Is This One of the Best Steaks in the Basque Country? | Casa Julián Tolosa
I’ve eaten a lot of steak.
But the one we had at Casa Julián in Tolosa, Basque Country, is going to be difficult to forget.
If you’re visiting San Sebastián and love steak, Tolosa is worth knowing about. Around 25km from San Sebastián, this small town in Gipuzkoa is famous for its food – and particularly its txuleta, the huge bone-in steak that has become one of the great dishes of Basque cuisine.
And Casa Julián is one of the legendary places to eat it.
We made the trip from San Sebastián to this famous Basque steakhouse, which was founded in 1954 by Julián Rivas. Julián went on to develop the distinctive inclined grill still used at Casa Julián today – a grill that has since been widely imitated.
Before they cooked our steak, we were presented with two enormous cuts of aged beef and asked to choose.
I immediately left this to my husband Mark and friend Christian.
They looked considerably more qualified for the job.
We eventually settled on our piece and what arrived was a huge txuleta – deeply charred and salty on the outside, incredibly rare and juicy inside.
And it was INSANE.
The flavour of the beef was incredible, but it was the combination of the char, smoke and fire that really made it. This is the sort of steak where you don’t need a sauce, a complicated side dish or anything else trying to compete with it.
The beef is the point.
Before the steak arrived, we had beautiful white asparagus, tomatoes and olive oil.
Nothing complicated.
Just really good Basque produce.
Casa Julián’s famously concise menu focuses on ingredients including asparagus, piquillo peppers and, of course, its txuleta. The current menu is still very much built around this idea of keeping things simple and letting the produce do the work.
And I quite liked that.
Obviously, I was paying just as much attention to what was in the glass.
Our sommelier was fabulous.
She was incredibly knowledgeable, completely on it with her recommendations and wonderfully feisty.
At one point she recommended a rosé from her grandparents’ village.
We didn’t take her advice.
She was not impressed with us.
But she did introduce us to a brilliant bottle of Bodega Gil Berzal Recoveco El Alto de la Huesera from Rioja Alavesa.
And I’m very glad she did.
Made from around 90% Viura and 10% Malvasía, this was exactly the sort of Spanish white wine I love discovering when travelling.
Buttery and textured, with white peach, bright acidity and freshness. There’s oak, but it gives the wine richness without taking away its energy. The wine is fermented and aged in French oak, with 15 months of ageing.
It was a serious Spanish white wine – and a brilliant match for the food.
So much so that I’ve been trying to find a bottle in London ever since.
No luck yet.
If anyone knows where I can buy Bodega Gil Berzal Recoveco El Alto de la Huesera in the UK, please tell me because I clearly need another bottle.
Is Casa Julián one of the best steakhouses in the Basque Country? I think so.
Although I probably need to eat a few more txuletas before I start making definitive claims about the best steak in the world.
What makes Casa Julián memorable isn’t just the quality of the beef. It’s the whole experience.
You’re in Tolosa, in the Basque Country, eating exceptional local produce, watching beef being cooked over fire and drinking Spanish wine chosen by someone who clearly knows her cellar.
It isn’t fancy. It doesn’t need to be.
And perhaps that’s exactly why it works.
If you’re staying in San Sebastián and looking for a memorable food experience outside the city, I’d absolutely make the trip to Tolosa.
Come for the txuleta. Stay for the wine. And, if the sommelier recommends a rosé from her grandparents’ village, maybe take her advice.
What we drank? Bodega Gil Berzal Recoveco El Alto de la Huesera – Rioja Alavesa
Around 90% Viura and 10% Malvasía. Rich, buttery and textured, with white peach, bright acidity and a freshness that keeps everything in balance.
One of those bottles that you try on holiday and then spend the next few weeks wondering where on earth you can buy it back home.
If you know, you know.
Elizabeth Hawthorthwaite
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