Meaning ‘The Cooking Pot of Plaza Nueva’, this classy restaurant is both stylish and traditional. Choose to dine on polished wooden tables surrounded by whitewashed brick walls, or gather around the flashy bar for bites of pintxos. A step up from your usual ingredients, La Olla serves pintxos such as crunchy black pudding and pine nuts; baked mushrooms with parmesan cheese and aubergines; and octopus and potato strudel with herb broth.

The Plaza Nueva, located in the heart of the old town, is one of the most beautiful squares to see in Bilbao and with more atmosphere, especially after sunset. This beautiful neoclassical style square, built in the mid-nineteenth century, stands out for its 33 semicircular arches with Doric columns attached and for bringing together some of the best restaurants and pintxo bars in the city. These bars, flooded with tasty tapas, serve delicious specialties such as the pintxos of cod in pil-pil sauce, chistorra, omelet tuna, or octopus, among many others.

The Plaza Nueva is one of these, with colonnaded archways with shops and restaurants surrounding a wide sunny square. It dates to the mid-19th century, and reflects the social mores of the time in the four-tiered building around the square. Balconies and windows become progressively smaller on the higher floors, where the rents were cheaper and the less affluent lived.

At Plaza Nueva, one of the oldest squares of the city, you will be able to visit some of the most typical bars in Bilbao. It is a place with great personality, a mandatory stop in your journey. Some other streets with great atmosphere and known for poteo (going from one bar to another tasting pintxos) are Santa María, El Perro or María Muñoz.

From Toma Y Daka, we walked right next door to La Olla de la Plaza Nueva. This pintxos bar and restaurant has won numberous prizes over the years for its innovative pintxos. Their "KIRIKIÑU" sea urchin pintxo was one of the finalists of the Bizkaia Pintxos Championship recently.

The most awarded pintxo bar in the city, golden stick to the best pintxo bar in Bizkaia, you will not know why pintxo start or why finish, our good work in the pintxos translates into a very careful menu, where you will find the kitchen open all day. 946 630 012 | Plaza Nueva 2

We went here purely because of their specialization in Jamon. As I’ve noted in many other reviews, Bellota Iberico Jamon is one of my all-time favorite foods, and it is still not available in the US. At least, the really high-quality stuff is not available.

For a more upscale experience, check out La Olla Plaza Nueva. They serve gourmet pintxos that look like tiny works of art. Don’t miss their foie gras with compote – it’s a crowd favorite.

These two venues are located directly on Plaza Nueva in the old town. There is a huge selection of pintxos here. Simply stop off at a bar, try a few pintxos and move on.

Half an hour later, it was pintxos again on the other side of the square at La Olla de la Plaza Nueva, accompanied by another perfectly chilled glass of Txakoli.

Come here in the evenings to people watch groups of friends and have a couple of cañas or glasses of wine. Make sure you try a couple of tasty pintxos too!

Plaza Nueva, situated in the ancient Casco Viejo quarter, is an extraordinary place that gives a glimpse into Bilbao’s remarkable history