Description: Towards Matagorda along the promenade is this small taverna offering, alongside an à la carte menu, a range of set menus. After a bit of a false start (having ordered drinks separately) we opted for an all-inclusive 14 euro deal and managed to stop the cork being pulled out of our half bottle of the Riocha. This set meal seemed to offer real good value for money and included hot garlic bread as an appetiser with a fairly innocuous dip and a gherkin and pineapple on a stick. We wolfed these down with aplomb and slipped gently on the red wine provided in the meal deal. I have to report that the red wine provided was not the best I've ever consumed but there was a litre of the stuff to get through and I certainly wasn’t going to be beaten. After the first glass the ensuing ones were much improved—I convinced myself letting it breathe throughout the meal must have considerably improved the taste. Alternatively the ample supply of garlic bread and the effect of the alcohol could have killed off my tastebuds for the evening.
The starters were tasty (although the French onion soup was somewhat on the salty side) and as fast as we could eat the garlic bread it was replenished. Expecting to relax between courses, I settled back in the plastic wicker chair and just as I reached my maximum comfort zone, the main course was unceremoniously plonked in front of me. Certainly customer services were not high on the staff's agenda and I felt like offering them some personal tuition (for a small fee!) on how to interact with customers. Indeed the service was so quick that we had hardly time to breathe between courses.
My lamb chops were beautifully grilled but the meal was severely let down by tasteless vegetables, wet and sticky rice, and an apology for a baked potato. The quantity was fine and I would hate to give the impression that it was inedible. Indeed it was soon devoured and I hadn't even completed saying that "the lamb was superb" before the empty plates were whipped away and two rings of tinned pineapple (a dessert lacking in inspiration) were miraculously substituted. It was refreshing but hardly great cuisine—still we ate it and I was just bemoaning the fact that another table had been served with profiteroles when our pineapple plates were removed and chocolate-coated choux pastry was dumped in front of us.
Having rejected the offer of coffee, the bill rapidly appeared alongside a full glass of cold canarian honey rum. This is a great liqueur and I remind myself that the bottle we took home last time is still languishing at the back of our drinks cupboard.
The food is quick, cheap, and there's plenty of it, and we actually found the service and the staff's attitude surprising but amusing. Perhaps that was the amount of alcohol we'd consumed!
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