El Taller de Seve Diaz — Restaurant in Puerto de la Cruz

We were lucky to find this spot. Lucky to get a table for two. 4.9 stars. Over 500 reviews. No Michelin. It’s a place we had to check out.

Tucked away uninvitingly in a side street away from the rest of the restaurants, El Taller had a spot for us at 8pm few hours after we called to see if they could accommodate us.

The moment we got there it was evident that this is going to be high calibre fine dining. We opted for the tasting menu. Short. Perfectly crated with a local wine.

Two very friendly and highly experienced waiters covered the entire dining room of 8 tables. Kitchen tucked away in the back with the chefs working tirelessly prepping meals of small delights.

Each dish, beautifully crafted tasted absolutely perfect. Not a single complaint or anything we’d change.

Each perfectly timed. Each dish enhancing the next following. We spent time discussing the various dishes and the tastes or experiences they left you with after the last bite and how that would perfectly prepare you for the next dish to follow.

A side note, the wifey hardly gets emotional with food. Today was the first time she got emotional trying one of their first dishes, the tuna tartar. It was the best she’s ever eaten and it happens to be one of her favourite dishes.

Suckling pork confit cooked for 18 hours then crisp up before serving has to be one of the best suckling pig dishes ever eaten.

Not a big fish guy, but the cod was spectacular too. Not a single comment or fault to be found.

So, food, service and experience is perfect. We can only speculate as to why this does not hold at least 2 Michelin Stars. So highly rated and reviewed a place and consistently perfect to reach this. We can only presume the owner and chef chose not to entertain the idea. Who knows.

Thank you so much for the experience. Thank you so much for putting so much effort in crafting such a perfect dinner. Thank you so much for making such a perfect tuna tartar that made the wife emotional.

Absolutely beautiful and...

We had the pleasure of dining at this fine restaurant on two separate evenings. After our first visit, we were so impressed that we knew we had to return once more before our departure — and we were able to do so two days later.

On both occasions, we chose the six-course tasting menu. With the exception of the amuse-bouche and one dessert, the menus were different each time. They included two starters, two main courses, and two desserts, all for €65.

We were thoroughly impressed by the creativity of each dish, and every course was a delight in terms of flavor. The service was also excellent — each dish was carefully explained to us in detail.

One small suggestion for improvement: it would be nice to have the menu written down somewhere, so that guests can later recall and appreciate what they had the pleasure of enjoying.

All in all, a highly...

Great little place, with only 10-12 tables. Beautiful internal design and upholstery.

Very good and special bread - warm from the oven. They also serve a crunchy type of specialty - maybe corn based. Delicious. Comes with mustard and curry butter.

Good starter selection: they offered a small gazpacho from the chef. Excellent. I took the tuna tartar - very well seasoned and good size. Wife took the lentil soup. Also great - served blended.

For main: wife took the grilled octopus - 2 large tentacles served with smoked sweet potato purée (I think!) and flavored with spices. Very good! I took a cod cooked at low temperature, served in broth and truffle oil. Also great!

Dessert: a nice chocolate with a zest of orange and amazing hazelnut ice cream. Disappeared in 3 minutes :-)

Recommended all around if you are in the area visiting...