Lanzarote

In contrast to Majorca, the Canary islands have not yet found favour with the world’s jet-set. Subsequently, the fine dining scene with creative chefs is a small one.

But having been a regular visitor to the southern half of the dramatic volcanic island I have discovered not only some excellent restaurants, but fabulous and thriving artisan wine scene. Look out for producers like Puro Rofe, Titerok-Akaet, Jable de TAO and David Fernandez.

The main resort town of the south coast is Playa Blanca, where ferries depart for the nearby island of Fuertaventura. It has a long, seaside promenade lined with touristy restaurants, but it’s not where the best restaurants are to be found in my experience. There are several within easy reach of the town however, within 5 to 25 minutes by car or by taxi – which is quite affordable on Lanzarote.

Playa Blanca town

Playa Blanca: Ninen, Calle Limones 131. +34 928 51 74 04
Try to reserve a table by the window with panoramic sea views in this tiny restuarant. Ninen is an authentic Italian restaurant making its own fresh pasta and with an extensive Italian wine list. We started by sharing a carpaccio of bresaola and a salad Caprese. The beef was excellent, nicely seasoned and slicked with olive oil, while the Caprese was plentiful with good quality mozzarella and island tomatoes. Next I chose one of many variations on ravioli, this stuffed with prawns, courgette and ricotta in a saffron sauce. The ravioli were not quite as plumply filled as I’d hoped, but the pasta was first class. We drank a bottle of Malvasia from Bodega La Geria at 32 Euros. To finish we shared the home made tiramisu, and I have to say it was extremely good; boozy, a touch of coffee bitter-sweetness and densely creamy. All in, with water and bread, the bill came to 110 Euros.

Playa Blanca: Restaurante Epicures, Calle la Laja 5. +34 619 39 07 58
The second in-town choice was less successful. Epicures is touted as fine dining and the intimate dining room has an upmarket feel. I have to say I was disappointed in a meal there in 2023, but gave it the benefit of the doubt and returned in 2024, unfortunately with the same result. The menu reads like one for the gourmet: I chose a foie gras starter, described as being roasted and served with an apple compote. What arrived was a dish where slices of pate de foie gras had basically been melted on top of what looked incongruously like Tuc crackers. These were topped with a spicy apple sauce, then the whole plate heavily drizzled with balsamic glaze. It showed a level of heavy-handedness and confusion that imbued every over-sauced course. The most recent bill, with a bottle of wine, water but no desserts or coffee came to 140 Euros for two.

West of Playa Blanca town

Playa Blanca: Kamezí Bistro, 2 Calle Monaco. +34 626 87 36 95
Kamezí is a luxury resort of serviced villas a few minutes from Playa Blanca by car. It also houses two excellent restaurants, a deli supplying cheeses, meats, fruit and vegetables from the island, and a superb selection of island and international wines. There is also terrific in-house bakery for morning bread and croissants. Its fine dining restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2024 – the island’s first – Bistro Kamezí. It is the island’s most ambitious gastronomic restaurant (dinner only Tuesday to Saturday) offering a ‘zero kilometre’ 12-course tasting menu. It really was excellent from beginning to end, the array of small plates brimming with flavour and unexpected but successful fusions. Stand-outs included squid cooked to melting perfection and formed into tagliatelle-like strips, infused with lemon and chilli cream, avocado and white chocolate. A small but meaty tranche of goat belly came with a mole sauce, a thin coating of fried local cheese and an emulsion of sweet potato. Of the desserts, a goat’s milk Dulce de Leche was topped with almond ice cream and was fabulous. In truth, every course was as interesting as it was delicious. Sommelier Víctor Manuel Gudiño has put together a fabulous wine list – the island’s best selection of cult and artisan names. Not to be missed. The tasting menu is 105 Euros per person.

Playa Blanca: Kamezí Ocean Terrace, 2 Calle Monaco.
On Sunday and Monday evenings when the Bistro is closed, there is still a fantastic option in the shape of the tapas-style tasting menu at the unique Ocean Terrace: a group of small whitewashed ‘pods’ facing directly onto the ocean, where very high quality food and another fine wine list are served. The set, six course tapas menu (45 euros per person) consists of really good, modern food in bite-sized portions, delivered to your pod in four services. Again, local ingredients feature throughout. Highlights include a spicy, chilled gazpacho flavoured with tomato, strawberry, passion fruit and basil, and a bao bun filled with pulled pork cheek, potato foam, pickled onion and crispy kale. Best dish of all was a ceviche of local Sama fish with fresh and crunchily toasted nibs of corn, avocado and siracha. We drank the excellent Tilama from Bodegas Puro Rofe at 45 euros, and sparkling water was complementary.

