were able to experience this gem of a restaurant!

Nothing mind blowing about this place, just very delicious seafood cooked right. Of all the restaurants in Spain, this is at the top of my list to return. Great service too. Everyone is so gracious and friendly - they made us feel like regulars. The sommelier is very knowledgeable and nailed our description with the perfect bottle.

You can visit this restaurant just because of its bread :) starters were lovely including lobster, white shrimp and clayfish soup. But the main was the peak of the whole meal. One of the best turbot during its best season and cooked to perfection. You cannot ask for more. We've shared a 1.7 kg grilled turbot and it was more than enough. Even though I was full I tried the cheese ice cream and loved it. It was so creamy, rich and tasty with the fruit infusion. Highly highly recommended. A must visit.