From Canarian to creative, the best restaurants on Tenerife in 2017

The gastronomic scene on Tenerife is constantly evolving, with new restaurants entering the fray on a regular basis. It’s impossible to keep up to date with the comings and goings of the island’s culinary world.

Which is one reason we look forward to finding out the nominations for the island’s Premios Gastronomicos, a prestigious culinary competition which showcases the best of Tenerife’s restaurants. The chances are we’ll know most of those nominated, but there are also likely to be a couple of newcomers who haven’t made it on to our radar yet.

As with 2016 there are various categories.

Cumai, La Orotava, Tenerife
The food at Cumai in La Orotava.

The nominations for best restaurant on Tenerife
These include Kazan (Santa Cruz), El Rincón de Juan Carlos (Los Gigantes), Cumai (La Orotava) and San Sebastián 57 (Santa Cruz).

We’ve eaten at all except San Sebastián 57 which is earning rave reviews. All are excellent, but we still have a soft spot for Juan Carlos.

Jardines de Nivaria, Tenerife
Jardines de Nivaria in Costa Adeje where Rubén Cabrera is in the running for best hotel chef

The nominations for best chef on Tenerife
These are Erlantz Gorostiza (M.B. Hotel Abama, Playa San Juan), Juan Carlos Padrón (El Rincón de Juan Carlos,Los Gigantes), Rubén Cabrera (La Cúpula, Hotel Jardines de Nivaria, Costa Adeje), Braulio Simancas (Las Aguas, Hotel Bahia del Duque, Costa Adeje).

No newbies here. As usual, chefs in luxury hotels in the south figure highly.

Tasca Haydee, La Orotava, Tenerife
Black pig in a bao bun – a revelation at Tasca Haydee.

The nominations for best ‘revelation’ chef on Tenerife
It doesn’t easily translate, but this nomination is for the up and coming chef who’s been most of a revelation during the year. Nominations include Carmin Parise (La Trattoria, Santa Cruz), Alberto González (San Sebastián 57, Santa Cruz), Victor Suárez (Haydee, La Orotava), and Curro Palomares (Cumai, La Orotava).

We’ve only eaten at Haydee and Cumai of this group and Victor Suárez just came out on tops for us.

Meson Castellano, Playa de las Américas, Tenerife
Meson Castellano in Playa de las Américas – Spanish, not Canario.

The nominations for best Spanish restaurant on Tenerife
Restaurants in southern areas of Tenerife featured most in this category last year, this year looks no different. Nominations are for Meson Castellano (Playa de las Américas), La Brasa (Buzanada, Arona), Los Limoneros (Tacoronte), and El Faro (Playa de las Américas).
It’s a bit of an odd one this with a couple of choices which aren’t in the same league as restaurants in other categories.

Tito's Bodeguita, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
A ‘must try’, the signature dish at Tito’s Bodeguita.

The nominations for best Canarian restaurant on Tenerife
Canarian cuisine being quite different from Spanish means you need separate categories. Top choices in this group are La Bola (La Matanza), La Bodeguita de Enfrente (Santa Ursula), Tito’s Bodeguita (Puerto de la Cruz), and El Templete (El Médano).
Again we’ve eaten at three of the four and it’s a tough category. But of the ones we’ve tried, we’ve returned to Tito’s most.

Abama Hotel, Tenerife
The Abama Hotel, home to two Michelin star restaurants.

The nominations for best hotel restaurant on Tenerife
This is dominated by 5 star hotels in the south – M.B. and Kabuki (Hotel Abama, Playa San Juan), Las Aguas (Hotel Bahia del Duque, Costa Adeje), and La Cúpula (Hotel Jardines de Nivaria, Costa Adeje).

Japanese cuisine, Kazan, Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Japanese cuisine, very popular on Tenerife at the moment.

The nominations for best foreign restaurant on Tenerife
Japanese cuisine dominated last year and the taste for sushi is still strong this year. Nominations include Niqqei (Iberian/Mediterranean/Japanese fusion, Santa Cruz), Maguro (Japanese, Santa Cruz), Izakaya (Japanese, La Orotava), and Rosso Sul Mare (Italian/European, La Caleta, Costa Adeje).

As with last year’s nominations the trend continues that the north of Tenerife is the place for the best creative, Japanese, and Canarian restaurants whilst the south is stronger for quality hotel restaurants and Spanish. Although there are a couple of new names, most are familiar. It’s a bit of a shame there aren’t more up and coming restaurants amongst the nominations, we’ve eaten at some super new restaurants on Tenerife in recent years. But there’s no arguing about the quality of all those who’ve been nominated.

We’ll post details of the winners after they’ve been announced at the awards gala to be held at the Hotel Mencey in Santa Cruz on 21 September.

About Jack 434 Articles
Jack is co-editor, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to online travel sites and travel magazines. Follow Jack on Facebook

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