Bilbao: Lunch at Bistró Guggenheim

When we planned for our trip around Spain we decided to rent a car from Madrid’s airport then drive to San Sebastian then to Barcelona. We could have ridden the train but cost wise renting a car was cheaper and more importantly we were able to take a detour to Bilbao just to see the Guggenheim Museum.

Bilbao was so different from Madrid. The weather was much cooler and the architecture was beautiful.

We parked our car at an underground car park and walked to the Guggenheim.

I really wanted to see the museum built my Frank Ghery more than the modern & contemporary artwork inside. This museum clad in titanium, glass and limestone made Bilbao a tourist attraction when most tourists used to bypass this city for more the popular cities like Madrid and Barcelona.

In front of the Guggenheim is “Puppy” a floral topiary made with 70,000 fresh flowers by artist Jeff Koons.

It was around 1:30 pm when we arrived and we didn’t have time to go in the museum and we wanted to just eat lunch. We immediately made reservations at the Bistró inside for 2:00 pm.

This was the view from the museum.

There was another restaurant behind the museum called Nerue and we wanted to see if we could get a table there. We had to go down these stairs.

Another view from below the wide steps.

Maman (French word for mother ) is a sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which resembles a spider, is amongst the world’s largest and most impressive, measuring over 30ft high and over 33ft wide, with a sac containing 26 marble eggs. Its abdomen and thorax are made up of ribbed bronze. Wikipedia

You can tell I was fascinated with this art installation.

You can see the marble eggs in this picture.

The restaurant, Nerue was full and wasn’t taking any more reservations. It didn’t look full though.

The food here was more expensive than at the Bistró.

Nerue’s menu (click to enlarge)

back of the Guggenheim museum

This was the bar at the Bistró Guggenheim. People were lining up to get tapas.

If we didn’t eat at the table I would have been happy with their unique and delicious looking tapas.

tapas at the bar

I just wasn’t too thrilled with their dessert options. I’m not eating muffins in Spain.

The Bistró had a very casual ambiance.

I was very impressed with the menu printed directly on wood veneer. We all decided to have the set menu that cost €25.40 for 3 courses and include a bottle of wine and water.

Bistró Guggenheim Bilbao menu

I thought we were going to be given a bottle of water each but we had to share one bottle among the three of us.

A bottle of wine for the three of us was just right. I wonder if they give solo diners a whole bottle too?

Palaciego Rioja

homemade bread

These small and round olives were the best ever. The taste was delicate and the texture was soft. I wonder what these are called exactly.

olives

Rochelle chose the most unique entrees while Sha and I had safer choices. She started with this unique watermelon and tomato gazpacho. She

tomato & watermelon gazpacho with seasoned tuna tartare

For our starter Sha and I chose the seafood rice which was just like paella but much better. The rice was perfectly al dente and the stock used to make the rice was excellent. I could taste the nuances of the shellfish use. I don’t normally like ‘foam’ but the garlic mayonnaise foam imparted a strong garlic flavor perfect with the rice.

creamy seafood rice with rock mussels & garlic mayonnaise foam

If you guessed this was Rochelle’s main course then you’re right. I tasted some of the tapioca (sago) and it was savory which was kinda weird. My brain was used to sweet tapioca and it couldn’t process the fishy version. Rochelle said the fish was just ok.

cod confit over tapioca pearls with seafood & “pilpil”

Sharon was very happy with her fork tender pork.

roast pork, hazlenut cream & watercress salad

The picture doesn’t do justice to one of the best lamb dishes I’ve ever eaten. I usually just like lamb chops but this chunk of lamb was so tender and very, very fragrant. The flavor of whatever seasoning was used permeated all the way in the meat.

roast boned lamb with pumpkin puree & a touch of coffee

Since Rochelle loves whipped cream this foamy dessert was just up her alley. The picture with apple juice poured into the foam didn’t look as good as it tasted so I didn’t post that.

caramelised curd foam with apple juice

Sha chose the best dessert. The chocolate sponge cake was so soft and it reminded me of the texture of mamon. It was the strong coffee mousse that I loved best.

chocolate sponge cake, coffee mousse & milk ice cream

My healthy dessert of crisp Fuji apple cubes lightly poached in liquorice juice was very interesting and refreshing. The cheese ice cream was very mild and complemented the apples. Those green leaves on top tasted like liquorice too.

fuji apple in liquorice juice with cheese ice cream

The food was amazing and very worth the price we paid. This was the second time I ate in a museum restaurant and enjoyed it. The first was in Los Angeles’ J. Paul Getty museum. Do all the restaurants in museums really serve fantastic food?

Final shots of Bilbao from inside the car. It looks like Amsterdam right? I wish we had more time to go around Bilbao since the city looked really clean and nice but San Sebastian was another 2-3 hours away and my other cousins from the USA were already there and have been texting our whereabouts.