Taking A Culinary Tour of Tenerife

On previous visits to Tenerife we’ve shown our friend Bryan a fair percentage of Tenerife’s attractions; from the bustle of Santa Cruz to the beauty of Masca to the bizarreness of a local fiesta in a place so out of the way the locals could hardly take their eyes off us.

This time the tour turned out to be more of a gastronomic one. There was no planning as such. Circumstances and stomachs decided where we went and what we ate. By the end of the week the result gavea snapshot of the wide range of food available to visitors wanting a taste of good local fare.

La Vinoteca – La Paz, Puerto de la Cruz

Almogrote, La Vinoteca, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
Bryan’s plane didn’t arrive at Tenerife Sur until 7.30pm so it was a case of something unfussy close to home. Tapas at the small but classy La Vinoteca in La Paz was perfect and a good Spanish-flavoured introduction to Tenerife. It provided the opportunity for Bryan to say hello to almogrote, the strong, savoury cheese pate from La Gomera.

Salinas Express – Puerto de la Cruz

Burger at Salinas Express, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
Taking a snack break from a wander around Puerto de la Cruz, we changed culinary scene and went for a burger at Salinas Express. Unlike lots of cafés around Tenerife, they serve decent burgers (and veggie ones) at Salinas, making it a popular spot with Puerto’s younger population.

Tito’s Bodeguita – Between La Orotava & Puerto de la Cruz

Chicken Capricho, Tito's Bodeguita, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
After a frantic morning meeting deadlines, lunch in the courtyard at Tito’s Bodeguita seemed a nice reward. The food at Tito’s is good quality Spanish fare and tends to attract a mix of Canarios, ex-pats of various nationalities and the occasional visitor who has done their research. Their chicken capricho (crispy , nutty chicken in a sauce) alone is worth a visit.

Solera – La Orotava

Jamons at Solera, La Orotava, Tenerife
We got lucky with our timing during the Corpus Christi flower carpets in La Orotava and managed to bag a table at Solera; a tapas bar/deli that specialises in jamon Serrano and jamon Iberico products. Serrano pulguitas (small baguettes) and a beer came with quality people watching time. Our meagre lunch was supplemented by almendras garrapiñadas (sugared almonds) and then ice cream.

Kiosko – Santiago del Teide

Arepas in Santiago del Teide, Tenerife
A walk around Erjos ended with a Venezuelan speciality at the zona recreativa in Santiago del Teide. At the moment it’s our preferred place to give friends their first taste of arepas, filled Venezuelan cornflour pancakes. They didn’t disappoint.

Bodeguita de Enfrente – Santa Ursula

Pinchos Moruno, Bodeguita de Enfrente, Santa Ursula, Tenerife
The Bodeguita de Enfrente has a super ambience on a Friday night. Although the food has varied in quality over the last three visits, it’s never less than good. This time two of the three tapas dishes we ordered were smothered by chips. The pinchos moruno were the the best of the bunch – once we got to them under the papas fritas mountain.

Europa – La Paz

Seafood Pizza, Cafe Europa, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
With an ambitious Moro meal planned for Saturday night. Lunch was another cheap and cheerful affair close to home at the friendly Café Europa opposite the Botanical Gardens. Two huge pizzas were more than enough between three and were reliably tasty.

El Olivo – Puerto de la Cruz

Pulpo, El Olivo, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
Bryan wasn’t allowed to go home without trying El Olivo’s classic octopus and mash. It’s currently one of our favourite tapas dishes, although their morcillas (black pudding) drizzled with mojos gave it a run for its money.

Humboldt’s Mirador – La Orotava

Cochino negro burger, Humboldt's Mirador, La Orotava, Tenerife
We’d planned to have lunch at Humboldt’s Mirador in the company of Mount Teide but the weather gods weren’t playing. Even without the volcano in view it’s still a top spot for snacks with a difference like this cochino negro (black pig) burger.

El Aderno – La Paz

Passion Fruit Cake, El Aderno, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
As there’d been a Mount Teide no-show, we ended Bryan’s visit with coffee and a treat at cake and chocolate  specialists, El Aderno. Mount Teide finally did put in an appearance… and was quickly devoured.

 

Jack is co-owner, writer and photographer for BuzzTrips and the Real Tenerife series of travel websites as well as a contributor to lots of other places. Follow Jack on Google+

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

2 Comments

  1. This post should have come with a “Read on a full stomach” warning!! But before I slide off to the kitchen to placate my overactive saliva glands, just wanted to say that we were at Tito´s just a few days ago, enjoying the very same chicken (in fact I have the (almost) exact same photograph!) followed by a to die for chocolate mousse. First visit there, but it won´t be the last. Great food, beautiful restaurant, friendly staff and reasonable prices. What more could you want? That it was in the south rather than Puerto de la Cruz maybe…………?

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