EBG Rating: 7.6/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Good wines, basic beer and perfunctory sherries, vermouth and alternatives.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️
Basic and uncomplicated one-room bar with long counter to the left, lamp-lit personalised with football scarves. TV in the upper right corner behind the entrance. Basic tables and chairs and tiling with a column in the centre of the room.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Solidly unpretentious, working class and local with a core crowd of regulars and an atmosphere which suggests this is a popular hold out. A more middle aged/mixed crowd than some, but still enough going on for it not to be an ‘old man pub’.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Food, snacks, TV, lottery, limited outdoor space

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Fair value.

Description:
Set on the corner of Miguel Unamuno Plaza, the gateway to Bilbao old town, it is heartening to see a local’s pintxo place occupying prime position.

To be honest, we hadn’t decided to visit this place and did so on a whim noticing the busy scene out front and unpretentious interior.

Fermín are notable for one of Bilbao’s more famous dishes, the ‘sushi’ Bacalao which is served with pepper, though for safety we opted for the equally famous Pil Pil, which is delicious.

Forget social climbing, forget Instagram, forget trying to impress people, and get back to basics. Good food in an authentic folk environment.

Although it could pass for older, Fermín has been around for over 40 years and maintains a solid reputation.

You’ll find a lamplit bar area with the available pintxos displayed in counters along the bar. The interior is plainly decorated with football colours and basis tiling, but works to reinforce its humble nature.

Service is approachable and helpful, but don’t be afraid to get stuck in – get to the front and make clear what you are looking for.

Wine and beer are equal partners here, with vermouth and sherries available but probably outside the usual remit for this working class establishment most of the time.

It’s refreshing to go somewhere so central and find a place that has not been scarred by tourist churn, or at least picks itself up after the summer to return to normal. Long may that continue.

(Added November 2025)