My apologies for some procrastination. I just saw a kindly posted review of Playa de Las Americas restaurants on this site and realized that I have forgotten to summarise our experience around Tenerife and Gran Canaria where we spent 7 days this holiday season.
We arrived on Christmas day in Tenerife Norte. I was very much impressed by the efficiency of the Cicar rental agency. They have a window in the baggage claim section! Hence by the time you get luggage you already have a car key! The parking is right outside and you can start your venture immediately! Looking backwards I would do things differently logistics wise…Every ferry port has a Cicar office. I think getting the car upon arrival to the island by ferry would be more intelligent. FYE: If you are settled on taking the car around, check with your rental agencies (other than Cicar) if they allow travel from island to island. Many don’t.
Our first stop was Santa Cruz. Driving in this town is challenging even on Christmas day. Hotels do not have parking (or have one for very small cars) and instruct you to park in the city parking lot. Getting in and out of the city parking is an adventure. Another reason not to rent a car for the stay in Santa Cruz.
I did not make any reservations for Christmas day. Big mistake. The restaurants were open, but catered exclusively to the big parties of the locals. The tourists, like ourselves, were wandering around in hope of finding something to snack on… Eventually we encountered an outdoor tapas place serving predominantly southamerican/ caribbean food. I figured it was Venezuelan given some plates I have recognized. The food was OK, but nothing got stuck in my memory. We walked around this rather pleasant town and decided to skip dinner. Our hotel was a brand new AC chain (Bonvoy) one with a tiny pool on the roof. The Nuestra Senora de Africa market was closed on Christmas day…
In the morning we pretty easily boarded the ferry and in 1 hour 20 minutes drove off in Agaete of Gran Canaria. There is an option of direct ferry to Las Palmas (1 hour 40 minutes), but we wanted to drive around the island. After leaving our car in this surprisingly affordable (especially this time of the year!) Santa Catalina Hotel, we walked for about 20 minutes to the historical part of town.
Our first meal was in the universally praised Que Leche (1 sol)! Had to be booked well in advance. The service was dismal. The restaurant is not very big. Most of the time there was no staff in the dining room… To their defence, we came at 1:30, which is probably too early by the local standards…
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bombon de foie gras mousse (forgettable),
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huevos rotos con camarón (their signature dish on potato chips/shrimp/ truffled mayo and obviously eggs…OK but not overwhelming)
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aguachile de lubina (nice and fresh, but very forgettable because is served in every second restaurant all over the world),
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cochnillo negro (our waiter said that it was her favorite. Flavorful, but the skin was a bit tough for my taste)
We skipped the dulce. Not sure it was my favorite restaurant, but certainly I would give it another chance. We may not have made a good selection…
For dinner we headed for (1 sol) Embarcadero - about 15 minutes walk from our hotel along the marina. We found the staff much warmer and more personable than in Que Leche! The restaurant, conveniently for non-spaniards, opens at 8 pm. The managing person helped us greatly with the plate selection.
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delicious fried artichokes with green sauce
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interesting deep fried eggplant with a different type of green sauce and arugula
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first time we tried papas arrugadas con mojo rojo - local small potatoes cooked in salt. The dish is good, but not for everyone.
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tuetano con tartar. I hate this dish, but somehow I let myself order it every time… Cold tartar completely obliterates the fatty goodness of the bone marrow. As well it is ALWAYS under seasoned. I promise you: This time was the last.
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they convinced us to try lubina cooked on the grill. Indeed very good and smoky. Reminded me of the grilled fish we had on the Galician and Asturian coasts.
I think that this restaurant is a very good choice in the central Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
I had nor reservation for lunch the next day because we did not decide on our travel plan. In the end we stayed in a hotel by the poolside (usually - not my thing). My wife did not want to go too far from the hotel. I found La Bodega de La Avenida (no soles). The restaurant was fully booked. We took a chance of walking there and asking for a table in person. Unassuming residential building. They were initially reluctant to give us a table but eventually conceded and our effort was rewarded with outdoor seats for 1.5 hour. It is a white cloth place. Interestingly most of the visitors seemed to be local. Every arriving guest was greeted with hugs and kisses by multiple staff members.
We tried:
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excellent wague cecina (1/2 ración)
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very tasty ensaladilla de marisco y cangrejo real (1/2 ración)
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croquetas de chuletón madurado
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small beef sandwich Don Pepito
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tarta de queso
We did not want to have a big meal. Every plate was well prepared. The menu is very interesting and would definitely return trying more sophisticated dishes. Definitely recommended.
The dinner took us to the most interesting place in Las Palmas: El Equilibrista 33 (1 sol)
Small place serving elevated canarian food. They have a tasting sequence option. The table next to us went along with it and the dishes appeared to be very interesting.
We ordered off the menu.
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Gofio maki. Their most promoted dish. Essentially instead of rice they use gofio (bland of different meals, but predominantly corn). It’s a bit difficult to understand the plate. I think the seasoning was very reasonable, but the texture of the cornmeal didn’t work well with the fish.
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Grouper ceviche canarian style. Very different from other ceviches. Mixed with fried gofio bread. We liked it a lot.
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Coconut mojo. Baby squid with shredded zucchini. Very flavorful play on the pasta dish. Excellent.
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Carajacas. Fried calf’s liver with caramelized onion and potato. Something very different from any liver we tried before. A real treat for liver lovers!
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Huevos mole (desert). This dish exists in multiple cultures, but it is the first time I have encountered it in the Spanish one. Egg Yolks with sugar and rum (aged with some rocal herbs). Excellent finish to the meal.
This restaurant gets an award for the most authentic meal we had on the Canary islands. Highly recommended. Excellent cost/value ratio.
The lunch on the last day took us to the restaurant most celebrated by locals - Ribera del Rio Mino (1 sol). It is a huge place. Reservations only by phone. Serves the food of continental Spain in the upscale environment. They call themselves Galician, but the food is from all over Spain. Large families coming on the weekend. We did not order too much.
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ensaladilla
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local crab soup/stew served in the shell
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another excellent grilled lubina
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cordero lechal
All the plates were executed impeccably. The service is a bit distant, but efficient. Definitely good restaurant, but there are plenty of similar places on the mainland.
Sunday dinner was a difficult affair to arrange. All the restaurants I had remote interest in were closed. We ended up in Allende (Triana location). There is one next to Santa Catalina Hotel but we decided to go to the historical part of town. The restaurant was not fantastic. It is a very average tapas place very popular with locals and tourists. We were not impressed with any of the dishes we tried ( berenjena con miel, albondigas, arenke).
The next morning we headed back to the ferry to Tenerife.
