We’re just back from our annual three week “fly and flop” holiday to the island. As in recent years, we stayed in Playa de law Americas (PDLA). Great weather in the mid 20s (bit chilly in evenings). We ate out every night, mainly in PDLA but walked or got a cab to adjoining Los Cristianos some nights. A few lunches and breakfasts eaten away from the apartment. Here’s where we ate
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Pasta y Vino, PDLA
Over the years, we’ve walked past the restaurant many times but this was the first time we’ve eaten there. It was the first night of the holiday and we just needed to get a nice dinner without fussing about with reservations (you never know if your flight is going to be delayed). And, having fallen out of love, on our last trip, with a long standing favourite Italian place , we were interested in finding a replacement.
Salads for both of us to start. One a bog standard affair – lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn & carrot. The other added dried figs, walnuts and pineapple to the basic mix. Along with oil and vinegar, there was a sweetish mustard dressing on the table which worked well. Pizza Napoli had anchovies and capers as toppings along with mozzarella and a tasty tomato sauce. Decent job but one which could have stood a tad more cooking (but not so much that it needed sending back). They claim to make their own pasta so that had to be worth a try. Tagliatelle was properly cooked to “al dente” and was coated in a creamy sauce with mushrooms and walnuts. Nice
Only one of us wanted dessert. That’d be me. If I’m in a new Italian gaff, I’m always going to try the tiramisu, to see if it beats my “best ever”(that’s a place near home, closely followed by one in Burlington, Vermont). This was OK as a sweet creamy dessert but lacked a punch from coffee and booze.
All in all, this was a good start to the holiday eating. We planned to go back – and did. I’m sure we’ll be back again next trip.
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Balkonen, PDLA
It must be 30 years since we first ate here. It was our first taste of Middle Eastern food – and that’s now my favourite”foreign” food, both to eat in restaurants and to cook at home. We’ve been back on every trip so must have eaten here 20+ times. Our order has been unchanged over the years – their set mixed mezze. Still priced at €20 each, it may be the best value for money meal the area has to offer.
There’s dips to start – a lovely version of muhammara – sweet from red peppers, a smokey moutabal and an earthy houmous. There’s khobez bread and a fattoush salad, zingy with lemon. Then hot dishes. Falafel dressed with yoghurt – lighter and better flavoured than our favourite place at home. Roasted cauliflower florets , also with yoghurt. And a plate of mixed fatayer – small filled pastries. Three each – one each of cheese, spinach and meat filling.And, finally, a plate of chicken shawarma – shreds of tasty chicken – and a bit more bread.
Even 30 years on and with Middle Eastern food much more common in the UK (thank goodness for immigration), this is still amongst the best Lebanese food we know.
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La Barca, PDLA
We’ve been here a couple of times before. In fact, we came for Christmas Day lunch in 2023 (and had a decent enough steak). It’s one of those places with a long Identikit tourist menu, where everyone in the party will find something to eat, albeit with no-one reckoning it was the best food they had on that holiday. It’s a nice place with a good ocean view if you go in the day. But there’s more of an effort being made in the evening – tablecloths, experienced and attentive staff and a kitchen that is pretty much on the ball.
There’s a plate of grilled shell-on king prawns to start for one of us. Dead simple. Dead tasty. They need nothing more than a squeeze of lemon. “Chopitas” across the table. There’s nothing stingy about the portion of baby squid – battered and deep fried to crisp. On their own, they might have been a tad dry but with some lemon juice and a dollop of mayo, they were bang on.
Slices of pork filet had been fried. Then coated in an indeterminate, rather gloopy sauce, maybe a BBQ intent, maybe not. There’s also stewed apples - almost another sauce - which were lovely. And some really nice mixed veg – runner beans, carrots & green pepper. And Canarian potatoes, of course. Sole meuniere came perfectly cooked in butter, the flesh just sliding off the bone. That came with a bowl fo chips.
