Restaurant in Bilbao, Spain
Serious fish cooking. Book well ahead.
Zarate is Bilbao's most focused seafood tasting menu, earning a Michelin star and an OAD Classical Europe ranking through daily port sourcing from Lekeitio and Ondarroa. At €€€, it sits below Mina and Ola Martín Berasategui on price while competing directly on quality. Saturday lunch is the format to book; dinner runs Friday and Saturday only, so plan ahead — availability is limited.
Zarate earns its Michelin star and its place on the Opinionated About Dining Classical Europe list (ranked #462, 2025) by doing one thing with unusual discipline: cooking fish sourced daily from the Cantabrian ports of Lekeitio and Ondarroa and presenting it with a depth of technique that few restaurants in Bilbao match at this price tier. At €€€, it sits below Mina and Ola Martín Berasategui on price, but competes directly on quality. If seafood is your priority, this is the most focused option in the city. If you want broader Basque cuisine with more creative range, look at Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao instead.
The physical setting on Poza Lizentziatuaren Kalea, in the Abando neighbourhood, is calm and considered — the room is built for the kind of unhurried, focused lunch or dinner that a tasting menu demands. The spatial experience here is intimate without being cramped, which matters: the Menú 15 Pasos and Menú 20 Pasos formats work leading when the pace of the room supports the progression of courses. There is nothing theatrical about the setting. The focus is directed toward what arrives on the plate, which is the right call for a kitchen whose reputation rests entirely on ingredient quality and precise preparation.
The weekend lunch service, running 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, is the format that deserves the most attention. Bilbao's tradition of long, serious Saturday lunches maps perfectly onto what Zarate delivers. You are not rushing to clear the table for an evening sitting, the room settles into a slower rhythm, and the tasting menu format feels natural rather than forced. For visitors planning a special-occasion meal over a weekend in Bilbao, Saturday lunch at Zarate is the strongest single booking you can make in the seafood category. It combines the full range of Sergio Ortiz de Zarate's cooking with the city's own cultural preference for making lunch the main event.
Dinner runs on Fridays and Saturdays only (9:00 PM to 10:30 PM), which limits your options if you are visiting mid-week. The restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday entirely, and Wednesday through Friday lunch is available 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. Sunday lunch is available, though the dinner service does not run on Sundays. For anyone planning around this, the practical implication is clear: structure your visit around a Friday or Saturday if you want both meal options available, and treat the Saturday lunch as your primary target.
Chef Sergio Ortiz de Zarate built his reputation on baked wild fish before expanding into a wider repertoire that incorporates more modern technique alongside his traditional Basque foundations. The tasting menus include dishes that place Cantabrian seafood in combinations less common in Basque cooking — cod tripe with pig's trotters prepared à la vizcaína, a maritime chorizo alongside ajoblanco and spider crab royale, and a tuna toffee macaroon as a closing dessert course. These are not generic surf-and-turf combinations; they reflect specific regional knowledge about how Cantabrian ingredients behave together. The daily sourcing from Lekeitio and Ondarroa is the operational detail that underpins the kitchen's credibility. Restaurants that claim seasonal seafood focus and then source from wholesale distributors are common. Zarate's direct port sourcing is verifiable and drives the menu structure.
For a special-occasion meal in Bilbao, Zarate works well for couples and small groups who want a long, attentive lunch or dinner without the full formality of a four-star hotel dining room. The €€€ price point makes it a serious but not extreme commitment. A 15-course tasting menu at this level sits comfortably within the spending range of a celebratory meal without requiring the budget escalation that Mina (€€€€) demands. For comparison, Spanish seafood at a comparable technical level is available at Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María and Alici on the Amalfi Coast, but neither offers the specific Cantabrian focus that defines Zarate's identity.
The Google rating of 4.5 across 749 reviews is a reliable signal that the experience holds across a wide range of diners, not just those who arrived with high expectations. That volume of reviews at that average indicates consistency, which for a tasting menu restaurant is the quality that matters most.
For broader context on eating and staying in the city, see our full Bilbao restaurants guide, our full Bilbao hotels guide, our full Bilbao bars guide, our full Bilbao wineries guide, and our full Bilbao experiences guide. Nearby alternatives worth knowing include Aitor Rauleaga and Al Margen for different formats at adjacent price points.
