Eating in Markina-Xemein
Eating in Markina-Xemein
Located in the comarca of Lea-Artibai in the province of Biscay is the town of Markina-Xemein. You’ll find that eating in Markina-Xemein is a delight, as the town’s cuisine is based on fish and veal. There aren’t many restaurants and bars in Xemein where you can find the town’s traditional dishes.What to eat in Markina-Xemein
Considered the capital of the Basque sport of pelota, Markina-Xemein offers great culinary variety allowing you to enjoy the local traditions. Search the town for the best fish recipes which, thanks to its proximity to the coast, includes a wide range of options. Order some good hake or classic monkfish, served grilled or roasted; both styles are popular when it comes to eating in Markina-Xemein.
If you want to experience the area’s most traditional flavors, be sure to order the best-known specialties: tuna stew with potatoes, cuttlefish in ink, and kokotxas (the bottom part of the whiskers of certain fish, often hake) in a green sauce. The most popular meat in Markina-Xemein is veal, usually served grilled alongside locally-grown produce such as tomatoes, peppers, or beans.
You can complete your feast with a nice tapa, like some famous Idiazabal cheese and a glass of Txakoli de Vizcaya, the Basque Country’s most famous wine. For a sweet finish, be sure to try the local pastries, exemplified by kokotes, a fine triangle-shaped pastry covered in cream.
Bars and tapas
The only bar in town where you can get pinchos is the tavern Melo’s. Here you’ll be able to enjoy a wide selection of different pinchos, including rabas (calamari). If you order a glass of wine you won’t regret it, seeing as this is one of their specialties.
A la carte
All of the à la carte options have a strong local character associated with the culinary tradition of Biscay. The restaurant Pitis is one of the most popular places in the town, an establishment with home-style cooking where you can get dishes made with locally-sourced products for a reasonable price. They have a good menú del peregrino (pilgrim’s menu) where you can order anything from steak and potatoes to a good bowl of lentils. At Restaurante Niko-Jatetxe you’ll find a decent daily prix fixe menu and a delicious veal fillet in sauce.Itxas Lur is another place we recommend for eating in Markina-Xemein, due to their fare based on the Basque tradition as well as the fact that it’s an economical option. They have good meat and stuffed cuttlefish.
A good option for eating in Markina-Xemein is the cider house Axpe, where it’s possible to try the cider produced in-house. However, customers must cook their own food, and the owners supply the necessary cooking implements as well as all the cider you can drink.
If you’re looking for someplace in Markina-Xemein that specializes in wedding celebrations, communions, and special events, Bauskain Farm offers customers everything that is needed to host events like these. They make delicious oysters.