We’ll often pass on dessert in many places. But there was a corner still to be filled . House made ”flan” for one of us. An overuse of gelatine meant it was very firmly set. OK but no better than OK. Queso blanco is a mild white cheese, originating from South America. It has a firm, almost rubbery texture like halloumi. It’s drizzled with palm honey. Google tells me it’s not actually a honey but a syrup gathered from palm trees in La Gomera, in a similar way to maple syrup. A few walnuts provide a bit of crunch.
Nice dinner.
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SUKA Fruits, PDLA
A very different breakfast offering. Different from the cheap and, often, not very cheerful ”English Breakfasts” that are everywhere round the resort. True to its name, the emphasis is on fruit. For one of us, a bowl of mixed fruit, granola and yoghurt. For the other, a mega offering. Six thick American style pancakes, each about 8cm across. Served in a stack with each pancake interleaved with slices of a different fruit – apple, mango, guava, banana , etc. A little dish of yoghurt (ordered as an extra) kept things moist. Yes, you do need to bring an appetite with you for this one. But all this lovely food and service is let down by the coffee. It was the same when we came last trip. It’s just not hot enough - barely lukewarm. It’s not that it’s standing around, so must be how they’ve got the machine set up. Disappointing.
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Meson Las Lanzas, PDLA
We go way back with Las Lanzas. Back to the years when it was rare to see another tourist eating there. Although it’s no longer just a locals’ place, it is where using whatever Spanish you may have is going to be appreciated.
We caught them on the first day open after a closure for holidays. It meant they weren’t fully stocked yet so one of our first choice starters was unavailable. As were both of our first choice main courses. We’d sort of forgotten just how big the starters are. Easily enough to feed two. There’s good bread, of course. And a mixed salad. The other starter was reveultos – scrambled eggs with mushroom and prawns. Just as we remembered it – utterly delicious.
For main courses, as I mentioned, cod and hake were both off the menu. The server suggested a local whitefish. We didn’t properly catch the name, but it was something we hadn’t heard of before (best name guess is Imperial Blackfish). It comes as a whole fish and is expertly filleted by the other server, who takes care not to miss any of the choice bits, like the cheeks. There’s a thin white wine and herb sauce which was nice enough without overpowering the delicate flavour of the fish. There’s some chopped mixed veg, enhanced with slices of garlic. And the inevitable Canarian potatoes with mojo sauce.
Desserts have never been Las Lanzas strong point, so we finished with damn fine coffee and it was hot too.
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The Bank, PDLA
The restaurant does the best steaks I know in the area. Better than at home at a Miller and Carter, for sure. Yes, it’s expensive but good steak is very much one of those “you get what you pay for” things.
There’s an attempt to replicate a traditional New York steakhouse and the American theme runs through the menu. As in a crab cake starter – lightly spiced with a crisp coating and drizzled with a lobster cream sauce. I had the same starter as last visit. Two thick slices of streaky bacon, each a centimetre thick, glazed with maple syrup. They sat on a mound of fried mushrooms.
Of course, there was beef for main courses. Thankfully, it’s Spanish beef rather than American (which we always find underflavoured). A small fillet for one of us, accurately cooked as requested. And , for the other, a very generous serving of roast rib (or “prime” rib as the menu has it – it’s that American thing again). In a nice bit of showmanship, it’s carved at the table and dressed with a little jus and is perfectly rare. We shared a portion of creamed spinach and another of chips (proper chip sized chips – thin fries are also available, served with ketchup)
Only one of us wanted dessert. A well made lemon meringue pie – crisp pastry, tasty & tangy filling, soft “blow torched” meringue topping. A couple of dabs of lemon gel and some ice cream decorate the plate. We finished with good espresso.
It was a nice evening. Faultless food and impeccable service. One to come back to for a celebration or if you just wanted a more upmarket experience (we try and have one of those each week of our stay.