Booking difficulty is rated hard. A Michelin-starred restaurant operating limited dinner services (Friday and Saturday evenings only) with a dedicated tasting menu audience will fill several weeks out. Book a minimum of three to four weeks ahead for weekend lunch, and further in advance for Friday and Saturday dinner. The OAD and Michelin recognition together mean that serious food travellers are already reserving around their Bilbao trips. Do not assume mid-week flexibility will help you here , Wednesday through Friday lunch is available, but Monday and Tuesday closures further compress the available slots.
Yes, and it is one of the better choices in Bilbao for exactly that purpose at the €€€ price tier. The tasting menu format, the Michelin star, and the focused seafood identity make it a credible celebration booking. It does not have the formal grandeur of a hotel restaurant, but that works in its favour for couples and small groups who want quality over ceremony. If budget allows stepping up, Mina at €€€€ offers more creative range. Zarate is the right call when the occasion calls for serious food in a less formal setting.
It is manageable for a solo diner, though the restaurant's format is better suited to pairs and small groups. A long tasting menu as a solo experience in a room geared toward table service is quieter than a counter or bar format. If solo dining at a bar or counter is your preference, Irrintzi is a more natural fit. At Zarate, solo diners who book in advance and are comfortable with a longer meal will get the full experience, but the room is not structured around single covers the way some Basque pintxos bars are.
Lunch is better, specifically Saturday lunch. The 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM sitting aligns with Bilbao's own eating culture, the room runs at a more relaxed pace, and the full tasting menu format sits naturally in a long afternoon. Dinner runs Friday and Saturday only (9:00 PM to 10:30 PM) and is perfectly good, but the time window is tighter. If you are choosing between the two, prioritise Saturday lunch. For mid-week visitors, Friday lunch is the only evening dinner option that week.
The tasting menus are the format this kitchen is built around. The Menú 15 Pasos is the more accessible entry point; the Menú 20 Pasos gives the fuller picture of Sergio Ortiz de Zarate's range. Dishes confirmed on the menus include cod tripe with pig's trotters à la vizcaína, maritime chorizo with ajoblanco and spider crab royale, and tuna toffee macaroon as dessert. The à la carte is available, but the tasting menu is where the sourcing story and the technical depth are most visible. For a one-time visit, the 15-course format is sufficient for most diners.
At €€€, yes , particularly relative to what else is available in Bilbao at this level. You are getting a Michelin-starred, OAD-ranked seafood tasting menu built on daily port sourcing at a price point below Mina and Ola Martín Berasategui. The 4.5 rating across 749 Google reviews indicates the experience is consistent, not just peak-night performance. If seafood is the point of your visit, Zarate delivers good value for the tier. If you want broader Basque cooking rather than a focused fish menu, the value calculation changes , look at Nerua for a different emphasis at the same price tier.
Book three to four weeks out for lunch, and four to six weeks for Friday or Saturday dinner. The combination of Michelin recognition, OAD ranking, and a restricted dinner schedule (two nights per week only) means availability tightens fast. Do not rely on last-minute availability even in shoulder seasons. Bilbao draws serious food travellers who plan ahead, and Zarate is on most itineraries. If you have a fixed travel date, book as soon as it is confirmed.
For progressive Basque cooking at the same price tier, Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao (€€€) is the direct comparison , different emphasis, more architectural setting inside the Guggenheim. For a step up in creative range and budget, Mina (€€€€) is the most ambitious kitchen in the city. Ola Martín Berasategui (€€€€) offers traditional Basque cooking with a major-name pedigree. For something less formal, Al Margen and Aitor Rauleaga are worth considering at lower price points. Outside Bilbao, Arzak in San Sebastián and Azurmendi in Larrabetzu represent the wider Basque fine dining context.
