Donostia

so disappointing as they intend to offer great basque/​tapas cuisine.
First the taste is not there, we had pintxos: navajas, pulp and chaperones. Almost everything had the same taste, maybe because of the bad seasoning. (4÷6÷7 dollars for each)
And then mejillones en escabeche… nothing to remember. You are able to cook the same at home. 9 dollars for a small portion
The price is overestimated for what you get! Not only because of the taste but also because o the portion! Please look at the photos and you will understand…
It can ‘t be compared to real tapas!

Found this hole in the wall while looking for a dinner place and it is SUCH A GEM! Great place for a chill date or night with friends!
We came on a Saturday night for dinner and there were plenty of seats (maybe because not that many people have found this gem just yet). The menu was a little confusing for us, so we had to ask for recommendations and they DID NOT DISAPPOINT!
We got the artichoke pâté — if you like artichokes, this is heavenly in terms of taste and texture!
The meat+cheese combinado was SO GOOD. It came with a goat cheese, a manchego, and something like a mozzarella. Along with 3 different meats, some fig-​gy jam, and some delicious marcona almonds. And of course it came with some olive-​drizzled bread. Everything paired together so beautifully.
Also got the tortilla of the day. It was a meat lover’s heaven! Potatoes, chorizo, ham, cheese — in a fluffy casing of deliciousness. Super filling.
We got the salmon, razor clams, and squid montaditos. ALL were really yummy. Super generous with the portion sizes for the seafood. The salmon one was just piled high — yum!
But I think what really sealed the deal was the drinks! There were so many sherry choices, and I went with the recommended one which was in the medium range, with aftertastes of caramel — this paired AMAZINGLY (I cannot stress that enough) with all the food. My friend also really liked one of the recommended ciders on tap.
FOR SURE COMING BACK.

Get the artichoke pâté!!! And the salmon with peppers and honey! I had the Mauser cocktail and it blew my mind. The menu is authentic so don’t hesitate to ask questions. The servers will guide you through the menu if you’re unfamiliar with this kind of food. Amazing all around.

KenScale: 7.5÷10
Donostia is the Basque name for the city of San Sebastian in Spain. I’ve made a trip out to the Basque region last September largely to expand my culinary horizon, and had a lot of great food there. What particularly struck me about San Sebastian and the surrounding Basque region is that, in addition to all the great pioneering fine-​dining establishments with multiple Michelin stars, you could have just as a memorable experience at all these smaller pintxos (Basque tapas) bars sampling a variety of small plates. Add to the fact that Spanish wine is one of the most underappreciated in the world, you could really have an amazing experience at these places without shelling out hundreds of dollars. After visiting Spain, I realized how the Spanish food in New York City is not quite like its original counterpart and have been looking for a more «authentic» place. Donostia has been on my radar as a restaurant/​bar that has such potential. Overall, I did have good dining experience, but felt that it is probably the best place to go to sip some Spanish wine with a couple of bites, but not a full dinner.
Donostia’s menu consists of a variety of small plates that are easily shareable. I started with a plate of jamon iberico de Bellota (two-​year, salt-​cured ham) that was pleasant but not overly memorable. Some dishes were quite nicely done without being fussy. I enjoyed each bite of alcachofa (artichoke) that was fresh and served as a great start to the meal, and finished quickly montadito (think tiny open-​end sandwich) of tortilla con morcilla (with aioli and guindilla pepper) that was also quite delightful with a nice tough of tortilla. Bacadillo (think small sandwich) of pulpo (with Galician octopus, aioli, parsley and escarole) was also delicious and well-​balanced in flavor and texture. Spain is well-​known for cheese as well, and the 6 month aged smoked sheep’s milk cheese (idiazabal) that I had at the end was very good. On the other hand, the more dishes I tried, I started finding some misses. I am a sucker for sea urchin, but the tartaleta with sea urchin pâté, octopus, guindilla and aioli turned out to be less impressive than I had hoped. The server highly recommended montadito with smoked salmon and crema and local raw honey, but I wished the crema and honey were toned down to give more room for salmon to shine. I had high hopes for conservas (preserved food), but both chipirones (whole baby squid in ink) and navajas (razor clams) felt a little flat in freshness department. I can tell that the restaurant was trying to be more authentic in its approach to Basque/​Spanish food, but the execution overall had something to be desired.
Donostia does have an impressive collection of Spanish wine and other beverages like cider. I do highly recommend sampling different drinks to get a full range of Spanish drinks. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, but I had no problem getting seated at the bar right away. The vibe is that of a typical tapas bar with intimate and cozy setting; if possible, sitting at the bar and talking to the bartender about what to order would probably get you the most of the experience. I do think Donostia is a good place if you’re stopping by to sip on Spanish wine along with some bites; the overall consistency of food, however, didn’t quite match the level that I had experienced on my trip to the Basque region.

