NAVARRA - PAMPLONA - IRUÑA - PINCHO BAR CRAWL

Miguel Renoir Spanish Guides
Dec 6, 2022
4 min read

Pamplona/Iruña is the historical capital of Navarre/Navara in the former Kingdom of Navarre. It was a medieval Basque kingdom until Castile annexed it in the 16th century.

The city is famous worldwide for the running of the bulls during the San Fermín festival, which is held annually from July 6 to 14. This festival was brought to literary renown with the 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises.

We stayed at,

CASA OTANO BAR RESTAURANTE

Bajo, Calle de San Nicolás 5, 31001 Pamplona, Navarra

+34 948 22 26 38

www.casaotano.com

This hostal is right on Calle de San Nicolás. It is also home to Bar Otano, one of Pamplona's oldest pincho bars, below.

The bar is on one of the liveliest streets for drinking and pinchos.

They prepare all kinds of croquetas, chistorras, tortillas, and mini hamburgers. In addition, it has an excellent Restaurant on the upper floor with a balcony overlooking the street below.

Upper floor Restaurant.

It also offers a selection of special pinchos at the bar. These include zucchini stuffed with shellfish or fresh foie with raisin bread and Modena sauce.

We started with the Bar Otano chistorras.

We then moved on,

LA MANDARRA DE LA RAMOS

Calle de San Nicolás, 9, 31001 Pamplona, Navarra

+34 948 21 26 54

www.lamandarradelaramos.com

This modern tavern is designed in a traditional style with beautifuldécorr, making it one of the busiest here. Its pepper pincho is a favourite among fried-food lovers. Still, its selection includes other delicacies such as the boletus (mushroom) pincho, fresh vegetable croquetas, toast with piquillo peppers, and anchovies from Santoña. The place is also one of the best pincho bars in Pamplona, where we had a good ham tapa.

Excelente Jamón de Cebo Ibérico 50% Raza de Huelva.

Next up was,

BASERRIBERRIE

Calle de San Nicolás 32, 31001 Pamplona, Navarra

+34 674 67 29 53

www.baserriberri.com

Here you will find more modern pinchos, like the Boombeja, which won Pincho 2017 and is made with bread from sheep's milk, truffled lactonesa (a type of sauce), cod ceviche, foie, champagne, and truffle. You can continue this experience for the senses in their avant-garde Restaurant.

We had croqueta Semana (mushroom croquette).

Frito sin gluten.

Exo Talo (crab wrap).

We then moved on to Café Roch, which was unfortunately closing.

Pictures are from a previous visit.

CAFÉ ROCH

Calle Comedias, 6, 31001 Pamplona, Navarra.

+34 948 22 23 90

This family affair was established in 1898 on the very same street where it now resides. The history and culture of Pamplona have been preserved in full here.

With its old-style traditional décor from years past and its strong desire to stick to tradition in how it makes its coffee and food, this small café has become world-famous for its Fritos (a large type of croquetas) with a wide variety of fillings. There's usually a selection of at least a dozen, depending on when you get there. All are crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, perfect for eating with a fork.

We then walked up the steps and onto Plaza de Castillo and popped into

CAFÉ IRUÑA

Plaza del Castillo 44, 31001 Pamplona, Navarra +34 948 22 20 64

www.cafeiruna.com

Café Iruña is one of the most famous bars in Pamplona and an excellent spot for an authentic taste of culture and great quality café con leche. Time stands still here. Established in 1888, it is one of the most symbolic corners of the old town.

After Ernest Hemingway immortalised Café Iruña and Pamplona in his novel The Sun Also Rises, many visit the café, not just for the coffee but to experience Pamplona as Hemingway did in his literary travels. It was the first establishment in Pamplona to have electricity and exudes Spanish style and tradition. It is like a ghost from the 19th century, with vast, polished mirrors fixed to its walls, Arabesque pillars rising to the ornate ceiling, the tiled floor scuffed by decades of chair-legs scraping backwards.

It still has a local feel. On weekday mornings, sipping café con leche, you are still surrounded by elderly matriarchs huddled in pairs at rounded tables. And Hemingway is also here. He's a swarthy statue standing by the bar in a side room that, until Spain enforced a ban, was the smoking area.

This is the Fifties Hemingway, full of face and the scowl upon it, conveys what would indeed have been his opinion on Spain's new tobacco ban. We visit here for the atmosphere and a drink, but the food is better elsewhere.

CAFÉ BAR GAUCHO

Calle de Espoz y Mina 7, Plaza del Castillo, 31002, Pamplona, Navarra +34 948 22 50 73

www.cafebargaucho.com

Pinchos are always on the bar here, though freshly made hot ones are best.

Huevo trufado con patatas fritas (truffled egg with French fries).

Carrillera de cerdo (pork cheek).

Paquete de pato y bechamel. (duck and bechamel parcel).

Bombita dos salsa (meatball with spicy tomato sauce).

This small bar has charm aplenty and is an obvious local favourite. It is set in the ambience of a city that still echoes the medieval era in its defensive walls. As in most bars, we top the food off with excellent local wine from the Navarre region.

To finish off, we went to,

BAR TXOKO

Plaza del Castillo 20, 31001 Pamplona, Navarra

+34 948 22 20 12

When we arrived, a group of locals were providing some midnight entertainment.

This is where Hemingway drank in 1959; it is similarly boisterous and still there. The bar is always busy with tourists and locals alike. It is famous for its award-winning chistorras.