I have to say, give me a pasty over a pastry any time, however very occasionally the temptation is all too great to resist. I didn't say I didn't like sweet things after all!

Two doors down from where we stayed in San Sebastian was one of the many, many bars in the old town, La Vina. A more rustic and traditional venue than some of the other surrounding options but with a lot of character. The usual banter between those at the bar and the patronage made for a great atmosphere.

Now I had heard about some legendary cheese cake but had yet to identify where such wonders hiding and hunt it down as we wondered in for a quick bite and glass of txakoli before exploring further.

Well  there was no mistaking that we had found THE place to get cheese cake.

After ordering a cold glass of the local tipple, I started counting the cheese cakes that covered every spare surface and shelf around the bar. After around 30 I gave up when someone from the kitchen appeared clutching a tray of even more of these freshly baked sugary fromage monsters. 
With no where left in the bar to put them, they headed to the  small restaurant room to be stored in every nook and cranny available presumably.
 

Now call me a traditionalist but I am not one to have my desert before I have eaten my main. To paraphrase Pink Floyd "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have your sweet!".
So after indulging in another glass or two and watching the endless cheese cake conveyor belt continue, off we went to stick with tradition but resolute that dessert needed to be accommodated tonight and conveniently it was almost at our door.

Fast forward to the end of the night, almost full to the brim of the all the things, we popped in for a night cap and slice of cake.

As my wife required a pit stop as soon as we arrived, I ordered two drinks and two portions of what was probably going to be the nail in the coffin for that nights eating.
How right I was.

For some reason, a portion is two slices in La Vina! 

I'll confess I've eaten a lot of cheese cake over the years and if I say so my self, make a mean one too (One for a future post) so my standards are high.  Now was this the best I've eaten? I'd probably say no but can I find anything wrong with it? Not at all.
It's certainly top drawer and like a lot of things, it's just a little different. 
The texture is denser and more like a flour based cake than you would expect, its definitely richer and the caramelisation on the outside just brings it all together.

So faced with two large wedges and not being one to appear rude, I dutifully finished both my delicious slices.

I walked out of La Vina feeling, not for the first time, that my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach but was unrepentant for indulging in that extra straw that broke the camels back.