Playa Blanca: Sebastyan’s, La Mulata Shopping, Calle Lanzarote. +34 928 349 679
Between Playa Blanca and Kamezí, Sebastyan’s is a Greek restaurant with many international choices too, and also houses a very good wine shop. It has one of the island’s better wine lists. With a table by the window overlooking the sea and Fuerteventura beyond, our starters included bluefin tuna sashimi, a really good dish served on wakame seaweed with mango and daikon radish. We drank glasses of Moet & Chandon with this. A good charcoal-grilled fillet steaks was accompanied by La Rioja Alta 904. On a second visit the Chicken Souvlaki, marinated with lemon, garlic and Greek spices, provided a simpler but very enjoyable meal. Three course will cost around 130 Euros for two if drinking modestly.

Playa Blanca: Luna Rossa, La Mulata Shopping. +34 928 51 94 57
Next door to Sebastyan’s this large Neapolitan-style restaurant overlooks the beach. Whatever you do, try to secure a table on their small outdoor terrace overlooking the ocean: that makes all the difference, as the interior is smart but soulless and the food is pretty standard stuff. A basket of garlic doughballs appeared as we perused the menu which was a nice touch, and my Tortelloni stuffed with red endive and smoked ham was good pasta, cooked well, but not worth a special trip. One pasta course each plus coffee, and a bottle of wine cost 70 Euros total, so it’s cheap enough.

Playa Blanca: Gusto, 9 Calle Irlanda. +34 928 07 84 66
This and the next two restaurants are part of a small development near the Faro lighthouse, just beyond Villas Kamezí. Describing itself as a ‘chilled, modern, quirky Italian kitchen’, Gusto is a small simple room with an open kitchen serving good and some quite unusual food and with a decent wine list. A local Malvasia Volcanico at 28 Euros went down well. Dishes included a copious bowl of linguine with loads of fresh and sund-ried tomatoes, rocket and a huge amount of buratta, a very nicely cooked octopus with bacon and potato and, for the *very* sweet of tooth, an interpretation of tiramisu made with Nutella of all things. A very pleasant evening, and a bill of 120 Euros for two courses each and a shared dessert was very reasonable.

Playa Blanca: Flor del Sal, 7 Calle Irlanda. +34 610 30 58 76
Practically next door to Gusto is a newer kid on this block, and a very good one with quite an ambitious kitchen. Another tiny space, it has lots of ever-changing daily specials as well as a core menu. Homemade wreckfish croquettas were excellent, and slow cooked pork tenderloin was beautifully cooked along with some silky mashed potato. We drank and excellent Mencia from the north of Spain. Two course with wine, water and bread will cost around 90 – 100 Euros and it is a restaurant I will certainly return to.

Playa Blanca: Casual Seafood, 7 Calle de Irlanda. +34 683 11 98 09
And just along from that, another small and simple restaurant, Portuguese owned and serving Portuguese/fusion cuisine. It seems from reading up that they have various themed food evenings, but on our visit they offered a small menu: half a dozen small plates plus a choice of three sharing ‘cataplanas’; large metal cooking dishes filled with a choice of seafood stews. I order a bottle of fine Alvarinho from Portugal and we shared (on the advice of the waitress) a portion of sizzling, chilli-spiced large prawns, the tangy and piquant sauce delicious for mopping up with some bread. A cataplana of tuna and prawns was enough to feed a small army. 110 Euros all-in for two.

Rubicon Marina

The marina is a modern development a few minutes east of the town centre – a longish walk or two minute by car/taxi/bus. Walkways among the bobbing yachts and plenty of restaurants make it one of our favourite spots, especially at lunch time.

Playa Blanca: La Cocina de Colacho, Calle La Destiladera. +34 928 519 691
Colacho sits slightly apart, but very close to the marina. It’s a fascinating place offering high-end dining. Chef Calacho works alone in his open kitchen and wife and son run front of house. Calacho does things his way: open for only four dinner services per week, Monday to Thursday. We enjoyed two courses that began with a langoustine and leek ‘pie’; actually a mousse-like terrine, cut into a thick slice and topped with asparagus spears and a grilled langoustine. I followed this with Medregal (the local name for Amberjack, a meaty tuna-like fish). This came as a heroic piece of fish, roasted beautifully. With wine and water the bill came to just over 160 Euros for two. Returning to the island late in 2024 I note with regret that Calacho now offers only a multi-course tasting menu, at 110 Euros per person.

