el paladar
Basque cuisine with Biscayan roots. Produce, memory and a distinctive point of view.
Basque cuisine with Biscayan roots.
Tradition, produce, and a cuisine that continues to evolve.
At El Paladar, we start from a simple idea: to respect the produce and the culinary culture we come from. Our cooking is rooted in the Basque culinary tradition and, in particular, in Biscayan heritage, where stocks, sauces, casseroles and slow cooking are part of a culinary memory passed down from generation to generation.
We approach this tradition from our own contemporary perspective. The aim is not to transform it beyond recognition, but to understand its foundations and find new ways to express them. Ingredients, techniques and combinations may change, but the essence that gives each dish its meaning remains.
Produce and seasonality set the pace of our kitchen. The Cantabrian Sea, local vegetables and meats shape a menu that evolves throughout the year. Just nearby, the farmers’ market at Plaza del Solar keeps alive our connection with the local larder that is part of our everyday cooking.
The Four Sauces
Changing the dish without losing its memory.
The current menu brings this way of understanding cuisine to four of its most recognisable expressions:
black ink sauce, pil-pil, green sauce and Biscayan sauce.
Four sauces deeply rooted in Basque tradition, kept recognisable while placed in new contexts, creating different encounters with the produce. The sauce thus becomes the starting point of each dish: first its identity, then what accompanies it.
negra
Fresh white beans · Confit cod
pil-pil
Hake snout
verde
Line-caught baby squid · Hake kokotxas
bizkaina
Venison loin
It is not about breaking with tradition, but showing that it is still alive.
Zuriñe García
A life in the kitchen
The cuisine at El Paladar bears the signature of Zuriñe García, one of the most experienced chefs in Biscayan gastronomy.
Trained at the Galdakao School of Hospitality, she began a two-decade career at Andra Mari restaurant in 2001. For the final ten years, she led the kitchen, maintaining the restaurant’s Michelin Star.
In 2017, she received the Euskadi Gastronomy Award for Best Restaurateur, granted by the Basque Government following a proposal by the Basque Academy of Gastronomy.
Since 2022, she has led El Paladar, where she and her team have been developing an increasingly distinctive cuisine centred on produce, seasonality and Basque tradition. A cuisine of stocks and sauces, time and craftsmanship.
In 2026, this work received new recognition with El Paladar’s first Repsol Guide Sun.
Tasting menu
A way to discover our cuisine
The tasting menu is the best way to discover El Paladar: a journey that begins with the Cromwell Aperitif, bringing together the two shores that are part of the history of this house, the Basque Country and Cuba, before moving into the heart of our culinary proposal.
Produce, memory and tradition unfold throughout an experience that evolves with the seasons and with each ingredient at its very best.
The current menu begins with butterfly-cut anchovy, Gilda mollete and Vermouth 1871 before continuing with the rest of the culinary journey.
Our menus have names
Behind every service are also many hours spent away from home. That is why, at El Paladar, each menu is named after the son or daughter of someone on the team.
It is our way of recognising the families who share in the demands of this profession: the long hours, the weekends, and all the time that hospitality requires. A small tribute to those who are also part of what happens every day at the restaurant, even if they are not in the kitchen or dining room.
The current menu is called Martiñe
Awards & Recognition
Being featured in the Michelin Guide, one of the world’s most respected gastronomic references, confirms a path that begins with the produce and is sustained by the daily craft and dedication of the entire team.
El Paladar’s first Repsol Guide Sun. A recognition of the journey since the project began, the produce, and the daily work of the entire team, both in and beyond the kitchen.
EL PALADAR
The fine-dining restaurant of Puente Colgante Boutique Hotel, overlooking the estuary and the Bizkaia Bridge. María Díaz de Haro, 2 · 48920 Portugalete, Bizkaia
OPENING HOURS
Monday, Thursday and Sunday Lunch: 1:30 pm–3:00 pm
Friday and Saturday Lunch: 1:30 pm–3:00 pm Dinner: 8:00 pm–9:00 pm
RESERVATIONS
(+34) 944 014 800info@puentecolgantebh.com
CHILDREN
Children aged 12 and over are welcome.
ALLERGIES & INTOLERANCES
Information on allergens in our dishes is available. Please ask us when making your reservation.
