donostia social club
30th September 2013
Last week I had lunch at the Donostia Social Club with Steve, at Kerb in Kings Cross. I’d seen a rave review about this place a few weeks ago and I was very keen to try the food.
donostia menu
Paul, the owner, lived in the Basque Country for many years and has been influenced by the region’s food, especially the pintxos (similar to tapas).
nibbles
Donostia is the Basque name for St. Sebastian – I spent a few days there 20 years ago and was completely blown away by the food, so I can completely understand someone wanting to bring it to England.
fried and salted broad beans
We had a couple of nibbles while perusing the menu – I crunched away on these delicious broad beans for a few minutes before I realised they were not savoury biscuits! I’ll have to try making them.
basque chillies and olives
The olives with chillies packed a punch that I really appreciate.
braised iberico pork cheek
I had a hot Braised Iberico Pig Cheek sandwich from the menu – it was a mountain of cheek sandwiched in a bun with some rocket. It came in a handy box (for takeaway) and was cooked to perfection.
confit duck with basque cider sauce
Steve had a Confit Duck Slider with Basque Cider Sauce – as you can see it looks quite delicious.
morcilla and red pepper
Not content with a mountain of pig cheeks, down to the fact that all the food looked amazing, I has a pintxo of morcilla (black pudding) with a twirl of red pepper.
crayfish and caper berry
These pintxos are very good value at £2, so I greedilly had a second one – Crayfish with a Caperberry on top.
All the food was excellent – it worked out at £21 for two people. Normally Donostia Social Club sells wine, but sadly lunch at Kerb is a tea-total event. Check the Donostia website for their next appearance in London.
Mad Dog TV Dinners 
Glad you posted this. We enjoyed a couple of basque sandwiches last Friday after a visit to the Koestler Exhibition at the RFH. The van and high stools fitted the bill, not to mention the excellent food served by Paul and Alex. Highly recommended. Alex was doing a great job pulling in the punters…..
Thanks Sue. If I hadn’t been busy at the weekend I would have gone to the South Bank for more pintxos!
That is fantastic. Totally brilliant food ( fuck being a vegetarian for the moment ) and sold out of my favourite van. So envious. I must get down the the Basque country—it’s only about 2 hrs away. Great post MD.
Thanks Roger – you really must go to the Basque Country. I’ve never seen or eaten so much good food as in St. Sebastian 😉
That food looks very good. I wish we had a food truck.
I wish you did too – I wonder if they fancy a trip to Germany 😉
What a fantastic place! Love those broad bean nibbles, they sell them in the supermarkets here with the crisps and nuts – look out for habas fritas in the boqueria, they should be fantastic. I think San Sebastian has more restaurants with Michelin stars per head of population than any other city in the world – love it there, maybe we’ll stop off again on our way back from England in a few months.
I’ll be running down there soon to have a look, once I’ve recovered from the prickly pear liquor that we were drinking at 3am.
The things you do for us! Que lo pases muy bien 🙂
I had to go through the Boqueria four times just to get my phone sorted out to work in Barcelona! Life is so hard sometimes!
The ham is smelling great 😉
You eat the best meals and such reasonable prices…it all sounds delicious. Have a good time on your trip.
Thanks Karen – I hope to find some more interesting places in Barcelona this week 🙂
Looks brilliant, what amazing value for tasty food.
Thanks Andrea it’s a real find!
Looks like amazingly delicious food! I’m still drooling…… And, that food truck, how cool is that?
Thanks Tessa – they really have got a beautifull vintage truck to go with the fab food 🙂
Fantastic value and such fun food . . . oh what one misses living rurally [and in Oz!] 🙂 ! The black pudding and the crayfish with caperberry, please ~ two of each at that price!!!
Thanks Eha – it’s great to find somewhere that cheap and delicious. A lot of street food in London is nearly as expensive as going to a restaurant.
How wonderful! You’re so clever at finding cheap, delicious food in London. I wish I’d known you when I was there. Pintxos in San Sebastian are fab, especially with their amazing seafood – I was there briefly eight years ago and would love to go back. Your crayfish one looks very good indeed.
Thanks Fiona – it was a lucky find. I spotted it on a non food blog by chance. I’ll definitely be going back 🙂
Pigs cheek! Dammit. I will have to try and remember to ask for that cut next time! The little boxes are great too.. did you take your hip flask then? or run down to the M&S for a wee bottle of something..
Yes you must – slow cooked pig cheeks are delicious! In fact the whole head is quite good, if you slow cook it, it makes amazing brawn.
I managed without a lunchtime drink, but did have a few beers that evening 😉
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