We had an excellent meal and evening at El Patio de Lajares recently.
Reiner and wife charming hosts.

i know that this isnt restaraunt reviews but i would definately reconmend the love shack in costa caleta

La Tahona Music Square
For the past 2 Monday nights we have eaten in this restaurant. The reason for this is the entertainment in the square on Mondays. There is an excellent salsa duet who really get people moving to the rhythm, and in between we get the magician and the fire eaters. Great for the kids.

La Tahona is run by Lupe and Sergio. Lupe reminds me of the duracell bunny I really don't know where the woman gets her energy from, she never stands still and Sergio cooks the steaks.
The menu is quite extensive and the reason I like eating in here is that they do hamburgers and omelettes too, which is good if someone in your party isn't really starving. They also have tapas, which include mini beef fillets in sauce, fried piquillo peppers, spanish omelette and meatballs.
There are nice starters including prawns in garlic which come to your table still on fire. The usual suspects are all present and correct and I am sure if they have the ingredients they could do anything else you asked for.
Main courses include pizzas, flambeed meats, fish, salads, burgers and omelettes. Prices are fairly standard pork chops are €7.20, fillet steak with prawn and mushroom sauce €13,90 and you get a choice of baked potato, papas arrugadas, french fries or salad.
The first week we had 2 pizzas, a mixed salad, 1 garlic bread with cheese, a bottle of house rose, 2 waters and 2 coffees and the bill was €35 ish
Next week we had 1 fillet steak diane, 1 fillet steak with prawn and mushroom sauce, a bottle of house rose and 2 waters and it was €37.40.
The pizzas are excellent, I always take 1/2 to work with me the following day as I can't manage it all and they are just as nice cold. The fillet steaks were tender and best of all you can watch Sergio cooking them with gusto. How he hasn't singed his eyebrows off i'll never know.
Everything comes with a backdrop of fantastic music which gets the local bar owners tripping the light fantastic, if you're lucky. If you are on holiday give it a try.

Thank you, thank you, we have just returned from our holidays, made all the more special for eating in your recommended list, the one night we strayed off the list was a hugh mistake so after that we just stuck with it, making repeat visits to Los Pepes and Tio Bernabe, along with Andaluz these are definately worth booking ahead as were so so busy when we were there. Purple Sage was closed down for the whole two weeks we were there, is this permanent do you think.
Keep up the good work as you certainly did rock for us.

Hi Cath,
Purple Sage seems to be struggling. It was excellent, but I think a little too expensive for here. They have tried to change to appeal to the mass market and the food is not othe same as when we visited. Glad you enjoyed your holiday

Taj Mahal

I know, what the hell am I doing reviewing an Indian restaurant on a Spanish Island. Please forgive me kind readers, living here means that you miss certain types of food and I do occasionally go out for a curry.
Indians abroad are different to Indians in England, that is a fact. If you go in expecting your chicken tikka masala to be the same as you get on a Saturday night in your local town centre you may be disappointed.
I have eaten in here 4 times now and the quality of food is excellent, it is cooked by Indian chefs, it is tasty and seasoned nicely, but it is different.

