Puerto de la Cruz is
well-supplied with
cafes
and
restaurants , with
over a hundred in the centre of
town alone. In comparison with
the island's southern resorts,
the food here is generally good
quality and value, but beware of
the early closing times of many
of the restaurants - it's
unusually hard to find a
restaurant here that will serve
food after 10pm.
Capricho on the Plaza del
Charco is a great little bakery
with a splendid array of fresh
pastries, cakes and bread.
Azucar , C/Iriarte
1.tel 922/387 014. Cuban food -
mostly rice-based dishes but
including black bean stews,
fried green bananas, croquettes
and tapas-like snacks - are
served in a restored house in
the centre of the old town. The
restaurant has a stylish
ambience and artistic soft-earth
tones and lively Latin American
music. Service can be painfully
slow. Closed Mon 8.30pm-2am.
Moderate.
Daisy Burguer ,
C/Doctor Ingram 18. Cheerful and
bustling burger bar, extremely
popular with the locals.
Omelettes and a few tapas are
also on offer. Open all day and
well into the small hours.
Inexpensive.
El Caldosa , Playa
Chica, Punta Brava. tel 922/389
018. Good little seafood
restaurant off the end of Playa
Jardín in Punta Brava, a small
town 2km from the centre of
Puerto and location of the Loro
Parque
. Superb fish and seafood served
in cheerful stylish surroundings
with large windows that swing
open, so that the waves crashing
in on the tiny beach can be
heard. Moderate.
El Limón , C/de
Esquivel and C/de B. Miranda.
Vegetarian place serving great
veggie burgers, soups, salads,
sandwiches and one main dish for
dinner, plus lots of fresh
shakes and juices. Closed Sun
lunch. Moderate.
El Pinguino , Plaza
del Charco. Good cafe in one of
the best spots in town to
people-watch. Has a great line
in a large variety of
inexpensive, superb, home-made
Italian ice-cream. Sit down here
and gorge on extravagant
sundaes, or pick up a cone to
eat on the hoof.
La Carta , C/San
Felipe 53.tel 922/381 592. This
place has a number of standard
Spanish and Canarian dishes but
also offers seasonal dishes such
as asparagus and brown rice in
June. Smart and well-presented,
the setting still doesn't really
justify the cost, except in the
case of the good-value daily
menu. Moderate to expensive.
La Papa , C/San Felipe
33. Cosy restaurant with a range
of Canarian food and, unusually,
a couple of veggie options, and
good Puchero or Cabra (goat)
dishes. Moderate.
La Rosa Di Bari ,
C/del Lomo 23.tel & fax
922/368 523. Possibly the best
Italian restaurant on the
island, this place has oodles of
panache and great food,
including excellent and generous
portions of fresh gnocchi and
pizza and good fish dishes.
Expensive.
Peruano , C/El Pozo
18. Decorated and named to make
its Peruvian credentials quite
clear, the cuisine here follows
suit. Many of the dishes are the
usual local meat and seafood
dishes with a Peruvian spin.
Dried lamb sirloin is the house
speciality. Closed Wed &
May. Inexpensive.
Pizzera Pomodora ,
Puta Viento. Not a gourmet
choice, though the Italian food
is tasty and the views over the
coast are beautiful - the
restaurant is set into the
cliff, well within earshot of
the sea as it crashes into the
cliffs of the rugged coast.
Moderate.
Régulo , C/Pérez
Zamora 16.tel 922/384 506. One
of the classiest restaurants in
town, located in a restored town
house, with much of the seating
in a stylish courtyard. There's
a good spread of Canarian
cuisine on offer, and the place
is particularly known for its
seafood. The local fresh fish,
such as hake and parrot fish are
also particularly good. There
are no vegetarian options.
Closed Sun & July.
Expensive.
Rute de la Carne
Along the old main road to
Orotava, above the motorway,
are a number of old
unpretentious working
communities of the
agricultural heartland that
more or less fuse with one
another - the three most
sizeable towns are La Matanza,
nearby La Victoria (both sites
of major battles between
conquistadors and the native
Guanches) and Santa Ursula,
which straddles the edge of
the Orotava valley. Although
the old farm buildings of
these towns are a pleasant
enough backdrop, there would
be little to encourage
visitors here if it weren't
for the fact that this area
has somehow earned the
reputation for great,
substantial, traditional and
inexpensive food in the basic
restaurants that line the main
road that links them - known
locally as the Rute de la
Carne . Many of the
restaurants along the road are
similar, and its perhaps most
interesting just to take
pot-luck at one of them, but
if you need a recommendation,
head for the consistently
good, if a little expensive, Casa
Juan Ahumadero , C/de
Acentejo 77 (closed Sun &
Mon), signposted from the
petrol station in La Matanza.
Both the smoked fish and
home-made sausages are good
and, unusually for this kind
of restaurant, vegetarians
will find some options, too.
On the road out of Santa
Ursula, El Larga is
another popular choice,
particularly for fish and
seafood, which comes straight
from the restaurant's tanks
and is offered at moderate
prices. Arrive after 9.30pm,
however, if you don't want to
be eating alone.