Sexy tapas bar with beautiful lighting and nice touches of décor. It’s really quiet, even on weekend evenings. Great for an intimate date.
Tortilla de meat lover: tasty and sizable. I’d have preferred it warmer, but the flavor was spot on.
Montadito de brandada de bacalao: delicate chunk of cured cod towering over a small slice of toasted bread. Mmh.
Pâté of artichoke: a huge jar over 6 pieces of bread.
Montadito de salmon: it was ok; the flavor was enhanced by honey.
Bocadillos de morcilla: not a great blood sausage; it was weak, and the skin too thick.
Bocadillos de pulpo: way too much mayo… the bread was literally soaked in it.
Overall, there were highs and lows, but I would go back to try more montaditos.

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Donostia for the first time and it will absolutely be a place I return to. Our server, Sonovia, was great — full of energy, enthusiastic and full of great recommendations — and she let me take over a table in the back even before my fellow diner arrived (sometimes huge no-​no in NYC).
I sampled the Gilda — classic — a couple of montaditos — and some jamon and cheese. Top it all off with a nice Rioja and some Basque cider — and let me just say we were happily stuffed.
I can’t wait to go back and sample some of their other small bites. I love that you can mix and match so many items and really feel like you get a great cross section of Basque food.

Great selection of sherry and the telling sign of a good Spanish bar was that the tortilla was on point. I’ll go back for sure.

Love this place! Great snacks and great wine selection. I especially loved the tuna!

We went into this amazing little gem late last night looking for a little something to eat and a casual bar. It was perfect. The waitress, who I can only assume is an owner or manager considering her vast knowledge. She was so friendly and helpful and she made our first experience with Basque food a great one. We enjoyed it all so much that we looked for Basque food back home in Dallas and she informed us that they are opening a restaurant in Austin. I CAN’T WAIT!!!

I would really give them a 3.5
Montaditos are where it’s at! Smoked salmon and herring was our favorite. Olive pâté was too salty for my taste. Skewers was tiny and blah. Not even worth getting. Wine is pricey with small portions. Three sips and you’re done. Service is subpar. I’ll give them another chance and order only montaditos next time.

I will not go back here.
The service was awful and we were the ONLY two people at the resturaunt! So there is no excuse for what I experienced last night.
First off, the waitress was extremely rude and not helpful. 30 minutes in — we finally ordered a bottle of wine from her. when I asked to taste it first she gave me the most brash remark saying «its a bottle. you cant taste a bottle thats never been open». Like, how dare I ask such a question?! It was very embarassing and I immeditaly felt uncomfortable. I should have left then. We ended up waiting for 20 minutes of the bottle of wine just to have some other guy come up to inform us that the bottle of wine we ordered is no longer in stock.
So we ended up getting a couple glasses of wine and apps. Luckily, the man who mysteriuosly replaced the waitress was very helpfu with menu. However, the food took forever to come out. We only got 4 small plates but eneded up sitting there for almost 2 hours waiting for the last item to arrival.
Now, I get that tapas comes out when ready and you eat it when it arrives (which is what we did) but 2 hours of waiting for small plates is completely unacceptable and I will NOT be returning to this place ever again.

The wine list is impressive but the food execution is lacking. I might go here for wine and a couple of appetizers but after a couple trips to Barcelona and Madrid I was underwhelmed by this place.
We had a few different things from the menu, standard tapas and pinxtos style, but the combinations didn’t seem to play out as intended. Biggest offender was the apricot with crema, anchovy, and balsamic — and sea salt to top it off. Quality was good but the apricot was under-​ripened so it was like a bomb of salt.

Pretty place, great for a date.
I thought the atmosphere was a bit pretentious. The bartender was a snob.
Other than that, the food was delicious. My friend and I split a few montaditos– the apricot one was the best. The meat and cheese place was tasty but they could spare a bit more bread.
Not a huge drink offering so get drinks before and after.