There is no confirmed bar counter or informal bar seating listed for Zarate. The format is a seated restaurant built around tasting menus and à la carte table service. If a bar-counter format is important to you, this is not the venue for that experience in Bilbao. For that style of eating with quality seafood, the city's pintxos bars offer a different but genuinely worthwhile alternative.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zarate | The history of Zarate is that of a man passionate about fishing and the sea, to the point where his cooking is described as “tidal-inspired cuisine”. Chef Sergio Ortiz de Zarate started his career in Lekeitio (Vizcaya), where he began to make a name for himself thanks to his superb baked wild fish. His traditional cooking gained further recognition following his move to Bilbao and a widening of his repertoire that involved more modern dishes and a focus on locally sourced ingredients. The strong guiding principles of the restaurant are based around his exceptional knowledge of fish – Cantabria’s finest raw ingredient that he sources daily from the ports of Lekeitio and Ondarroa. The à la carte is complemented by two tasting menus with differing numbers of courses (Menú 15 Pasos and Menú 20 Pasos), on which you can find options such as cod tripe with pig’s trotters “a la vizcaína” and “maritime” chorizo, ajoblanco and spider crab royale and, for dessert, tuna toffee macaroon.; Opinionated About Dining Classical in Europe Ranked #462 (2025); The history of Zarate is that of a man passionate about fishing and the sea, to the point where his cooking is described as “tidal-inspired cuisine”. Chef Sergio Ortiz de Zarate started his career in Lekeitio (Vizcaya), where he began to make a name for himself thanks to his superb baked wild fish. His traditional cooking gained further recognition following his move to Bilbao and a widening of his repertoire that involved more modern dishes and a focus on locally sourced ingredients. The strong guiding principles of the restaurant are based around his exceptional knowledge of fish – Cantabria’s finest raw ingredient that he sources daily from the ports of Lekeitio and Ondarroa. The à la carte is complemented by two tasting menus with differing numbers of courses (Menú 15 Pasos and Menú 20 Pasos), on which you can find options such as cod tripe with pig’s trotters “a la vizcaína” and “maritime” chorizo, ajoblanco and spider crab royale and, for dessert, tuna toffee macaroon.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | €€€ | — |
| Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€ | — |
| Mina | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Ola Martín Berasategui | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Irrintzi | — | ||
| Islares | €€€€ | — |
How Zarate stacks up against the competition.
Yes, and it's one of the stronger cases in Bilbao for it. A Michelin star, OAD Classical Europe ranking (#462, 2025), and two tasting menus (15 and 20 courses) give the meal enough structure and occasion weight to justify a celebration. Dinner is available Friday and Saturday evenings only, which makes it feel more considered than a routine booking. For a special occasion lunch, the Saturday midday service works just as well.
The à la carte format makes solo dining practical here — you're not locked into a long tasting menu if you'd rather eat at your own pace. That said, the 15-course and 20-course menus are available if you want the full experience alone. The room in Abando is calm and unhurried, which suits solo visits better than louder pintxos bars. No counter seating is documented in the venue data, so a table is the likely format.
Lunch is the more accessible option: it runs Thursday through Sunday (1:30–4 PM), giving you four days to choose from. Dinner is Friday and Saturday only (9–10:30 PM), which limits flexibility but makes those sittings feel more deliberate. If you're visiting Bilbao for a few days, lunch is easier to plan around; if you want the full evening format with both tasting menu options, Friday or Saturday dinner is the only route.
The tasting menus are where Zarate makes its case most clearly. The Menú 20 Pasos gives the fullest picture of chef Sergio Ortiz de Zarate's approach, with dishes that combine Basque tradition and modern technique — cod tripe with pig's trotters 'a la vizcaína', spider crab ajoblanco royale, and tuna toffee macaroon appear on the menus per the venue record. If you prefer flexibility, the à la carte is available alongside both tasting menus. The fish is sourced daily from the ports of Lekeitio and Ondarroa, so seasonal availability will shape what's on that day.
At €€€ with a Michelin star and a daily-sourced fish program from named Cantabrian ports, the value case is solid for what you get. The OAD Classical Europe ranking (#462, 2025) confirms recognition beyond the Michelin guide. The question is format fit: if you want a focused, seafood-led tasting menu in Bilbao at this price point, Zarate is the clearer choice over broader Basque menus. If you're budget-sensitive, the lunch service offers the same kitchen at a likely lower entry point than dinner.
Book at least three to four weeks ahead, and further for Friday or Saturday dinner. Zarate operates limited services — dinner only on Fridays and Saturdays — which compresses demand into a small number of covers per week. Michelin recognition tightens this further, particularly for visitors planning around a Bilbao trip. No online booking link is documented in the venue data, so contact through available channels early.
Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao is the natural comparison at a similar prestige level, with a more produce-led contemporary Basque menu inside the Guggenheim. Mina offers a tasting-menu-focused format with strong local sourcing. Ola Martín Berasategui brings the Berasategui name to a more accessible price point than his flagship. Irrintzi and Islares are options if you want serious cooking without the full tasting menu commitment or price tier. Zarate's specific edge over all of them is the depth of focus on Cantabrian fish specifically.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
