Take me home, Basque Country Road: second part of a trip to the Euskal Kostaldea

 The Basque coast, even as winter approaches, reveals a crazy charm. Its invigorating climate with the spray of a rough ocean, but also its tables that play overtime, even though tourists have long since put on their city shoes, and are preparing to swap them for ski ones. However, here are 5 addresses that will make you say that, yes, even in December, the Basque Coast is always a good idea.

APRES DEMAIN

So here, the foodie experience is anything but ordinary... Imagine a dinner transformed into a play, with the theme of the seven deadly sins. Each sin becomes a dish, accompanied by its little story.

We may or may not like this immersive cuisine, which is trending at the moment, but the real question remains the same: is it good? And the answer is clear: yes, even very good.

The plates arrive in small quantities, worked like paintings. The result is no heaviness but a succession of gustatory surprises. And as we are in the Basque Country, with local products, it's a treat.

Afterwards, between us, this staging does not detract from or add to the quality of a cuisine that is already sufficient on its own. But it still has a small effect, so it's a big yes!

📍 12 Av. Louis Barthou, 64200 Biarritz

✔️ Tuesday to Saturday: 7PM - 9.30PM

💶 50 – 80 €

DIALOGUE

It's the story of a duo — Adrien Zedda and Thomas Bouanich — who gently shook up the Lyon scene with Culina Hortus, voted the best vegetarian restaurant in the world, no less! And then... poof, change of scenery: suitcases in the trunk, head for Biarritz. Here, they open a dizygotic restaurant (we love the word): same kitchen, but two rooms, two atmospheres. On one side, the bright and discreet room at the back, a gastronomic version with finesse. On the other, the wooded entrance with soft shades, for a more modern approach. tapassonomic (if it is not said, too bad, we too will have invented our word of gastronomy), and suffice to say that it is a hit!

We're not going to go around the jack: everything is perfect. The plates, the service, the place (huge, but very soft, like a light wooden hug), nothing sticks out. And what about the wine cellar?! A room in its own right, filled with treasures.

We were expecting a nice moment, but we were still amazed. A very special mention to a dessert by Margaux Boisson: oat milk ice cream, not very sweet, but delicious... mamma mia. And then these potatoes, simple as pie but with that twist that still makes you salivate three days later... Go and taste them, and you will tell us about them.

📍 11 rue du Helder, 64200 Biarritz

✔️ Tuesday & Wednesday: 7PM - 11PM

✔️ Thursday to Saturday: 12PM –  3PM and 7PM - 11PM

💶 30 – 50€

LE KOMTOIR DES AMIS

A stone's throw from the Saint-Jean train station — but a thousand miles from the touristic-food routes — hides a little no-frills restaurant, with just the right amount of simple appearance to make you feel good from the moment you step in.

The menu? Short, local, without frills. True, close, tasteful. To refresh yourself on arrival, homemade iced teas are waiting for you: sweet, thirst-quenching, a little hug for the throat.

As for starters, the watermelon-feta salad deserves its special mention: fresh and sexy, spiced up by these crunchy mini cucumbers that snap under the bite (and therefore under the smile). Right next to it, an albacore tuna tartare that flirts with ceviche — tangy, playful, a little mischievous.

For the main course, a lively one placed on a mashed potato while in happy regression: it's sweet, it's warm, it activates the olfactory memory of childhood in a single plate. And finally? A local fig tart that is just as sweet as it should be, topped with whipped cream that coats it all like a complicit cloud.

Value for money? Unbeatable, really. And the best sign that the address is right: at noon, the room fills up with premises. Those who know. Those who come back. Those who have already chosen their own table.

📍 7 Bd. du commandant Passicot, 64500 Saint-Jean-de-Luz

✔️ Tuesday to Saturday: 10AM - 11PM

💶 30 – 50 €

OSTALAMER

Ostalamer is the little sailor brother of the highly respected Ostalapia — but without the hotel part. Here, it's the sea, the real one, with its wind, its salt, and its dishes that smell of embers and sea spray.

So, let's be honest: at first glance, a slight doubt sets in. Large rectangular room, terrace drawn to the line... It has a little "restaurant in an industrial area with a seaside makeover". The call of the great outdoors, but not in the good sense of the word, the one that causes micro-stress, this fear of the place too vast to be sincere. But stop the crime of dirty mouth. We breathe, we sit down, and we let it happen.

And then, surprise. The service is adorable, efficient, present, never in a hurry. Despite the number of tables, we don't feel like we're drowning, and frankly, it's a feat. The menu sets sail: perfectly cleaned razor clams, rare enough to mention, competition mussels, and above all this wood-fired lobster, wonderfully cooked, between tenderness and crispiness.

In the end, the skill that we thought was too big, too wise, turns out to be full of accuracy. That moment when, despite a skeptical entrance, you come out with a salty smile, your mouth full of sea and a light heart. That's it, Ostalamer.

📍 160 route des Plages, 64500 Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France

✔️ Tuesday to Thursday & Sunday: 12AM – 2PM // Friday & Saturday: 12AM – 2PM and 7.30PM - 10PM

💶 40 € – 50 €

GERMAINE

At Germaine's, there is no team, the team is Max. And the "Il est libre Max" could never have made so much sense: a pure Breton (semi-salted, of course), who worked in the kitchens of major hotels, he ended up dropping anchor in Bayonne. And here, behind his counter, he does everything: chef, maître d'hôtel, sommelier, dishwasher... all with a subtly rock soundtrack in the background.

Twelve guests, seated as if in a sushi bar. It's a good thing, Japan, Max is strongly inspired by it. One foot in the archipelago, the other between the Breton pebbles and the Basque hills. The result: a menu with five stopovers, which changes according to the arrivals, its mood, and, as the coast requires, the direction of the wind.

And while he is erecting, Max tells. Stories of fishermen, seaweed, crunchy vegetables... No one is blowing, everyone is listening, a bit like kids around a campfire – except that here, the fire is that of the Japanese barbecue.

Max loves local producers, the seasons, and... fat. But the happy fat, the harmonious fat, the fat that hides under layers of subtlety and that, once discovered, makes you want to raise your glass as a sign of respect.

At Germaine's, we don't just come to dinner. We board. And Max is at the helm.

📍 27 quai Amiral Dubourdieu, 64100 Bayonne

✔️ Tuesday to Saturday: 8PM – 10PM

💶 60 € – 80 €