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Rincon del Marinero, Los Cris
We used to eat here on most holidays to Tenerife. However, we stopped some years back when the novelty of a seafood restaurant wore off and we realised the food was quite mediocre. Unfortunately, it still is.
Squid rings had been given a light batter and quickly fried. A tad chewier than you’d want, but OK. The house salad was “old school” Spanish, right down to the inclusion of hard boiled egg and tinned asparagus. The main courses were simplicity itself. A fillet of hake and a slice of tuna, both grilled and served with fried veg – courgettes and peppers. These were served at room temperature. No idea if this was how they were intended to be served (as can be the case in Spain) or whether they had just sat around for ages.
So, an OK dinner but not a place to rush back to. We may give it another ten years and see how things are then.
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El Bodegon, PDLA
Over the years, we’ve walked past this place on our way to other restaurants saying that we must come and try it – then promptly forgetting. But this time we had a plan and made a reservation. Not that we needed to have done as it was all but empty when we got there. And, in fact, all the lights at the front were off – we wondered if we’d made a mistake and come on a day when it was closed. But there was a guy lurking about in the darkness who led us through the dark and into a small back room with four or five tables (only one occupied). There’s quite a long list of tapas/starters and we picked a couple. Pan con tomate probably appears on most tapas menus. Here it’s only OK with not very flavoursome tomatoes being used. The other dish was Padron peppers, with chorizo. Nicely fried peppers and chunks of the sausage.
Main courses were also OK. Two thick fillets of cod (possibly salt cod), perfectly cooked so the flesh came away in big flakes. There’s a sauce of which the only identifiable ingredient was olive oil. And half an avocado, sliced. And that’s it. No spuds or veg. Iberico secreto is much more common on menus than even five years ago. It’s a thin cut from the shoulder, with a lot of marbing, and is sort of the piggy equivalent of a beef bavette or ribeye steak and is always tasty. And it’s a good job that I really like it, as it wasn’t what I’d ordered. It isn’t the first time a server has hit the wrong dish on the order device. It’s served in thin slices with fried potatoes and carrots. The problem was that the food was served on a cold plate and, as it was all thinly sliced, it quickly went cold.
We didn’t fancy dessert but cafe solo was excellent.
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Soul Kitchen, PDLA
Breakfast at the “umbrella place”, which I think is under different ownership from when we were last here a year or so back. An “acai” bowl for one of us. That’s acai berries. Who knew? They come with other fruits and granola to make a substantial and not overly sweet start to the day. Cooked breakfast dishes are variations of scrambled eggs on toast. In this case, with bacon and caramelised bananas – the latter giving a rich sweetness that you’d get from maple syrup. Good coffee.
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Rincon del Arroz, Los Cris
This used to be somewhere we visited every holiday but it’s been a while since then. It sort of fell out of favour with us – not because they’d done anything but we just wanted to try new places and there are only so many nights on a trip. Back then, we reckoned it was the best place in the area for paella. So, the big question was would it still be as good. Short answer is yes, it was.
Starters were fantastic and we shared both. A bowl of king prawns and courgette sticks deep fried in a light as a feather tempura batter. They come with tartare sauce for dunking. And a simple salad – really flavoursome tomatoes (not always a given even in Spain), chunks of avocado and thinly sliced red onion. There’s a good dressing – you can taste the olive oil and balsamic vinegar brings a little sharp sweetness.
As the name suggests, they are big on rice dishes. Not just paella but a whole range of other Spanish dishes featuring rice (we only had a menu in English so not sure exactly what the dishes are called), They also do several fideua – the pasta version of paella. We went ithe mixed paella. Really flavoursome rice, although none of the tasty crusty soccaret at the bottom of the pan. There’s mussels, clams, squid rabbit and chicken. And there’s enough left in the pan for “seconds”. We were too full for dessert but coffee was really good.
