This particular meal didn’t have to be fantastic. Or even that good. It did, however, have to (a) be in Tenerife, (b) be eaten in sight of the ocean and (c) involve steak. This was lunch on Christmas Day, with not a turkey in sight. It’s been a genuine bucket list meal that I’ve wanted to do for many years but, for a variety of family reasons, hasn’t been p[possible till this year. We had sussed out La Barca on our last trip in spring 2022 and decided it would do nicely. Great view of Las Vistas beach with Palm Mar in the distance. And a decent enough steak. We made a reservation a few days before to make sure of getting a table (and it was a good job we did, as it was very busy).
We shared a couple of starters. A plate of ”chopitos” – baby squid just floured and fried so they became crisp. And a big Spanish salad that’s traditional in tourist restaurants, right down to the inclusion of a couple of spears of tinned white asparagus and a spoonful of sweetcorn.
For a main course, my other half ordered an old favourite of sole meuniere. Perfectly cooked on the bone, in a caper and butter sauce, with a few Canarian potatoes. As for the all important steak, a sirloin was cooked to the usual Spanish interpretation of “medium”, so a perfect “medium rare” in my book. And it was decent enough. I’d ordered it with a béarnaise sauce which may have been a bit of a mistake.as it didn’t have much flavour and was quite gloopy. I just scraped most of it off the steak leaving a little for moistness. It came with chips and a little mixed veg – runner beans, carrot, peppers and onion.
We had room for dessert. A couple of profiteroles filled with cream and a ball of ice cream. And a “copa” – big glass filled with fruits of the forest ice cream, topped with a mountain of squirty cream and a few thin slices of apple. They were fine.
Good lunch. And one of the bucket list ticked off. Now, on to that transatlantic cruise.
