La Bodega de La Avenida — Restaurant in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

We tried this restaurant because it was convenient for us (nearby to our hotel), and to eat something different.

The restaurant looks nice, although on the entrance the predominant is the glass cellar, and/or meat fridge.

The menu was confusing for me, because it was structured in a non-classical style. The time spent to finding my selection  for the dinner was longer, because I needed to read different lists and to imagine what is it.

So, for the starter, I selected tuna tartar. I was a big disappointed, because the predominant taste was fried egg, in special, and then avocado. The tuna was degraded to be complementary. The tartar was prepared by the waiter (I agreed with this because every time I want to feel the local flavor). The result was something similar with uncooked omelette, with fried egg to fill my mouth. From a visual point of view, it was unpleasant.

For second course, I opted for the medallion sirloin steak (local) with foie. For the side dishes, the offer was for the french fries. Not too much imagination(!). Finally, my option was for the grilled red pepper. The results were a (bad) combination of tastes.  When you combine the elements with strong taste, you need something to make a bridge between. In my case, it was a sweet sauce and extra salt(!). So, the results were nothing special, just a different taste in my mouth depends on my fork selection.

The food of my wife was in the same line. Different culinary experience, but with nothing special.  For the tuna nigiri, the rice was fried, as was the tuna. Ok, new way/abordation, but don't use the consecrate words. Used the imagination to name the food; otherwise it will a bad/disappointed confusion. For the second course, the turbot was  accompanied by floating oil vegetables, which were complete uneatable.

The desert: nothing new/creative/special here.

The service was good until my comments about tartar, after something was changed.

The waiting time between the starter and second course was very short. I expected  that, somebody to ask us if we are ready for the next culinary experiment (see my next comment for the explanation).

My expectation is very high for this kind of the expensive restaurants, and the details make the difference. Eg: our waiter was occupied with some "urgent" things to do when we left the restaurant (a lot of the time, the number of waiters was higher than the clients). It is not so easy  to be professional. (By the way, how many waiters made the school for this job and not qualification at work).

Conclusion: it is not for everyone to keep the quality at a high level and...

LA GRAN INVASIÓN

A principios de Marzo,antes del confinamiento, mi novio y yo fuimos a cenar con un amigo que venía de lejos. Por supuesto, con reserva previa. Nos "acorralaron" literalmente en el ángulo de una mesa en forma de "L" donde apretujaron unas 45-50 personas que estaban de celebración: vociferando, cambiándose de sitio, cogiendo sin permiso sillas de otras mesas, saliendo a fumar en pequeños grupos... Era imposible comunicarnos entre los que estábamos en la mesa, que éramos solo 3 tristemente arrinconados entre una pared y la mesa en forma de "L", teniendo que alzar la voz para expresarnos y acabando con una terrible jaqueca. Solicitamos el cambio de mesa a varios de los camareros pero no fue posible, según nos dijeron el restaurante estaba completo. Llamaron al encargado para que hablara con nosotros. No nos escuchó. El encargado trató de convencernos para que no nos fuéramos con ideas tan genuinas como la de que 50 personas, que estaban de fiesta, se iban a callar cuando les llegaran los platos......... Seguro, vamos. Encima, casi nos cobra un arroz negro que no pudimos disfrutar. Para colmo, cuando ya nos dirigimos hacia la salida, tuvo la gran idea de ofrecernos cenar en la barra. No vio que yo iba con tacones me da... Creo que el encargado debería pulir sus habilidades profesionales con algún cursito de protocolo antes de seguir dedicándose a atender de cara al público. Nos quedamos con una mala impresión y con la certeza de que van a tener que trabajar muy duro si quieren poder mantener las distancias de seguridad entre lo clientes, ahora que esto es tan importante para nuestra salud. El arroz negro que me tenía que comer ahí ya me lo comí (en casa). Yo por mi...

Mix opinion no so inexpensive as other reviewers portray it, the menu is kind of short on variety.

And Don't get your hopes high on finding a place in the small terrace, they tend to put large parties there leaving just only one table free.

I think the way they are managing it, it's an awful mistake, the terrace should not be used for lunches but for appetizers and after lunch drinks to get the extra sales, unless they have the...