The wine list is nice and reasonably priced and they have a wide range of soft drinks. Great news, water is only 90cents a bottle, not a rip off like it can be in other restaurants. We normally go for a house rose at 7.95 a bottle, pleasant tasting and quite strong at 13% proof.
Poppadoms are expensive compared to Britain, because they are expensive to buy raw, 1 euro each and the sauces you get are different to normal too. No lime pickle and mango chutney, instead a very hot chilli sauce and a green minty one. I normally skip the poppadoms now and go straight for the starters.
Starter wise things are not the same either. You don't see chicken tikka etc offered as starters in Indians here, only as a main course. If there are 2 of you who want this then ask for a main to be served as a starter between you or you will need to try something else. I have had the prawn puri and was disappointed, it was served with a coconut milk sauce and was unaturally sweet for my palate. I was expecting something different, more of a bhuna sauce. It was nicely done and a curry beginner would be happy with it, but I wasn't. I have learnt from this and now have the vegetable samosas at 3.95 and they are lovely. More choices include the ubiquitous onion bhaji at 2.95, lamb samosas at 3.95 and chicken pakoras at 3.95, amongst others.
There is a huge range of main courses. Prices start at 5.95 for vegetarian mains, such as saag aloo and go up to 11.95 for a tandoori mixed grill. Most main courses are 7.95 - 8.95. You can get all of the usual things, korai, rogan josh, dupiaza, madras etc, in prawn, chicken, vegetable and lamb. They have a special dish called a sizzler, which is meat or chicken coated in spices and served on a hot plate, with rice and chips. I have seen people order them and they are huge. You could easily split one between two. They also do a range of speciality curries and I am a big fan of the lamb saagawala, which is lamb and spinach curry. It is 9.95, but I always take some home for lunch the next day, so I don't mind paying it. The other half likes it nice and spicy and has had, the Jalfrezi and madras. Both were fairly hot and went down a treat. The rice comes in a few flavours and is very pleasant. We had a keema nan the other night and it was so light and delicious that I actually finished it, which never happens normally. Vegetable side dishes are not the norm either, however there is a huge variey of vegetable curries at 5.95 and they are big portions, I haven't yet plucked up the courage to ask for a half portion as a side dish, but I am sure they wouldn't mind.
Indians are pricey here. If you went for the works you would be lucky to get much change from a 50 euro note, which makes them on a par with back home. Having said that, if you really must have a ruby on holiday, then give this one a try. The service is really efficient and friendly.

Hi, sorry again but this one is also closed.

On a day trip to Fuerteventura from Lanzarote we (four adults) went for a tapas meal in the restaurant La Champa in corralejo. For $52 we got eleven dishes which more than satisfied our appettites a local place and just up from the beach area with the usual tourist restaurants and bars that cannot compete for value for money.

The address is c/Isaac Peral at the corner with c/ Hernandez Paez. The restaurant is closed on a Sunday.

Fado Rock

Situated in Calleta De Fuste next door to El Patio, it looks nothing from the outside but as they say, appearances can be deceptive!

A fabulous restaurant! A simply massive choice catering for all tastes. We ended up going 3 times the service and food were so good! Be advised though, make sure you're hungry as the portions are simply huge! The first time we went I had a leg of lamb, we'd seen other reviews that commented on the size but nothing could prepare me for the site that was placed in front of me! Around 15 inches long and 4 inches thick, the meat was cooked to perfection. There was simply no way I could finish it so I and 2 other members of my party who had ordered the same thing had the remains bagged up which did us for sarnies for the next two days.

The staff are great too, they are all Portuguese and could not do enough for us, they were particularly good with the 3 year old in our party, taking him to see the kitchen and giving him plenty of sweets.

We returned for Christmas day lunch and this time I tried the T-Bone steak, again it was fabulous and absolutely huge!, my friend had kangaroo (I said they had plenty of choice!) and another had a piglet. It was certainly a different way to spend Christmas!

The final surprise was the price, for 8 people including lots of pints and Sangria it came to 136 Euro which they then gave us 15% off.

Truly stunning food and service all for a tenner a head!

I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough!

