Andra Mari

Andra Mari, Galdakao: Should You Go Back?

If you visited Andra Mari once and left thinking it was pleasant but not essential, go back. The Michelin star it earned in 2024, combined with a rising position on the Opinionated About Dining Casual Europe list (ranked #543 in 2024, climbing to #551 in 2025 as the list expanded), tells you this kitchen has found a groove worth revisiting. The question on a second visit is not whether the food delivers; it does; but which format suits you better: the à la carte, the Elexalde tasting menu, or the longer Andra Mari tasting menu. Come with a clear answer to that before you sit down.

What the Weekend Lunch Service Actually Delivers

Andra Mari operates lunch-only, Tuesday excepted, running a single service from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM every other day of the week including Saturday and Sunday. That two-hour window is tight for a tasting menu, so the weekend lunch slot rewards diners who arrive on time and know what they are ordering. The kitchen under chef Iñaki Salvador is focused on the rural and maritime roots of Vizcaya, think seasonal ingredients sourced from small-scale local producers, a cooking style that reinterprets traditional Basque flavours rather than abandoning them. The hake in salsa verde is documented as a kitchen reference point, it represents the approach well: a classic preparation handled with technical discipline rather than reinvention for its own sake.

The setting reinforces that ethos. The restaurant occupies a historic farmhouse, a caserio, that the Asúa family originally opened to give pilgrims heading to the nearby 13th-century Andra Mari church a place to eat and rest. The two rustic-regional dining rooms look out over the Ibaizábal river valley, the wine cellar in the basement is open to guests who want to visit it before or after their meal. If you came the first time and sat indoors without exploring the cellar, that is the obvious gap to fill on a return visit.

Seasonal Timing and What to Know Now

Andra Mari's commitment to small-scale local producers means the menu shifts with the season. Visiting in the current period gives you access to whatever the Basque countryside and the Cantabrian coast are producing now, in Vizcaya, the seasonal variation between spring vegetables, summer seafood runs, autumn game is meaningful enough to make a second visit in a different season feel genuinely different. The wine cellar visit adds a sensory dimension that is easy to miss: the cool, stone-enclosed space carries the scent of the building's age alongside properly stored Basque and Spanish wines. Ask about it when you book.

Booking and Logistics

Booking at Andra Mari is hard. A Michelin star in a farmhouse format with a single daily service and no Tuesday opening means the seat count fills quickly, particularly for Friday and Saturday lunch. Plan at least three to four weeks ahead for a weekend slot; a midweek booking may come together faster but the window is identical. There is no website or phone number listed publicly in the current record, so the most reliable approach is to book directly through a reservation platform or confirm contact details via the restaurant's local listing. The address is Barrio de, Cam. de Elexalde, 22, 48960 Elexalde Auzoa, Biscay, a rural location outside central Galdakao, which means you need a car or a taxi. Factor that into the planning.

Practical Details at a Glance

How It Compares

See the comparison section below for full peer context. The short version: if your appetite is for the Basque region specifically and you want an experience that feels rooted in the countryside rather than the city, Andra Mari at €€€ sits in a different bracket from Arzak in San Sebastián or Azurmendi in Larrabetzu. It is cheaper, more casual in register, more directly connected to traditional Basque cooking. That is not a compromise, it is a different proposition entirely, for many diners the more honest one.

Who Should Book Andra Mari

Book Andra Mari if you want a single-star Basque lunch in a farmhouse setting at €€€ pricing, with a kitchen that takes seasonal sourcing and traditional technique seriously. It suits two people who want to spend a long Saturday afternoon eating well in the Basque countryside, or a small group who can agree on the tasting menu format. It is not a match for diners who need dinner service, who are travelling without a car, or who want the kind of avant-garde creative cooking that Mugaritz in Errenteria or Azurmendi provide. If your frame of reference for Basque traditional cooking runs through Narru or Casa Urola in San Sebastián, Andra Mari operates at a comparable register but with a more rural, farmhouse character and a Michelin credential those venues currently lack. For a broader picture of what is available in the area, see our full Galdakao restaurants guide.

For more in the area: our full Galdakao hotels guide, our full Galdakao bars guide, our full Galdakao wineries guide, and our full Galdakao experiences guide.