Restaurante La Posada, Roncesvalles
Tucked inside the historic pilgrims' hostelry building at the heart of Roncesvalles, La Posada serves robust, unfussy Navarrese mountain food that tastes exactly as it should after a long day on a Pyrenean trail. The lamb chops grilled over vine shoots and the thick bean stew with chorizo are the two dishes that keep walkers talking long after they've reached Santiago.
What to Order
Start with the local piquillo peppers stuffed with salt cod — a Navarrese classic executed simply and well — then move to the chuletillas de cordero al sarmiento, baby lamb chops grilled over vine-shoot embers at the open hearth visible from the dining room.
The house dessert is a cuajada (a set sheep's-milk curd) served with local honey and walnuts: cooling, not too sweet, and the ideal end to a rich mountain meal.
The Setting and Atmosphere
The dining room occupies a stone-vaulted space that is part medieval inn and part mountain refuge, with heavy wooden tables, a crackling fire in cooler months and the gentle noise of a dozen languages mixing as pilgrims compare blisters and route notes.
Lunch is the main meal of the day here — the menú del peregrino (pilgrim's menu) at around €13–15 offers three courses with wine and is extraordinary value for the quality and the setting.
Practical Tips
Reserve by phone for dinner in July and August; the restaurant fills quickly with both pilgrims and day-trippers who have driven up from Pamplona specifically to eat here.
The kitchen closes firmly at 15:30 for lunch and 22:00 for dinner — Navarrese rural hours are strict, so don't arrive at 15:25 expecting a full sitting.
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