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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]

  • Gambrinus Cold
  • Gambrinus Hot

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!

  • OFado Cold
  • OFado hot

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. 

  • Smiles Cold
  • Smiles Hot

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.

  • Aamares Cold
  • Aamares Hot

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.

  • Cafe Gala Hot Tapa
  • Cafe Gala Cold Tapa

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.

  • Locos Tex Mex Cold Tapa
  • Locos tex Mex Hot tapa

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!

  • Bar Tapas Cold Tapa
  • Bar Tapas Hot Tapa

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.

  • Fado Rock Hot Tapa
  • Fado Rock Cold Tapa

Little Havana

Little Havana Hot and Cold Tapas

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.

  • British Corner Cold Tapa
  • British Corner Hot Tapa

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!

My Tapas 1966 Hot and Cold Tapa

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!

Ruta de las Tapas – Day 2

Day 1 – Evening

I suppose this posting should have been called Day 1 (part 2) and Day 2!   Carrying on from our first route, having rested for a few hours we decided at the last minute to make our way to Costa de Antigua (formerly Nuevo Horizonte), and to the two restaurants that were participating there.

Bombay Burritos

Bombay Burritos

First stop was the newly opened Bombay Burritos.  This restaurant only opened about 4 weeks ago, and took over the old Mustang Sally premises. Friendly staff greeted us.  At this venue the only drink they would offer us was a small beer, which was not really in accordance with the event programme, which states that you should have a choice of wine, beer, water or soft drink.  Not very sure what an Indian restaurant would offer for tapas, we were pleasantly surprised!  Again, we had one cold and one hot tapa and shared.  The hot tapa was Pincho Pollo Tikka (chicken tikka), which we both found very tasty and good.  The cold tapa was Chonna Chat, which was basically chick peas.  Having had chick peas at a few places along the route, I must say that these were the tastiest!  Overall we were both quite impressed with the quality of the food at this venue, and it is definitely worth a second visit.  They will also be offering a take-away service soon, and their prices seemed to be very reasonable.

  • Bombay Burritos Tapas
  • Bombay Burritos Cold Tapas
  • Bombay Burritos Hot Tapas

Jinxing

Jinxing hot and cold tapas

Next door but one to Bombay Burritos was Jinxing.  A Chinese restaurant, and another that we had heard good reports on.  Once again they were not very organised for the event, but at least she had heard of it!  Like the previous place, they only offered us beer to drink.  I am not a big drinker of beer, so I just had half and Ian finished it off for me!   The cold tapa was Ensalada China, just a simple salad, tasty but nothing special. The hot tapa was Rollo de Primavera, spring rolls, again tasty but nothing special for such an event.  The waitress was friendly, however, the tablecloths were very thread-worn and really needed replacing. But if you are looking for a good Chinese meal, then I think this restaurant is definitely worth a try, and has reasonable prices too; I certainly wouldn’t pass it by. [UPDATE: Jinxing was under new management in 2020]

Day 2

Having rested during the day on Saturday, our friends, Marie and her hubby Emilio, plus of course Little Silly Lily one of their dogs, arrived at our place about 4.30pm.  After chatting and deciding our route for the day, we set off for Vallés de Ortega at about 5pm.  Unfortunately, this is where I became rather absent-minded and chatting too much, I forgot to take photos of the restaurants!

El Luchador (Casa Tino Matoso)

This is another restaurant that only opened just recently, and one we have been meaning to try!  Situated in the village of Valles de Ortega. Much bigger inside than we realised, we went on through to sit in the covered terrace area.   As before, we had one cold and one hot between each couple, and this time thankfully they served wine!  Have to say it probably wasn’t the best wine I have had, but I was still able to drink it!!  The cold tapa was Ensaladilla El Luchador, which was basically a Russian salad, but this one had less potato than usual and more tuna; very tasty and plenty on the dish for us to share.  The hot was Saquito de Marisco El Luchador, which was a seafood wanton, made with filo pastry and brushed with honey on the outside.  Absolutely gorgeous!  This was definitely top notch and an excellent start to our route on this day!  All I can say is that we will definitely be returning to this restaurant, and I will remember to take a photo of the outside next visit!