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Habibi, Los Cris
Middle Eastern is probably my favourite “foreign” food, both to eat in restaurants and to cook at home. With that in mind, I always give Habibi’s menu a careful read before ordering. Reason is that, although it is basically a Middle Eastern restaurant, it has dishes which include ingredients which have nothing to do with that part of the world. Curry and mango are two such. But, with care, you can find traditional dishes.
An easy find is their mixed mezze starter. It’s advertised as available for one or two people – but the server advised getting the smaller portion for us to share if we were going to have main courses. She was right – the serving for one was perfectly fine as a starter for two. Served on a platter, on one side there’s several dips, including houmous, muhammara (overly sweet), moutabel (nicelt smoky) and labneh. On the other side, there’s tabbouleh salad and another featuring grains of some sort. And some hot food – falafel, kibbe (good spicing here) and two fatayer – one cheese, one spinach, both delicious.
For main courses, there was a classic lamb shish kebab. Tasty, moist meat, with a nice charring. The meat sits on a thin flatbread (which soaks up any juices) but the main carb is a rice and vermicelli mix . The other main was tapsi – a Kurdish Iraqi stew of aubergines, potato and chickpeas in a tomato sauce, flavoured with lime and mint. The carb here is also rice. We ‘d not had this before and it was really good. I’m going to look up a recipe to try at home – or maybe I’ll just ask the Kurdish guys who run a cafe in our “village”. Desserts didn’t appeal so we finished with coffee which wasn’t nice – too bitter and not very hot.
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Tierra Canaria, Los Cris
I can think of two restaurants which, in recent years, have tried to bring Canarian dishes and local ingredients to Los Cristianos. Both quickly failed, probably due to insufficient interest from tourists. Tierra Canaria is now in its second year and, with a good spot on the town’s pedestrianised “restaurant row”, it seems to be doing OK. It’s family run and, as often in such cases, service is very friendly if a tad disjointed. Can’t criticise the food though.
Those local ingredients were very much to the fore with the starters. Local king prawns with a sauce made from local mangoes. There was a bit of spice in there which balanced what would otherwise have been too sweet. The other plate was mushrooms stuffed with almogrote – a Canarian goats cheese mousse spiked with garlic, chilli peppers and olive oil. There was a smear of sauce on the plate - again with a hint of citrus sweetness.
Piggy for both main courses. Pork cheeks were the tenderest I’ve ever come across. Literally, you could cut them with a fork. Delicious in themselves and only improved by a white wine sauce. There were some boiled potatoes on the plate - just ordinary boiled spuds, not the wrinkled Canarian ones. Strips of Secreto Iberico, taken from near the shoulder, were packed with flavour. A nice crisp salad incorporating more mango worked well.
We often pass on desserts but decided to give them a try here. Both were fine . Quesillo is a local version of the mainland “flan”. And a chocolate torte incorporated a lovely house made salted caramel . We finished with decent espresso,
I don’t usually mention drinks in reviews – I don’t drink alcohol and my companion in life only sparingly. But they have a good range of Canarian wines, including a handful available by the glass. Both the house red and white were enjoyed…
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Kev’s Chill Out Bar, PDLA
Breakfast on The Patch. The problem for many places in the immediate area is that prices are kept very low. It means that there’s little money for owners to invest in improving the business, even if they wanted to. So, the furniture at Kev’s is decades old. The whole place needs a good coat of paint. And some basic maintenance is needed – like a lock being fitted to the door in the gents toilets. As it stands, the whole ambiance is that of a seedy dive.
As for the actual breakfast, we’ve had worse round The Patch. A lot worse. The “Farmhouse” is the Full English – bacon, sausages, eggs, beans, mushrooms, hash browns, tinned tomatoes and toast, The “American” is pretty much the same, except that the eggs are scrambled and not fried and there’s two hash browns, not one. Both will keep you going till a late lunch. Coffee was weak and not very flavoursome.