The food here is very clean and refreshing. There were a couple of hits and a couple misses.
Was unfortunate that some of the dishes were just bland and some were way too salty.
Service was good overall. I would try the place again and update my review.

Assuming you come with the right expectations, Donostia is a very satisfying experience. You don’t come here for full-​cooked meals. You do come here for creatively-​made sandwiches, cold cuts, etc. and an excellent selection of Spanish wines (and some very good artisanal beers). You also come here when you want to chat with a friend over coffee or wine and some snacks on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
The quality of the food on offer, while generally very good, slips up a bit on some days, but this remains one of the more interesting offerings in the neighborhood.

I’ve been coming here pretty regularly since it opened. It’s a minimalist space, but that adds to a sense that you’re in a bar in San Sebastián in the Basque region of Spain. It sits on the corner of Tompkins Square Park, which makes the view from the bar a real delight in late afternoons. There are few places like this in the city
They really don’t have cooked to order food. They serve small plates. I recommend the olives, puréed artichoke, any of their conservas and their double decker tortillas. They are not a full bar, so you can have wine, beer, vermuth or cider. I discovered the greatness of Spanish vermuth here. When you’re done here, you can bar hop among the many places along and off of Avenue C.

I’m back in NYC, and started off my visit just right in this lovely, intimate bar that serves food from the Basque region of Spain. I think the marinated seafood is the true star of the menu. I recommend the Igueldo sample platter, it has a mix of mussels, sardines, anchovies & clams, along with marinated artichoke, olives, & peppers. From the pintxos offerings, the whipped salted cod with carmelized onions (brandade de bacalao) and the razor clams with white bean purée (navajas) were both tasty. The tortillas here are delicious (a vote for the leek & spinach one!), and they have an amazing selection of wines, savory olivey cider, and the best sangria I’ve ever had. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the tinto sangria — with its hint of cardamom & other spices & a strong bite of ginger — alone is worth the trip. A beautiful, laid back, unpretentious café where the food shines.

i went to Donostia with my husband last weekend. We sat at the bar close to the window. And you could feel that beautiful breeze and we could also do some spring time people watching. I ordered boquerones, Tortilla Española that is topped with a Padrón pepper and on top of a crostini drizzled with delicious olive oil and also a dollop of aioli. The dollop was a little heavy handed that day. I also ordered the octopus and it had way too much aioli. I pushed some aside and it was spectacular. I really loved all my food. I also ordered a glass of Rose and it was just what I wanted on a beautiful spring day with my husband.
Yesterday I returned with my sister. She lived in Spain and I knew she would enjoy the place. She and I both ordered the Tortilla Española and the bonito tuna tartellete. I also ordered an 8 oz Estrella Blonde. My sister was head over heels over the food. I was smitten with the tuna and the tart. the buttery tart complemented the fish perfectly. The Tortilla is always a home run in my book too (with the right amount of aioli of course). The waiter was super helpful too. He answered all of my sisters inquiries with a smile. He was genuine and excited about the food and that makes the biggest difference in our experience. I even heard my sister busted out our mother tongue and they were speaking Spanish when I returned from the going to bathroom and secretly paying the bill.
I also love the space itself. It is a long bar with some side tables, a private room in the back for an intimate celebration and some side tables by the kitchen for those who want to watch the action. My preference is always by the window. I love the iron light fixtures and the large, old map wallpaper. It’s definitely an environment that reminds me of Spain.
There is still so much I want to try. I will definitely be frequenting this spot.

Donostia is six star gem. I had the pleasure of working with Marisa and Jorge for a catered work event. They were responsive, accommodating and last but not least the food was flipping amazing. No one could stop talking about how good the food was! From the pulpo montaditos, to the Jamon Iberico, to the Jamon tortillas, to the manchego anejo… They really brought the sexy to our party. I can’t wait to actually visit the restaurant. Highly recommended.

AMAZING food! Everything we ordered was superb. We had different types of seafood items, some of which were the best I ever tasted:
— Baby squid in ink ⁵⁄₅
— Smoked salmon montaditos ⁵⁄₅
— Baby eels ⁵⁄₅
— Sardina picante ⁵⁄₅
— Spinach and cream tortilla 4.5÷5
— Bonito tuna 4.5÷5
I also got the rose’ and my friend got a Catalan white wine, both were excelent!