La Vaqueria — Restaurant in Agüimes

We had dinner at this restaurant last night. We wanted to go to small, authentic, local restaurant, basically away from all the tourism. After finding them on the internet we were intrigued.

I personally kind of liked the looks of the restaurant, it was something different. My partner was less impressed. She thought it looked like a second hand store from 1980. We thought it was very chilly inside aswell, because of the weather outside and they had like 6 fans blasting towards us. It get's hot, we get that but it was very chilly. We even saw some locals putting on jackets etc.

The waitress and waiter did not speak a single word english, which is fine because we are the foreigners and should always keep that in mind. They have a menu cart in English, but it took three seperate conversations before they realised that we didn't understand the spanish menu. We didn't know about the menu cart and we didn't ask for it aswell, it was a simple misunderstanding from both sides. BUT they kept talking full sentences of spanish to us, and we clearly do not understand Spanish.

We had 4 dishes, as a starter bread with ailoli. It was fine. We had to cut it up ourselfs but we can't complain about everything so it was fine. For main course we had the meatballs (1/2 portion), the ropa vieja (1/2) and the chicken thighs. The ropa vieja was good. Not greasey, nice flavour and a good portion. The only thing is that the ropa vieja arrived before all the other main courses, which we did not asked for.

The meatballs were decent at best, the meat fine but the sauce tasted like it came straight from the can and the texture of the sauce implied the same. The fries were terrible. Barely fried and very, very greasy. The presentation was also not the best.

The chicken thighs. The coleslaw was weird, didn't taste very good. Didn't go well with the dish. The fries were the same, greasy and barely fried. The chicken thighs were very, very greasy as well. The meat was a bit dry, the herbs tasted good, but the grease. My whole plate was covered in grease, the meat, the fries and the colslaw bathe in a pool of fat. A shame really. Neither finished our dish, except for de ropa vieja.

We wanted to leave as fast as possible. It was a waste of money and time. We really wanted it to be good but...

An unexpected gem at the edge of the village and the end of the sea promenade, this is an unconventional restaurant that is in stark contrast with what the tourist is normally expecting to see. Without a terrace and not facing the sea, without spectacular views and tucked away from the busy tourist path, it's a surprisingly rustic place that is in fact based on the fresh produce generated by a local farm. The locals buy eggs, cheese or veggies on display within, or just enjoy the uniqueness this restaurant offers if in for a traditional meal. Excellent gofio, delicious ropa vieja, look around and you'll see that many,tourists, Spanish or foreign, are enjoying themselves, happy to have discovered this place. Had to return during our short stay in Arinaga to try other goodies from their menu and walked away happy! Decent prices and well sized portions (their burgers were just ridiculously massive), polite staff willing to offer you the best culinary experience, will definitely go there again when returning to...

La Vaquera is a typical olde worlde Canarian restaurant. Although it doesn't look much from the outside, the interior has plenty of character and is an excellent place to dine for either for lunch or dinner. It does tend to get quite busy with locals (which is always a good sign, although they can be a tad noisy at times 😂). The food is of exceptional quality, we couldn't fault it. I would highly recommend the pork ribs (only €20) which we share between 4 of us. And the grilled smoked cheese with tomato jelly, roasted almonds and molasses is to absolutely die for (which can be a bit of a mishmash so we always ask for the for them in separate pots). The service is usually very good. The restaurant can be a little difficult to find but is definitely well worth going out of your...