Meson Eve

Hi all,
Further to Pargaluvvas comments in the general thread below, I visited Meson Eve for thr first time monday night, in the interests of journalism.
My father and his wife are with us for a holiday and liked the look of the place.
We arrived at 9pm after our usual drinkypoos in the music square. The restaurant was quite busy, mainly inside as it was a wee bit chilly out. However they did have a patio heater outside, but we had the elderly with us, so inside won hands down.
The decor inside is very simple, but effective, lovely wrought iron chandeliers a wooden roof. We were greeted by very friendly staff and shown to a nice table by the window. The menu is very good. There were at least 4 or 5 things that I fancied eating, and were different from other restaurants. The only wee shock to the system was the wine list. I couldn't see any house wine and the cheapest bottle of red was 11 euros and the white 12 euros. Still no matter, because it was good quality stuff and we had a bottle of each.
Food wise, we ordered bread and ali-oli for starters as we didn't want to overeat. My dad had suckling pig with lyonnaise potatoes for 14 euros. His wife had salmon with orange sauce and fresh grapes, with rice for 10 euros. I had frito mixto, which is beautiful pieces of cod, prawns, squid and octopus battered and fried, served with a lemon slice and canarian potatoes for 11 euros. The missus decided to be different and had 2 starters, the garlic prawns for 6 euros and mixed grilled vegetables for 5.90 euros.
What can I say, everything was absolutely lovely, fresh clean flavours. My squid and octopus was not chewy at all and tasted beautiful. My dad said every mouthful tastes like xmas when asked about the pig, which was an enorous portion. I am not partial to sweet and savoury on the same plate, but my stepmothers food looked really nice, 2 huge pieces of salmon in a tasty sauce. The biggest surprise was the wifes vegetables, normally you get peppers, courgette, aubergine and a bit of onion. This was so different, leeks, asparagus, endive, courgette, aubergine, cherry tomatoes, onion and peppers, beautifully cooked in a light dressing. It was huge, there is no way she could have had this as a starter and then a main course as well. The prawns were big too and came sizzling in the hot dish, with lovely garlic and cayenne pepper.
I was doing the usual nebbing on other tables and saw, leg of lamb, paella and a few desserts go past, which all looked lovely. I also quite fancied, confit of duck with lyonnaise potatoes at 10 euros.
The bill was 70 euros for the four of us, which was excellent value for what we had. I will definately be coming back here again, to make sure the standard was not a one off. I can see why other people love this place and hope it makes it onto my list too.
PS The wife says the loos were lovely and clean and there were 2 of them, which makes a change.

I am so sorry I really must be the kiss of death to restaurants, this closed down last week and is becoming a French Restaurant.

Hi Peacock. We tried a couple of your recommendations (Los Pepes and Bodeguita El Andaluz), which were both excellent (fab food and friendly owners). We enjoyed Eve because of the varied menu, good atmosphere, friendly staff. Also, our son (aged 11) always wanted to go back. We didn't have any wine at Eve, stuck to vodka and fresh orange juice (good measure of vodka with a small jug of freshly squeezed juice - bliss). We are thinking of coming back to Corraljeo in December and we will definitely visit all 3 restaurants again. Another place we enjoyed (for drinks) was the wine bar that opened in December (can't for the life of me think of the name).
It was down the main street, to the small roundabout and left at Aldi. They did lovely sandwiches and cakes and also had a blackboard for food. Couldn't tell you what was on the blackboard cos it was in Spanish :shock:. Do you know which wine bar I mean? You might like to give it a try :D. Gx

Hi Pargaluvva,
The one you are talking about is the Deboca restaurant, nicely decorated with red and black everywhere. I have not tried it yet, but it looks good. When you live here you tend to stick to the same restaurants, as you want to make sure you have a good meal. I do try to get round new ones, so I will keep posting reviews as and when.
If anyone wants me to do a specific restaurant I will do it. I thought I might have a go at a Chinese buffet as there are so many of them. Any suggestions?

Hi ThePeacockrocks, Thanks for your excellent reviews. We will definitely be trying out some of your recommendations in March when we visit for the first time.
Our friends have told us to try SlowBoat 2 at Plaza shopping centre so we will probably have a Chinese one night for a change.
Keep up the good work. (I hope you don't have to suffer too much for the cause!!!!!!)
Cheers, Jean

