Baserri Maitea Restaurant, Forua
A five-minute drive from Gernika in the hamlet of Forua, Baserri Maitea occupies a converted 17th-century Basque farmhouse (baserri) and serves the kind of deeply rooted regional cooking that chefs in Bilbao's fancy restaurants spend years trying to replicate. The dining room, with its stone walls and heavy timber beams, feels like eating inside a living museum.
What to order
The signature dish is marmitako — a robust tuna and potato stew cooked with Gernika peppers and tomato — made here with locally caught bonito del norte that is as far from a tinned product as you can imagine. In autumn, the wild mushroom dishes featuring perretxikos (St George's mushrooms) and boletus from the surrounding hills are extraordinary.
The txuleton (bone-in ribeye from Basque-bred cattle) is aged on-site and grilled over charcoal; it arrives at the table still crackling. Order it for two people minimum and specify your preferred doneness — the default is a confident medium-rare.
Dessert is the goxua, a Basque cream and sponge trifle soaked in coffee, which arrives in a generous glass and is completely non-negotiable.
Booking and getting there
Baserri Maitea is popular with Bilbao families on Sunday lunches, so book at least a week ahead for weekends. Weekday lunches are easier to walk into, and the fixed-price menú del día (around €22–28) represents extraordinary value for the quality.
Forua is not served by Euskotren; take a taxi from Gernika (under €8) or rent a bicycle from Gernika's tourist office for the flat, scenic 4 km ride along the river.
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