  • El Luchado cold tapa
  • El Luchado hot tapa

Casa Matoso

Practically opposite El Luchador was the next restaurant on our route.  Not sure of the story of these two restaurants, but obviously family members, whether in competition or working together I don’t know.  Here the hot was ‘Cabra Majorera’, which was goat with a traditional wrinkly potato. The meat was very nice, so tender, but the potato was just a little too salty for my personal taste. The cold tapa was ‘Litoral’, which was a piece of tuna tartare on bread. Very simple and no work involved in preparing it, but tasty.  Now, whether it was my absent-mindedness (probably!), too much talking (possibly!) or too much vino (!), I forgot to take a photo of the cold tapa, so I have cheated and am showing one from the poster.  The piece of tuna we had was a lot bigger than shown here. [UPDATE: This restaurante was under new management in 2019. Unfortunately, shortly after the Covid-19 lock-down, they closed]

  • Casa Matoso Cold Tapa
  • Casa Matoso Hot Tapa

El Artisano

Next stop was Antigua, where we had planned to visit 2, but sadly Los Girasoles was closed.  Now, the Artisano is a place we often frequent, so we already knew that their food was good, honest cooking, but we were unsure whether or not they would step it up a notch for the event. Here we had La Orilla, which was Russian salad, for cold and El Artesano, chickpeas again, for hot.  We like their Russian salad and always find it tasty, but their recipe is heavy on the potato, and therefore not quite as nice as the previous one we had.  Their chickpeas were okay, but we did notice that our friends had some meat and chorizo in their bowl, while we had just one small piece of meat.  All in all we shall continue to frequent El Artisano (and recommend it), but for the tapas route preferred other restaurants.  Okay, so I remembered to take a photo of the hot tapa, but then forgot the cold, remembering only after we had just about finished it!

  • Artesano cold tapa
  • Artisano hot tapa

Casanostra Restaurant

Three down and 1 to go! Jumping back in the car and heading back for Caleta. We had previously agreed to try Casanostra as we had all heard good reports on it. On arriving the outside area was pretty full, but I think this was mainly due to the fact that they had a tv showing the football on! The waiter grabbed a table and moved two together with four chairs for us. He didn’t know anything about the Route of the Tapas event, and had to go and ask about it. Finally sorted and a cold tapa Queso Fresco, goat cheese, arrived, followed by a Bruschetta for the hot tapa. Quite disappointing as they were two very plain and simple dishes, albeit tasty. Will we try it again? hmm, not sure but doubt it as there are too many other lovely restaurants. [UPDATE: 2020 and the Casanostra went under new management and was renamed Las Vegas]

  • Casanostros cold tapa
  • Casanostra hot tapa

And there endeth day 2 of our Ruta de las Tapas! Well, almost! We just ended the evening with a pleasant visit to The Wine Bar!!!

Ruta de las Tapas – Day 1

The Route of the Tapas (Ruta de las tapas) is a recent event supposed to be held each year, although sadly last year it didn’t materialise.  Each municipality holds the event over 3 weeks, and, if you feel up to the task, you could attend each route! The town hall (Ayuntamiento) provides you with a card listing all the participating restaurants, cafes and bars, with two  spaces for scoring, one for cold and one for hot, between 1 to 5. It is important that the participating restaurant stamps, or signs, your card to prove that you have eaten the tapas!  The tapas cost 2.50€ and included a drink or your choice.  Of course I had red wine with each one!

The municipality of Antigua route was held on each Friday and Saturday between 25th May and 9th June.

IMG 20180525 111439485

Our first stop was up to Mirador de Morro Velosa for one of their delicious hot chocolates with lashings of cream on top!  Sadly they no longer seem to do their cakes, but we still enjoyed the chocolate and relaxed looking over the splendid views.

