Ithurria - Ainhoa

Perfectly deserves his Michelin star. We return twice a year and enjoy the local hike and a bathroom afterwards! read more Perfectly deserves his Michelin star. We return twice a year and enjoy the local hike and a bathroom afterwards!

After a few generations in North and South America, we left a journey in Southwest France and Northwest Spain to search for our roots. We came across a superb v... read more After a few generations in North and South America, we left a journey in Southwest France and Northwest Spain to search for our roots. We came across a superb village “Ainhoa” near Biarritz. Small village that slept at the foot of the Pyrenees on the chemist of the contrebandier and resistance people, seemed to fall asleep and waited for a prince or princess. Beautiful place full of charm and charming people. The hotel and restaurant where we stayed “Ithurria” is located in the center of the village, opposite the church and the front. Amazing cuisine prepared by an amazing and charming chef “Xavier Isabal” 1* Michelin Stern and the hotel of his brother “Stephane”. We are happy enough to have the chance to experience various amazing “tables” and restaurant in our lives, but something special happened there “un je ne sais quoi”, which will experience our stay and a wonderful turn. When we were there, the chef hoped the Michelin star for a consecutive 50. To keep year... that's when we understood that strange what we were looking for! Passion and tradition, passed through generations, the rotation that made our stay a real “je ne sais quoi”

Friendly staff, delicious fresh and well prepared food. Not overdue, but well presented. Very nice, the desserts were also excellent. For what you get, reasonab... read more Friendly staff, delicious fresh and well prepared food. Not overdue, but well presented. Very nice, the desserts were also excellent. For what you get, reasonable price. This restaurant deserves its accusations. It's also in a beautiful city.

We booked this restaurant with high expectations. It was the only restaurant during our two week trip that had a Michelin star. We were not in such places that... read more We booked this restaurant with high expectations. It was the only restaurant during our two week trip that had a Michelin star. We were not in such places that were often before, but every time we had, the food was worth the money. Not this time. The three course menus sound promising. They also tried significantly hard, offer no less than 3 small “Koch surprises” in addition to the regular 3 courses. The portions looked nice. They didn't look out or even listened to fancy: classic mest and fish dishes. Surprisingly, however, the taste of each dish ranged from tasteless to simply bad. We have no idea how a Michael Star restaurant is able to deliver such high quality food. The service was also not great: the waiters did not really listen to us, but it seemed as if they wanted to guess what we wanted when they believed that this was a great service. That wasn't good. We ordered fish well and it was still raw inside. Again, not what you expect from a restaurant of this quality. During our two-week trip, this was the only restaurant we definitely did not want to visit again. What a shame.

We were visiting Ainhoa and looked for a place to have lunch. I am embarrassed to admit that we walked into Ithurria not knowing this is a Michelin star restaur... read more We were visiting Ainhoa and looked for a place to have lunch. I am embarrassed to admit that we walked into Ithurria not knowing this is a Michelin star restaurant. We were dressed very casual (shorts and T-shirts). The Maître D looked us up and...down and let us in. Only after looking at the menu I decided to check on my phone and found out this is a one star Michelin. Really unfortunate because we weren’t super hungry so we passed on the tasting menu. Nevertheless the food and service are outstanding. From the amuses bouches, the fresh bread, the appetizers and the main dish and the dessert, you can tell this is refined cuisine that can’t be described in a review. I particularly recommend the galette d’anchois and the fresh pasta with langoustines. The lemon dessert was incredible. At the end they brought mignardises for 3 even if I was the only one who ordered coffee. This is a five star experience. Bravo à toute l’équipe Ithurria.