Little Havana

Birthday Boy!

Friday 8th June was the final Friday of the Ruta de las Tapas, but we didn’t continue it as it was Ian’s birthday! I won’t embarrass him by giving his age away LOL! The day before it was our friend Marie’s birthday, and next week is my birthday! YIKES three Geminis!

Anyway, after a very pleasant swim in our pool in the morning, we decided to have a trip into town to Little Havana, where we went last Saturday on the Ruta de las Tapas. We loved the sample of tapas that we had and vowed to go there again. Well, they didn’t disappoint! They don’t have a menu as such, but have set tapas at just 1.50€ each, so we ordered the mixed tapas. This consisted of Rib stew, Stuffed red pepper, Cuban meatballs Chicken & chorizo ragu, Argentinian empanadas and an Enfusion fruits & prawns with a chilli kick. To finish off we had a lovely strawberry cocktail! Excuse the half eaten food in the photo, but at least we remembered to take one LOL!

OK, so onwards and upwards, as they say. After resting at home it was quickly time to go to Puerto del Rosario, where we were meeting our friend, Marie, at her favourite restaurant, La Chica del Pomodoro.

What a fabulous meal we had at this restaurant! We started off with the prawns which came on a long stick, covered in angel hair and with a tartar sauce. Oh my that was delicious! We also decided to have the cheesy bread which was gorgeous, but I think we had enough food without that! We then went on to have the steak medallions, which was cooked to perfection. It was with a lovely rich sauce with potatoes and veggies on the side. At the risk of repeating myself; Oh my that was delicious! The staff were great too! We can thoroughly recommend this place. We just wish we lived closer as it means either an expensive taxi ride for us, or Ian can’t have a drink.

My apologies for the poor quality photos, which really do not do the food justice! My only excuse is that I was simply too eager to tuck in! As usual, click the photos to enlarge!

Ruta de las Tapas – Day 5

Saturday – Day 5 and the final day!

After yesterday we had to prepare ourselves for the final day of the route, so ate little and rested a lot! Marie joined us and at 7pm we set off.

Gambrinus

I have to admit that I hate having to walk through other restaurants to get to the middle ones, and feel a bit embarrassed when straight on through. However, the tables at Gambrinus were all nicely laid out and on arrival we were immediately greeted by the friendly staff who showed us to a table inside. We’d already heard good reports from friends on the quality of the food here, so were eager to see what they brought us. The didn’t disappoint! The cold was Maravillas de la Huerta, which consisted of a couple of prawns with peppers and sauce on what appeared to be a biscuit base, with an additional sauce on the side. I thought it was lovely, although Ian said he would have liked a bit more flavour. The hot was Locura de Pilpil. This was a piece of cod with sweet onion relish skewered onto what we think was pumpkin with mayo on the side. The flavour of the fish was wonderful, and the relish went so well with the pumpkin. Very well done to Gambrinus! [UPDATE: 2020 Gambrinus closed and has now reopened as part of the newly opened Hopscotch next door]

O’Fado

Next was O’Fado. I think this restaurant always seems to get missed out. Maybe because it’s name is so close to Fado Rock over the road? I don’t know. Anyway, it’s another that we had been wanting to try. Two girls were serving and they were great! Now, I have to apologise because we were talking so much that I completely forgot to take photos, so have had to show those from the poster! The cold was Puñetu de Bacalao, which was flaked cod mixed with onion and topped chopped black olives and with a salad garnish. Presentation was not as good as shown in their poster, nor was there any roe as depicted, so I found that a bit disappointing. Otherwise, the taste was just ok. The hot was a lot better and very tasty! Bacalao Madeira, which was as the name describes, cod in a very rich, dark Madeira sauce. Could definitely have eaten more of that, although presentation wasn’t the best. We were treated VERY well here, and when they overhead Marie mention that she wasn’t keen on the wine they offered to change it! The tapas came with warm bread rolls and there was even butter! But then they even brought us out a couple of little desserts along with a shot each! One of the desserts was coffee, which I dislike so didn’t try (Ian said it was lovely though), but the other one was gorgeous!

Smile Terraza del Mar

Onwards and right down to the beach and Smile Terraza del Mar. The presentation was very good. The cold tapa was Rosa de Mar, which was octopus on a crisp base. I have no idea what the purple sauce was, but that was delicious! Hot was Pacceri Smile. While this looked good I found the taste to be a bit bland.

Aamares

Our next jaunt was a short walk next door to Aamares. Here the cold was Goisin Aamares, which was stuffed pancakes. Unfortunately, they were nothing special, and a couple of days later I can’t even remember what they were like, although at the time I thought them ‘ok’. The hot was Zeppelin Aamares , which were fish croquettes. These were tasty and nicely cooked, with a crisp outside and creamy inner.

SUMMARY

Overall, we loved participating in this event, and it was a real eye opener! It gave us the chance to try places we had never been to, and some that we simply would never have tried! I do hope that it continues as an annual event, and if it’s on next year thoroughly encourage people to go on it! But bear in mind you must have your NIE number to participate.

I found it very difficult to mark up the scores on the card. In the end there were only 3 tapas that gained the top score of 5/5 from me, albeit there are a fair number who were rated 4.5/5 and some were very close. On the front of the card we had to name the best cold and the best hot tapa. That was even harder!

My personal top cold tapa was at Little Havana. Innovative, well presented and very tasty!
My personal hot tapa was El Luchador (Casa Tino Matoso). Another tapa that was different and extremely tasty!