Hi greecelover,
I will also be there in March, im going on 28th for 7 days

La Chama

We decided to give this back street tapas bar a try. We first went there about 4 years ago when we were on holiday. We did enjoy it but had never been back since, due to always having somewhere else in mind.
It is ram jam full of locals which tells you something. The decor is very traditional, wagon wheels and old artefacts on white walls and lots of wood. Service is friendly, but unobtrusive.
They don't have a wine list, ask the waiter. We went twice and had a bottle of Marques de Caceres rose the first time at a reasonable 11 euros and the second time 1/2 a bottle of Antano Rioja for 7 euros. We were intending on drinking the lot but gave up halfway through and they only charged us for what we drank.They also do big1.5 litre bottles of water for 1.95 instead of charging 1.50 for 33cls as some rip off restaurants do. The menu is extensive, but what I like is that you can have 1/2 portions of most dishes or a full ration if you are feeling particularly hungry.
Prices were between 3.50 euros for a large portion of potatoes with mojo sauce and 7.50 for sizzling prawns with garlic. We also had between 2 visits, meatballs, peppers from Padron, ropa vieja(chickpea stew), octopus with garlic, and fish croquettes. All the food was beautifully cooked and comes up in order of courses, vegetables first, fish next and meat last. I personally like this as I can't stand a table full of food, it makes me feel full before I start.
We have now decided that it is better for tapas than El Rincon Del Perico and it is also cheaper.
To find the place, walk down the main street and go up the side street on the opposite side of the road to the Hong Kong chinese. You will pass Blue Jeans steakhouse and it is up this street on the right. Closed Sundays.

Hi All
Many thanks to ThePeacockRocks for his reviews. We have just returned from our first visit and went armed with his list and also a few other reviews. Unfortunately as we only went for a week and there were 6 adults in our party we did not get to visit Los Pepes or El Bodeguita Andaluz (closed Sun and Mon at present) and Pancho Villa (closed ). However we did enjoy the places we visited.

Here are my reviews. We like to find the Spanish eating places as opposed to just the tourist restaurants but overall there is a fantastic amount of choice from quite expensive a-la-carte menus through steak houses, tapas, fish restaurants, italian and indian to inexpensive chinese all-you can eat buffets and snack bars.
Our clear favourite was 'Mirando Al Sur' Argentinian Grill (Calle Juan Sebastion Elcano). The six of us had 2 plates of sausages for starters with bread (delicious). They then bring you a complementary bowl of meaty canarian stew between 2 people. I have never had such tender juicy steaks and they do not overface you with chips/salad. We had 3 bottles of lovely house red at €6 each and 2 small bottles of water. The bill was €110! We then had complementary shots. Needles to say we went back for seconds on our last night.
Other restaurants I would recommend are Meson Eve and Marquesina which are sister restaurants and have similar menus. They offer a good selection of fish dishes as well as steak/meat from the grill and it isn't chips with everything. We had rice, new potatoes or jacket potatoes.
In Meson Eve the frito mixto is a mixed dish of fried fish/squid/octopus and prawns with canarian potatoes for €11 and was yummy. The cod loin with prawns looked super. 2 had seafood paella. We ordered 3 starters between 6 (fried fish balls, fried camembert boatsand fried mixed veg) a good selection of these as well and we had free shots again.

At Marquesina it was just hubby and me. We had calamares to share for starters. I had garlic bread. Hubby had roast chicken breast with a jacket spud and I had sliced chicken breast with prawns which came in a sauce. We really enjoyed it. We had a bottle of Rioja and small bottle of water, free shots and the bill was €37.
On the seafront next to Marquesina is another restaurant the name of which escapes me but it begins with a 'C'. The local fishermen were inside playing cards. We had an excellent meal here, the 3 ladies having grilled sea-bream which was done with tons of garlic. The mojo sauce and aioli were great as well.
We tried El Rincon for tapas one night. The meal was quite nice but the service a bit slow. We had 2 kinds of shot here - hazlenut liquer then honey rum.
To be honest I need to go back just to try some more restaurants. There were a lot of sea-front snack bars offering anything from sardines/calamares/paella to bacon butties and full english breakfast (whatever floats your boat).
Intended trying out a chinese buffet but ran out of time.
Enjoy!
Jean x

Chinese Food

I have been quite lax in my reporting of chinese restaurants so we have forced ourselves to go to two different types so I could do a review.

