La Muela - Hondarribia

Food was really great, we’ve tried the shrimps and steak both were great and very well cooked. The only problem was the waitress, at the beginning she was ok but she was watching a turkish series that kept her distracted and at the end we ordered a drink she told us her shift was finished,she didn’t want to prepare it !

Took an hour nearly to get served and ordered gambas gabardinia which came in a horrible soggy batter.

We enjoyed the setting right on the river and the menu looked good. The staff were very responsive and attentive and you could see their dedication to their customers. I think the kitchen let them down however. The salad was mostly lettuce though there were 4 tiny bits of exquisite fish.It was perhaps not as big a serve as we have been used to having in Spain. Just not great value. The squid and prawns however were fresh and delicious.

We decided to visit the sea town Hondaribia on our way to San Sebastian from France. We have heard of this small town as a must visit place. We parked our car on the road and walked through the village streets admiring the beautiful houses and apartments in the village. When we had enough of walking, we decided to have lunch in a restaurant closer to the place where we parked the car. We found this restaurant La Muela Jatetxia while walking on the concrete paved promenade. The banner on top of the restaurant was in Basque-Spanish ‘Kantauriko Arrain eta Itsaskiak’ which we later found has the meaning ‘Cantabrian Fish and Seafood’. We knew it was some kind of seafood and that was good enough for us. We walked in and sat at a table. We were the only customers at that time, so we got prompt service. We ordered some fish soup ‘Soupe de Poisson’ and some seafood plates as main dishes. Soup was delicious and served hot . The main dishes were equally good. Conversation with the serving staff was difficult as we could not speak Spanish. We had to stick to the menu and select items from the menu by pointing to them. The food took a long time to prepare, but I cannot complain about their service. They were attentive and the food was freshly prepared after we ordered the food. There was no hurry to bring the bill. We waited long enough and then asked for the bill. The prices of the food items were reasonable and the portions were adequate. We did not expect to find this place, so we have not read any of the reviews. Later, reading the reviews, I was surprised to see that others have complained about bad service.

We tried to eat here but couldn't get anyone to come to our table to give us any menus. We weren't the only ones. Numerous other tables were trying to get attention but the waiters took no notice. The only time we saw anyone get any service was when they sent their food back. Having seen this, we walked out and went elsewhere.