Ruta de las Tapas – Days 3 & 4

Our journey on the official Ruta de Las Tapas continues into the second week with Days 3 & 4. If you missed our first week, you’ll find it day 1 here and day 2 here.

Day 3 – Friday

We were very lapsidaisical today, and totally forgot to take photos, so have used the advertising posters to show the tapas!

Cafe Gala

First one of today was Cafe Gala in the Atlantico Center. This venue is a smaller cafe in that they have a limited menu offering baguettes, sandwiches, cakes (which are lovely!) and ajust a few hot dishes. Tapas are not on their usual menu, so we were interested to see what they were offering. Their cold tapa was smoked salmon with anchovies on bread. Can’t really go wrong with this one! Very simple but I do love smoked salmon! The hot was homemade meatballs with potato salad. Very tasty, but I personally wasn’t sure about the cold potato salad as an accompaniment to the hot meat balls.

Loco’s Tex Mex

Situated right next door to Cafe Gala, all we had to do was move a couple of tables across! Another one where we had eaten before, and enjoyed their main meals, but, again, they do not usually do tapas! The cold tapa was Aguacate Texmex, basically avocado and prawn with a Rose Marie sauce. Tasty, but would have been much better if the Rose Marie was homemade. The hot tapa was typical Mexican Nachos, of which you had a good portion size. Have to say that they were nothing special and I wasn’t at all bothered about them.

Bar Tapas

Yet another place where we have eaten before, so knew roughly what to expect. The waitress was friendly but didn’t know anything about the event, and had to go and ask! Unfortunately for me, they were another that was not including wine with the choice of drink, and so we had a beer. The food, as we expected, was good wholesome Canarian dishes. The cold was Russian Salad, which was good but nothing special. The hot tapa was Ropa Vieja, and was again just okay and perhaps not the tastiest of recipes we have had. Having said that, it would not put us off dining there again, as we usually enjoy the food. Here we only just remembered to take photos, so excuse the half eaten dishes!

Day 4 – Saturday

Our friend, Marie, joined us this afternoon, sadly on her own as her hubby, Emilio, was working. Leaving home at about 3pm we had a fab time, and didn’t get back until about 10.15pm!

Fado Rock

First stop was the famous Fado Rock in the centre of Caleta. We had eaten there just once before, in the evening, and have been meaning to return again but for lunch. Whilst we had enjoyed the food on our first visit, we found the evening too busy, too rushed and too noisy for our personal taste, hence the wishing to return during the day when it was quieter. On this day there was a large party celebrating a confirmation at the back of the restaurant, so the staff were obviously busy. Therefore we had an enjoyable wait, chatting and sipping wine, and a very nice glass of wine too! The cold was Tomate Carnavalero, prawns in a tomato sauce with a piece of melba toast. The sauce was tasty, but I found the prawns a little tough and with little taste. The hot was Cabra de Mar, fish and potato, topped with a piece of goat cheese. This was nicely presented and tasty. Will definitely go back for lunch sometime.

Little Havana

Next, it was across the road to Little Havana, which is situated just in front of the Ayuntamiento. A small cafe that hadn’t been open that long, and probably the biggest surprise so far! The cold tapa was La Pequeña Havana Picante, which consisted of two small pastry tarts (so plenty to share!), filled with strawberries and kiwi in a gel and topped with chopped prawn, plus an additional whole prawn. Oh my, what can I say about this that will do it justice! So tasty! And a lot of thought and preparation went into this tapa. The hot was Boliches Cubanos, meatballs in a tomato sauce, all of which were obviously homemade. I love meatballs, and these were no exception! Very tasty! On top of that we were served lovely bread to mop up the juices! We all agreed that Little Havana just upped the competition a big level! We will definitely be back there!

The British Corner

Our next stop was going to be O’Fado, but by the time we had got there they had closed! So, instead, it was round the corner to the The British Corner. Now, perhaps I’m a snob, but frankly I have so far avoided this place simply because of it’s name! But I was intrigued by them being on the Tapas Route! We sat down on the sofas as they looked comfy, but sadly looks were deceptive and I ended up with a numb bum! Unfortunately, this was another venue who gave a choice of only beer or water, so I had a beer. The cold was Abanico British, which was avocado on toast, topped with tuna, diced tomatoes and peppers on melba toast with guacamole on the side. This was a tasty tapa and quite well presented. Their hot was a Mini Fajita de Pollo, which I must say was very nice. We didn’t see their usual menu, so don’t know what sort of food they usually do, but if that is a sample of their usual standard then I expect it is quite good.

My Tapas 1966

Next on our route was to be Gambrinus, but unfortunately this was another one that was closed. So it was a case of onwards and down to My Tapas 1966. We’d eaten here twice before but were always disappointed in the tapas as they seemed greasy both times, but perhaps we were just ordering the wrong food! The staff have always been friendly, so we were keen to try their tapas. The cold was Bombön de Salmon, salmon wrapped around mozzarella cheese with a mustard sauce. Again, some thought had gone into this unusual dish and it was delicious! The hot was the traditional dish of Ropa Vieja, which we had already had a few times on the route. But we were happily surprised at their version of this dish, and can honestly say it was the best we have ever had. We’ll definitely go back and try them once again, but perhaps be more careful with the dishes that we choose!

We ended the evening at one of our favourite places in Caleta, Oliver!, where we suffered with their wonderful cocktails and, of course, a piece of their delicious passion fruit cake. This time the cake was in the form of a pastry tart, and was equally delicious, with the pastry being perfect! And there endeth the second round of our Ruta de las Tapas!

Birthday Boy!

Ruta de las Tapas – Day 5