What to eat in Tenerife
Salted potatoes, pepper sauces and taverns that open only for lunch
- Try first
- Papas arrugadas with mojo
- Guachinche
- Mostly lunch
- For going out
- La Ranilla in Puerto de la Cruz
On Tenerife the big meal is lunch, and the taverns that matter close their kitchens at about 3:30 pm, long before most visitors have thought about dinner. Plan the day around the afternoon, and the island's short list of dishes starts to make sense: a potato, two sauces, a rabbit and a kind of tavern that exists nowhere else.
Papas arrugadas and mojo
Papas arrugadas are small potatoes boiled in their skins until the surface wrinkles, and they arrive on the table with mojo. Mojo rojo is red, made from red pepper and garlic, while mojo verde is green, made from coriander and parsley. Order both on the first night, and you will have the island's whole flavour map on one plate.
If a menu lists the potatoes by variety, ask for ojo de perdiz, the one named as the best. Expect them next to meat as often as on their own, since the sauces are made for both and the pairing is the island's default.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
Rabbit and the rest from the island
Beyond potatoes, the dish that turns up most is conejo en salmorejo, rabbit in salmorejo. Bodeguita Canaria in Santa Cruz is the name that comes up more than once for it. The table below keeps the rest of the island's short menu in one place.
How a guachinche works
A guachinche is a vine-grower's tavern, and it exists only on Tenerife. Most of them lie around La Laguna and the Orotava valley, and what they sell is the grower's own wine with a plate of something simple beside it. De Argelio and Brasas y Calderos, both in La Laguna, are good names to start with.
Lunch is the whole business. Most are open for the midday meal between 1 pm and 4 pm, with the kitchen closing by about 3:30 pm, so a late arrival gets nothing. Bring cash, since the till rarely takes cards, and expect the menu to be only in Spanish more often than not. La Morenita and Los Baldíos follow the same pattern.
Puerto de la Cruz and La Ranilla
La Ranilla is the district of Puerto de la Cruz built around eating out, and the menú del día, the set lunch, runs there from 2 pm to 4 pm. Pangea and El Rincón de Diego are two of the places listed on its streets. If the guachinches are too far for the day, this is the easy alternative on the north coast.
When each meal happens
Reading the island by the clock is simpler than reading the menus. Lunch comes first and is the longest sitting of the day, and the guachinches are mostly closed by the evening, so a morning outing should be timed to end at a table before the kitchens close.
- Lunch from 1 pm to 4 pm: the guachinches around La Laguna and the Orotava valley, cash in practice.
- Menú del día from 2 pm to 4 pm: Puerto de la Cruz and La Ranilla.
- Guachinche kitchens: shut by about 3:30 pm.
- Evening: papas arrugadas and a second dish in La Ranilla, since the guachinches are mostly closed by then.
Where to next
The best time to visit Tenerife
→The calendar of one island: southern sun, northern cloud and a carnival in February
Seville · 1406 km
→Five centuries under the mosque, nearly eight under the cathedral
How well does Tenerife suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Tenerife
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What are papas arrugadas and why mojo?
They are small potatoes boiled in their skins until wrinkled, and mojo is the sauce they are always served with. If the menu lists the variety, ask for ojo de perdiz.
Do guachinches take cards?
Almost never. Bring cash, and arrive at lunchtime, because the kitchen closes by about 3:30 pm.
What is the difference between red and green mojo?
Mojo rojo is built on red pepper and garlic, and mojo verde on coriander and parsley. Both are served with the potatoes and with meat.
Ready for Tenerife?
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