1) Slow Boat
This restaurant is in the cobbled street, just down from Meson Eve and El Rincon de Perico. We were having a wine free evening and just ordered a diet coke and some still water, which was very reasonably priced. We looked at the menu offer that they advertise on the way in, which is good value for money if you fancy it.
2x chicken and sweetcorn soups, followed by spare ribs in capital sauce, chicken curry, beef with green peppers, egg fried rice and half a litre of sangria for 19.95. I have an aversion to chinese curry (babies nappies) so we passed. However they do have a further selection of set menus from 8 euros per person. We went for the one for 10 euros per person and asked if we could change the spare ribs for a 1/4 of crispy duck, which they were happy to do. We got soup, duck, sweet and sour pork, chicken with green pepper and black bean sauce and egg fried rice.
Everything was beautifully cooked and the service was well paced, i hate it when they're flinging another course at you straight away. It was quite busy in there and the toilets were nice. Be advised though that you might have a problem if you are disabled as the toilets are up steps.
Overall the bill was 23.50 and we had a nice time.

2) Hong Kong Chinese Buffet
It was the final night of the Carnival, the fireworks were spectacular as always and we were a bit peckish. We had friends over on holiday and they suggested we went for a chinese buffet. This one is on the main street of Correlejo, just next to El Toro Bravo and the police station.
It didn't look too busy (I hate queuing for food) or too empty (food hanging around for ages) so we went in.
I had a shufty at the buffet and it looked nice enough. It costs 7,20 for an adult and kids are 1/2 price. The drinks were reasonably priced and we had a bottle of house red for 7 euros which was very palatable.
I eat far too much when it is a buffet and this night was no exception I had chicken and sweetcorn soup, sesame prawn toast, spare ribs, seaweed, spring rolls, battered king prawn, onion rings! crispy aromatic duck and all the trimmings. (takes deep breath)
This is when the fun started. 10 young German lads turned up and proceeded to clear the entire buffet out of food by piling their plates high. Ergo the poor waiters spent the next half an hour scuttling around like headless chickens trying to restock, which was an impossible job. I then got grumpy because there was nothing to eat and only managed a small portion of chicken with black bean sauce and some rice. It was nice, but I hate greedy people. I know I ate a lot but it was only one of everything and these lads took 4 or 5 of everything.
I knew there was a reason I hate buffets. What I actually managed to get was nice, but my god I was awake all through the night with a raging thirst and only managed about 4 hours sleep. Was it the food or was I just wide awake, plotting my revenge against those Greedy *Sorry, I've had to edit that bit out! Pippy*, we shall never know.
Bill 41.50 euros for 4 including coffee. I will go again on a quieter night and try some food!!