Playa Blanca: Liken, Rubicon Marina. +34 928 27 05 87
For lunch time specifically, I happily recommend Liken. It’s a chic and contemporary space, open to the Marina with its deck suspended over the water. A huge walk-in wine fridge dominates the entrance and chefs work in full view. I’ve eaten there maybe 10 times at lunch time, when it is quiet, calm and airy, chilled music playing and very good food being served. But recently we thought we’d try it for dinner and it was like another world: packed to the rafters and so noisy with multiple family groups and runaway kids that it was pretty unbearable. Food-wise, try the tartare of seabass, liberally doused with olive oil, garlic, and lots of clams. A fine take on garlic prawns presented a sizzling plateful of really large prawns with slices of chilli and roasted garlic. Prices are only very slightly higher than the Marina’s run of the mill places: three course for two with wine and water comes in around 130 Euros. But for me, lunchtime only.

Playa Blanca: Trattoria il Commendatore, Rubicon Marina. +34 928 51 88 56
Just next door to Liken but a very different feel in a traditional Italian restaurant, but also with its terrace open to the Marina. Food was honest and good, but I think what set it apart was the service, which matched it perfectly: no touristy hustle here, just a relaxed but efficient service at lunchtime. Menus appear on large boards propped beside your table, and there’s a wide choice of pastas and pizzas. The cooking was perfectly good. We enjoyed a relaxing meal here with a salad Caprese and bowl of fettucine and clams, which with wine, water and coffees cost 100 Euros for two.

Playa Blanca: Casa Roja, Rubicon Marina. +34 928 51 96 44
This large red building on the waterfront sets out its stall as the classy fine dining option alongside the marina’s many casual places. It certainly has the trappings with the crisp white linen and general air of being a little more up-market, though previous visits have never really impressed. In 2024 I enjoyed it more. With a bottle of very good Malvasia from Bodegas Vulcano (30 euros) we settled into our waterside seats and I kicked off with tempura of calamari. The batter was suitably crisp and light, though the calamari rings a tiny bit rubbery. My seabass was a step up, with a green mojo sauce of coriander and garlic, wrinkly Canarian potatoes and simple grilled vegetables. Dessert was a bit of a highlight: carpaccio of island pineapple with a scoop of coconut ice cream. The juicy, wafer thin slices of pineapple had been very lightly brulléed with some dark brown sugar to give a pleasing crunch. With bottled water and bread to start, a bill of 121 euro for two was fine I thought.

The remaining restaurants in this report are outside of the Play Blanca area, heading north back towards the airport. Nowhere is more than a 25-minute drive.

Puerto Calera

Puerto Calera: Coentro. +34 676 833 799
Puerto Calera is an upmarket resort and yachting harbour around 20 kilometres north of Playa Blanca. The harbour is festooned with cafes and restaurants, but this gem is tucked away just behind the ‘Submarine Safaris’ offices. Coentro is the most authentically foodie and rather hipster restaurant I’ve come across on the island, where chef João Faraco is making fabulous food celebrating island culture with global thinking. It also has an outstanding list of Lanzarote’s artisan wines. We drank the wonderful Maho Blanco from David Fernandez at 40 Euros. Despite the wondrous grilled scallops with Aji sauce and coriander, the best dishes had to be the cheese and dessert. Lanzarote cheesecake was very similar to Basque in texture and luxurious density, but made with homemade goat dulce de leche giving some caramel and a less sweet, but more lactic character. The cheese course is called “Cheese from our cow”. They own a pasture-grazed cow in Switzerland, from which a Comte-like cheese is made for them and shipped to Lanzarote where they ‘refine’ it using Malvasia Volcanica and local salt from the Janubio salt flats. Just fantastic food, wine and service and not expensive at around 130 Euros for two all-in.