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Tandoori Hut, PDLA
Living near Manchester, we’re fortunate in having a good selection of South Asian restaurants, that are a cut above your bog standard curry house. We go to several that offer traditional fishes from the various regions and countries of the area. It’s meant that, in truth, when we’ve tried places in Tenerife, we’ve generally come away disappointed with the food and rarely returned. In fact, we’d generally given up trying them and haven’t been to one since before Covid. So, why were we having dinner at the Tandoori Hut. Well, we’d had a look at the menu and noticed they had quite a list of “proper” dishes, rather than just the “any protein with any sauce” dishes of the Anglicised curry house. It was worth a try. Good call, we had a nice dinner
Seekh kebab is probably on the menu of every South Asian place in the UK – even two local entirely vegetarian restaurants offer a veggie version. It’s something I will pretty much order in any new place – I know what a good one should look and taste like, so it’s a good indicator of how good a restaurant might be. Tandoori Hut’s version is pretty good – nice texture and just about the right spricing. Channa puri was spot on – nice fluffy bread topped with chickpeas in a well flavoured tomato sauce.
If the kebab is my quality indicator, then that of my companion in life is aloo gobi. And this is, indeed, a good version. Both potatoes and cauliflower cooked through but retaining some texture and a good balance of quantities between the two. Just enough sauce to coat the vegetables, without them swimming in it. And a very assertive use of chilli and other spices. As far as I know, Chicken Jaipuri is a traditional dish, from the city in Rajasthan. At least the sauce is traditional. I’ve generally eaten it coating mixed vegetables. But it works well with the chicken. Another nice tomato sauce with lots of ginger and coriander. We shared some rice and a tandoori roti. I think we’ll give them another go when we come back next year
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Cuevita del Mar, PDLA
We’ve always looked forward to eating here. It’s a small place and reservations have been all but essential. So, a couple of nights before, we went to book only to be told that they’d stopped taking bookings. La Senora said that if we came between 7 and 7.30, we should be OK. We said we’d see her in a couple of days. So, on the day we arrived at 7.15 only to be told there was no table available and that we should go away for 30 minutes. We went for a drink with me muttering that I could see a table set for three and I bet that was going to be ours. And, sure enough, when we came back that’s where we were seated. It’s inexplicable why we couldn’t have been seated there half an hour before, not least as we could have enjoyed a drink there. It wasn’t just us. While we were waiting when we first arrived, a couple were turned away even though there was a free table for two which remained free all evening.
And then, once sat down, everything took so much longer than you’d expect. And much longer than previously here – and it wasn’t that they were very busy or they were short-staffed (it’s always just been him in the kitchen and her doing front of house). Getting on for half an hour passed before the first of two starters arrived – a plate of Padron peppers. Minutes more passed before the second plate arrived - delicious oyster mushrooms.
More of a wait for main courses. Two of us were sharing a seafood paella. Well flavoured rice with mussels, clams and king prawns. I’d ordered duck. I’ve had this dish here before and its’ excellent. Breast cooked to medium rare and a fantastic sauce made from Pedrn Ximenez sherry - rich and sweetish. A little mixed veg and a separate plate of chips rounded it off
There was good coffee but it will come as no surprise that it took a while before we were able to order them. And a goodly while longer before they arrived. In line with the rest of the evening, it was difficult to attract Senora’s attention to get the bill. I’d got to the finger tapping stage on more than one occasion through the evening
So, in conclusion, the food was as good as ever but the whole experience was disappointing, particularly the faffing around about trying to get a table. It’s getting on for a 30 minute walk from where we stay and you just don’t want to do that on what might be the off-chance of getting a table. After so many enjoyable meals, this was probably our last one. Such a shame.
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Agua Marina, Los Cris
On our last trip, in December 2023, we’d spotted this seafood restaurant and made a note to come next time. It’s on one of the town’s pedestrianised streets that are lined with restaurants. The kitchen is in a small shop front unit with all the seating down the middle of the street. It’s a busy, bustling environment with buskers and street sellers plying their trade.
