Restaurante Carmen Sl — Restaurant in Icod de los Vinos

Place came by recommendation and either Canarian cuisine is horrible or this place is very very bad. We ordered water, white wine, Canarian soup (curious how typical soup will taste like) and by the recommendation of the waiter, meat stuffed potatos and tuna. The waiter was very communicative and even spoke some words in my native tongue. The soup came right away and it was completely tasteless - as if they didn't know what salt and pepper are (maybe they don't?) We took few spoons of the soup and left it on the table - the waiter quickly grabbed it without even asking why we left so much. Next were the main courses after few minutes - stuffing in the potatoes was cold inside and the tuna tasted like it was taken from a can. Suddenly, the waiter forgot basic communication in English and couldn't understand what I was saying. He took the potatoes back to reheat them but the stuffing was only mildly warmer and the potatoes were burning hot. As for the tuna, he insisted it was proper but that wasn't close to regular tuna dish I'd expect from a restaurant. I did voice my dissatisfaction but that didn't offer ANYTHING. To make matters worse, when I asked for the bill, it came back with 2x wines, our dishes plus additional bread and butter that we never ordered (mere 2 euro on top of a meal that we couldn't eat). Fortunately, after pointing this out, they were kind enough to charge us 25.50 for this experience. Perhaps I do not indeed understand the phenomena of Canarian cuisine, but if you want to try it like I did, steer clear of that place. Worst experience of my week-long stay...

Edit: On reflection, when I think back to this restaurant I do remember it being a bit more lacklustre than I had expected. The service and food were quite rushed and although we were part of a preplanned tour, I do think they could have done a bit more to make the experience more pleasant.

I must add also, if you are an English speaker, make a note of the sign by the entrance which reads: 'Eat and scratch, everything is starting.' After some considerable laughter, my family and I concluded that this was some Google translate derivative of the common adage 'everything is made from scratch' or something similar. I respect the effort they made to try and appeal to their English audience and far from wanting this changed, I think it adds to the charm and is a testament of its continued efforts to give an international audience a taste of Caranian dining.

Original: Very nice local family run restaurant that carters for many taste. For anyone looking for authentic Caranian cuisine, this is the place. It is tourist friendly and very welcoming to guests from any areas of the world. We visited whilst part of a guided tour and they offered a wide variety of dishes. They had both a set menu, but also another with a good number of options. The food itself was amazing and had a brilliant mix of flavours and felt very authentic. Despite some lapse in translation, the service was wonderful and fast. The restaurant looked beautifully and fit perfectly with its historic...

Visited in October during a day trip. We were recommended here by our tour guide which promised a tasty 3 course meal for 15 euro each. Me and my boyfriend thought we'd treat ourselves and pay a visit. The chicken noodle soup came almost instantly but it was cold, barely any chicken in the soup, tasted exactly like what you get out of a can and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it was! I went to reach for the bread and was so surprised at how hard it was, I couldn't even break it apart!

Then came the main course, we both got the chicken, and my god.. It was nothing short of hospital food. The vegetables were absolutely from a can, without a doubt. The chicken was just horrible. The wrinkled potatoes were rock hard. The sauce was actually nice though. We were offered wine and beer with our meal and that was nice too, probably the nicest part of the meal.

We didn't even proceed to get a dessert because we didn't want to be let down anymore, we just paid our bill and left, really disappointed.

Everything felt rushed, vegetables were from a can. Soup from a can....