Sitar

I know, I know another Indian restaurant review, "What is the world coming too?". I will be eating full english breakfasts everyday and only drinking in English bars next (NOT).
I keep going past this place and wondering what the food would be like, so we gave it a try last night. If you read my previous review of the Taj Mahal I said that the Indian food there was not what you would be used to back home, but that it was nice nevertheless.
Hold the phone- The food here is exactly like you get at home and is even better. And they do 2 tandoori starters- hurrah!
We ordered a bottle of house rose at 7.95 and it was a very pleasant Castillo de Liria, 12%abv. with a very pleasant fruity taste. We also had the obligatory water to wash it down with.
Next came the poppadums, 2 plain and 2 spicy at 1.20 each, but the pickle tray had, onion salad, lime pickle, mango chutney, yoghurt sauce and a really spicy blow your head off chilli sauce that was very potent. All lovely.
We shared the vegetable samosas at 3.95 for a starter and found the pastry was very light and the whole thing nicely spiced.
Main courses were a chicken madras for me (7.95) with plain pilao(2.95) and garlic nan(2.95). The missus had a starter portion of lamb tikka called maklaki or something (4.25) and a side dish of aloo saag(5.95) It was all fantastic, the curry was spicy without being too hot, the lamb was the nicest piece of lamb I have ever had in an Indian restaurant. The chef cooked it slightly pink so it was succulent, ask for it well done if you would prefer, and there were 3 huge pieces. The aloo saag as big a portion as my curry and we were asked how hot we would like it before it was cooked, the nan was crispy and the rice cooked well. All in all I would say we had the best Indian meal here yet and I would even be so bold as to venture that it is better than a lot of Indians back home. The reason for this is that the owner, Bupa, is from London so he has brought all the knowledge with him.
To find this gem of a restaurant, go on the main street and turn either left at Mango or right at the Estate agents opposite Mango, the restaurant is up on the left. They are open 7 days a week from 6pm until 11pm. The restaurant was empty when we arrived, but don't let that put you off, all the ingredients were as fresh as a daisy. The restaurant is struggling because it is in a side street, I urge you all to come, because I don't want my new find to disappear. Guess what this one has gone too.

Hi,
Sorry I haven't been doing many postings recently but I have been really busy with work.

Gregorio del Pescador
You will find this restaurant on the cobbled street behind the music square, near Tio Bernabe.
I have eaten there twice in the past week and it really is excellent.
The first time was Tuesday night, we didn't get out until late and by the time we had had the obligatory vodkas it was getting a bit late. Unfortunately a lot of the Spanish holiday makers have gone home and the restaurants aren't opening as late as in July and Aug. This one is always ram jam with locals late at night so we knew we would get a good feed, even on a Tuesday. it was nearly 11 when we rolled up and we had to eat inside as the outside terrace was full.
We got our menus after a really warm welcome from the owner and it really is a good menu, for those who don't like fish, please go anyway as they have a big meat section.
We ordered a bottle of Marques de Caceres rose at 10 euros and a bottle of water for 1.20.
We didn't have starters as it was so late, I really wanted to try the mixed fry as it is what I normally have when I go to Meson Eve next door (which has closed by the way!!!!, every time I ger comfy in a restaurant it shuts)
They have 3 different types of mixed fry to choose from and I went for the one that has fish, king prawns, squid and octopus at 18 euros. Very pricy but I wanted to see what I would get, there are much cheaper options. The missus wasn't as hungry as me and asked nicely if she could have the fish croquettes off the starter menu with some chips and salad.
Before our main courses came we got hot fresh crusty bread and a very nice ali-oli to go with it, which was delicious and soaked up the alcohol nicely. Unfortunately I didn't have a very good nebby seat so I couldn't tell you what was going on around me.
The food arrived and my jaw nearly hit the floor. I got 2 huge fish, a big tentacle, a squid and 2 king prawns. It was massive, we could easily have shared it!! The wife had 6 fresh homemade croquettes and a lot of chips. It was excellent quality and went down a treat. We then had 2 coffees afterwards and the bill came to a whopping 37 euros. 26 quid for all that food, cheap as chips!1

It was so good we decided to go back yesterday for lunch and try out the paella. It was 2pm when we got there and we did manage to get a table outside in the shade. We had the local tomato and goat's cheese salad to share for starters, which was as fresh as anything and had onion, cucumber and olives on it too, for 5.50. The paella was 18 euros for the 2 of us and when it came it looked a bit small, but as usual looks are decidedly deceptive. The thing with paella is that I eat all the shellfish and just a little bit of the rice and her indoors has the fish and most of the rice.
Well she struggled, every spoonful was laden with octopus, clams, prawns, mussels, fish fillet, squid or king prawns. We were beaten into submission and the flavour was great. We had a bottle of vino again and litre bottle of water for 2 euros and the afterdinner coffees and the bill was 39.54. Fantastic value again!

Hi there. Welcome back and thanks for the latest review. What a shame the Eve has closed. This was my favourite restaurant. Any idea why?