Replenished, we went on to stop at the chapel ruins at Convento de San Buenaventura, that we have been meaning to visit for a few years now, but never got around to it.  Sadly, they have now cordoned the area off and you can no longer get down to it, let alone inside.   We took a few photos before carrying on. 

Castillo de Lara
El Pinar

Still a bit too early for eating, we went on through Betancuria to visit the only forest on the island and one of the greenest places on Fuerteventura, El Pinar.  Whilst I don’t expect many British people would be impressed with it as a ‘forest’, there are a lot of pine trees around a lovely recreational area.  A beautiful peaceful area, today of course we were the only ones there.  I would imagine that on Sundays, when the sun is shining a lot of Spanish families go there.  As well as a children’s playground area (yes, I did partake of the swings and see-saw!) there are many bbq areas where you can bring your food and charcoal to have a great bbq.

We were then ready to really start our route of the tapas, and made our way back to Betancuria.

La Sombra

La Sombra

La Sombra was sadly the only restaurant in Betancuria that was taking part in the event. First impressions was that this was a beautiful little oasis, tucked away in the centre of the town. It’s a very small place with just half a dozen or so tables, but the layout was beautiful. Just two staff, the chef (presumably the owner?) and a waiter. They were very busy and there was just one table for 2 people available, which was handy!

I loved the surroundings and ambience of this place. The two chaps were very friendly, albeit busy, and we had a very pleasant and relaxing wait before the tapas came. We were served one cold tapa, Garbanzos Orientales, which, as the name describes, was chickpeas, and one hot Bolitas a La Sombra, which was falafela with a nice type of mayonnaise and some ketchup. To be honest, I felt the ketchup unnecessary and a disappointment. It would be easy to have a home made sauce available. However, having said that, this was an excellent start to our route and very tasty. They charged us just 2.50€ for one cold and one hot tapa and drink. All dishes were served up on reproduced old English newspapers, which appeared to be greaseproof – a novel idea! We can definitely recommend this cafe and will definitely go back there again!

  • La Sombra Chef
  • La Sombra Tapa Cold
  • La Sombra Tapa Hot
La Sombre tapas

Bar Garcia

Bar Garcia

Our next stop was at Bar Garcia in Llanos de la Concepción. This was a totally different kettle of fish. A typical Canarian cafe, serving good honest food. Here we were offered either a cold or hot tapa with drink. We had one of each and shared. The dishes were of a typical size for this type of bar, and they even brought us bread! The hot tapa was once again Garbanzas, this time served with goat meat, and the cold was Salpicón de Atun, a tuna salad. We would definitely stop here again if we were in the area, but wouldn’t make a special journey to go there. Recommended if you are passing! [UPDATE! The owners have moved to La Finca, Triquivijate! Bar Garcia is currently closed]

  • Bar Garcia Tapas
  • Bar Garcia cold tapa
  • Bar Garcia hot tapa

Todo Bueno

Todo Bueno

Our last stop of the morning was in our favourite town, Antigua. We had heard good reviews of this restaurant, but had never been, so was looking forward to trying it out. We ordered our drinks and he didn’t ask whether we wanted hot or cold, so we assumed both would be included in the price. The cold was Bigote Mojado, consisting of a prawn (yes just one single prawn!) in a type of mayonnaise sauce. It was beautifully presented and the mayo and prawn were tasty. The hot then came out, La Cabra Pasta, which was tagliatelle with goat meat. It was tasty but far too salty for both of us. When Ian went in to pay, they actually charged us 10€ (5€ each). Frankly, we felt this was a bit of a rip off. If the event price were for a single tapa they should have asked us first whether we wanted hot or cold. Mind you they were so small we would not have been able to share! And secondly, we should have had another drink with the second tapa.

  • Todo Bueno cold tapa
  • Todo Buenos hot tapa