Prawn bruschetta was a generous serving – four slices of toasted baguette “buttered” with crushed avocado and topped with prawns. Nice starter. If that was a generous offering , the other starter was anything but. Scallops “Agua Marina” was just two small scallops with an albeit delicious pumpkin and truffle cream sauce. But, with this being just about the most expensive starter on the menu, they really do see you coming.
Sea bass Bilbaino was a perfectly cooked fillet, topped with the usual garnish of garlic and chilli. There’s Canarian potatoes and a handful of mixed salad. Sea bass also on the other side of the table. Here it was baked, topped with tomato, capers and thin slices of courgette. Canarian spuds on the side.
Desserts were straightforward. Crema Catalana was as expected and when is custard not nice. And a mixed fruits cheesecake saw the various elements layered up in a jam jar for an interesting presentation, if not really a cheesecake consistency, with the plate on which the jar sat, decorated with blobs of squirty cream
Service was fine. Which is more than can be said about the gents toilet which had no paper, no soap and a completely useless dryer.
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Fiore, PDLA
The name translates from the Italian as flower. And it’s a triumph of style over substance. Every surface is festooned with swags of cheap looking artificial flowers. Goodness knows why we thought they might do decent Italian food.
Tomato bruschetta can be a thing of joy. But not here. It’s OK of course. Toasted bread and chopped tomato but no love has gone into enhancing the basics. That was followed by lasagne which was also OK. My partner said that, if we scored dishes, then it’d be a six out of ten. I had a very long cooked leg of suckling lamb, the meat falling away from the bone at the touch of a fork. There’s an OK sauce and mashed potato. Some veg would have been nice. We passed on dessert and coffee, guessing that neither would be much cop. I try not to be repetitive when I write reviews but see I’ve used “OK” three times in such a short review. I can’t think of anything more interesting to say about the food.
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Cafe del Parque, PDLA
We wernt for their set brunch. At €28 for two, it isn’t cheap but it is incredibly good value for money. A morning feast.
There’s scrambled eggs with mushrooms. Eat it while its’hot and weigh up everything else that’s been put in front of you. Then onto a bowl each of fruit salad. And another bowl each of granola with yoghurt and fruit compote. Then a plate of mixed protein – several slices of each of two sorts of ham, salami , chorizo and cheese. . Two sorts of toast – white and rye. And lots of stuff to slather over it – crushed avocado, chopped tomato, butter, strawberry jam, Nutella and honey.Then there’s the sweet carbs – croissants, doughnuts and pain au chocolat. By the time we‘d got to those carbs, we were full so wrapped them up to eat later. And you don’t go short of drinks either. There’s a glass of really good cava each, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee (or tea).
Deffo somewhere to come back to. They serve this till 12.30 so next time we’ll think about going around 12 and regard it as a substantial early lunch. Just fab.
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Little Morocco, PDLA
There’s much to like about this relatively new opening in the El Camison area of the resort. It’s relatively rare to come across the cuisine, both at home and even in Spain, so dinner is a bit different from the norm. And there’s a friendly welcome and attentive service. They make their own flatbreads and it’s really good – served up with pastes made from green and black olives
Starters were also good. A carrot salad was simplicity itself – slices of cooked carrot dressed with olive oil, cinnamon, parsley and paprika. Just the thing you might do at home with leftovers from the Sunday roast. The other starter, Chakchouka, was roasted red peppers and tomatoes roasted and seasoned with parsley. Both really nice
About half the main course offerings are tagines of one sort or another. Long cooked lamb with prunes was, let’s say, a restrained portion. Not least as there was no veg or carb. There should have been bread but it never arrived even though it was chased. It tasted fine but I’d expected a bit of oomph from spices. The fish version was a more substantial, yet balanced affair. The fish sat on cooked red and green peppers and was topped with a tomato sauce. A scattering of potatoes and olives rounded things off.
It was an OK dinner but, most probably, not somewhere to return to.
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