BASQUE COUNTRYSIDE - GETARIA - KAIA-KAIPE
RESTAURANTE KAIA-KAIPE Michelin Plate IIO
In Decemebr 2019 we returned to the fishing port of Getaria and the excellent Restaurante Kaia-Kaipe.
Getaria is the typical picture postcard Basque Country fishing village.
The village was home to Plácido Domingo’s mother and the famous fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga
You can now visit the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa (€7 entry fee)
Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa
It was also home to the explorer, navigator, and mariner Juan Sebastián Elkano, who became the first man to circumnavigate the globe (Also spelt Juan Sebastián del Cano, de Elcano and Elcano (1476 - 1526)
Once you have parked your car in the carpark in the bay shown above, walk down the winding streets to the sea front
Past the impressive church
Until you reach Restaurante Kaia-Kaipe
Kaia Kaipe was founded in 1962, specialising in seafood dishes as befits its coastal and harbour location.
It is one of the best parrilla around (restaurants where the food is cooked over hot coals in open wire mesh grills).
It is located right down in front of this bustling commercial harbour (there are some big fishing vessels here).
The place is full of life from locals having a drink and enjoying the sun (if there is any!).
The restaurant is divided into two where Kaia is the upstairs venue (inside) and Kaipe (downstairs) is an outdoor terrace (kaia means port and kaipe means below the port).
The inside interior has a interesting ship design like a luxury yacht even down to lashed sails as the ceiling.
With polished brass and varnished wood finishes, but is quite formal.
Nothing really beats the ambiance of the downstairs asador with its outside tables, which have perfect views of the harbour and are in sight of the monumental grill that runs along one wall of the restaurant.
You will spot the whole fish such as besugo (sea bream) and rodaballo (turbot) being grilled.
Most of the fish are big enough for two to happily share.
On this occasion in December 2019 we ate upstairs, having previously eaten downtairs on the terrrace
We had a couple of bottles of the local Txakoli Txomin Etxaniz slightly sparkling local white wine.
Cocochas (hake cheeks three ways - grilled, deep fired and pil-pil)
Tataki atún premium
Hongas plancha (grilled mushrooms with egg yolk)
The mushrooms and egg yolk are mixed together
2.5kg rodabello (turbot cooked on the outside grill)
Rodabello
Dessert
The fish here is amongst the freshest and correctly cooked that I have ever eaten.
This is what we had for lunch on a vistit in July 2017
Aperitivo de atún (aperitif of tuna)
Anchoas en aceite (anchovies in olive oil)
Pulpo a la parrilla con puré de patatas (grilled octopus with potato puree)
The fish here is sold by the kg, so be careful when ordering. Our turbot for 2 was 1.2 kg and cost €80.40 so not cheap!
Rodaballo a la parrilla (grilled turbot)
The turbot is very moist and has a simple olive oil dressing.
Torrija caramelizada y helado de café (described as French toast with coffee ice cream but more of a bread and butter pudding with a caramelised top and coffee ice cream
Coffee
They boast a massive wine list of 40,000 bottles from around the world at something like English retail prices!
We had an excellent Rebisaca alberiño for €19
Service can a bit hap hazard when busy, but is friendly enough and a small price to pay for the food on offer.
Closed Monday.
Getaria can be reached by Euskotren or bus from San Sebastián if you have no car or want to drink. The train takes you as far as Zarautz (seen here in the distance from Getaria Harbour). From there its a bus or walk along the beautiful walkway besides the coast to Getaria - it's about an hours walk.
You can view a more recent review here Kaia-Kaipe 2021
RESTAURANTE KAIA-KAIPE
General Arnao 4, 20808 Getaria, Guipúzcoa, Spain +34 943 140 500 www.kaia-kaipe.com Twitter @restaurantekaia
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