Puerto Calera: Amura. +34 928 510 850
Amura is Calera’s most upscale restaurant, its broad terrace set with comfy wickerwork chairs and heavily napped tables. At lunch time, aamuse of a chilled melon soup was full of flavour, then I moved on to seared scallops, intrigued that they would be cooked with coconut “juice” and peanuts. Three plump scallops were perfectly cooked and sat in a coconut veloute, whilst a crumb of crushed peanut was a nice mediator between the exotic coconut and the delicate fish. For my main course, sama, a local white fish, came pan-fried with lots of sliced roasted garlic, waxy Canarian potatoes and a pile of pepper and courgette strips. I succumbed to a salted chocolate fondant with a scoop of tangy raspberry sorbet. One the better wine lists on the island includes big names like Vega Sicilia, but we shared a bottle of a local white at 28 Euros. With water and coffees the bill of 155 Euros seemed absolutely right.

Other south of the island choices

El Golfo: Casa Rafa Restaurante de Mar. +34 625 10 43 30
Most visitors will take a trip to El Golfo, meaning ‘The Gulf’ (no golf courses in sight), a wild bit of exposed Atlantic coast 15 minutes from Playa Blanca. Local fisherman land their catch on the beach. There is a string of beach-side restaurants, but just on the other side of the road you will find Casa Rafa, and it is a little slice of heaven: a family restaurant where the service is always delightful and food superb. We started with tuna tataki and a plate of sizzling prawns in a chilli, garlic and coriander olive oil. The tuna was just lightly seared, in a ginger and citrus dressing. Next we shared the fish of the day (22 euros per person), a choice of cherne (grouper) or swordfish, served at the table. We chose the cherne, a whole fish of rich white flesh with plenty of meatiness, which was so well cooked, doused in olive oil. With this, the volcanic Malvasia from Bodegas Bermejo; a bit of a stalwart on many lists on the island. Local strawberries were in season so we finished with a bowl of these, served with some ice cream. With bread, water and coffees, the bill of 126 Euros was great value I thought.

Salinas de Janubio: Mirador de Las Salinas. +34 928 17 30 70
On the way to El Golfo but closer to town, the salt flats of Janubio are striking sight. Half the fun of a visit the Mirador is the setting, with broad terrace overlooking the glistening vista of the expansive salt pans. Food is taken very seriously. With a fine selection of breads, butter and oils we shared some fried local goat’s cheese croquettas with a sweetening pumpkin and vanilla jam, then I had a very good secreto of pork: a substantial array of slices of beautifully cooked meat with baked potato and green veg. I finishing off with a superb Lanzarote strawberry ‘soup’ with Vermouth sabayon, my partner’s Basque cheesecake was of top quality too. Excellent Listan Negra Rosado from Bodega Vulcano, coffees and water added up to 110 Euros for two.

La Geria: El Aljibe del Obispo, Stratus Winery. +34 928 98 45 25
A drive to the vineyard area of La Geria will take 20 minutes from Playa Blanca, but is a must for the other-worldly volcanic landscape and striking vineyards planted into the black ash. Bodega Stratus has one of the more upmarket restaurants of the wineries there, a covered outdoor area surrounded by lush planting. Stratus’s own wines feature, but also a selection of other wines from Spain and further afield. I found it rather disappointing on my one visit, from the slapdash service to the rather forgettable food, to the piece of polythene in my partner’s grilled prawn starter. My goat ravioli, small wonton-like parcels filled with braised goat and smoked creamed potato, was possibly the highlight of the meal. The main course – the ‘catch of the day’ which was a local white fish – was bony and not as expertly prepared as in Casa Rafa. House goat’s cheesecake to share was good, but the whole experience just missing the mark. With a bottle of Stratus’s Finca Las Plamas Malvasia, water and coffees, the bill for two came to 135 euros. Note however that you can also sit on a terrace outside the winery with a tasting glass or two and small plates of cheeses and charcuterie, which might be the better option based on my experience

Playa Quemada: 7 Islas, 2 Avenida Marítima. +34 928 17 32 49
Playa Quemada is a tiny and undeveloped beach with a few restaurants along the shore, south of Puerto Calera. Entertainment is provided by the nearby hang-gliding school on the cliff top. 7 Islas is a very casual, a basic bar and restaurant but serving excellent, simple local food. We choose an array of tapas including garlic prawns, seafood croquettas, Serrano ham, grilled cheese with Mojo and of course Papas Arrugadas or Canarian potatoes. Washed down with a bottle of El Grifo white and water, sitting on their terrace overlooking the sea and the gliders, it really was a most enjoyable lunch. Just 60 Euros including wine and coffee.