Gran Canaria food guide: 7 top dining experiences

First up, apologies for the delay in delivering the snackspo on Gran Canaria. Unnecessarily late with no suitably acceptable excuse. If I were working as a food critic, I’d have been sacked long ago. Funnily enough, the only job I’ve ever been fired from involved food and drink, but that’s a story for another time…

Shall we eat? Here’s my Gran Canaria food guide featuring 7 places you simply must visit.

1. El Perchel Beach Club – Rice Rice Baby 

In terms of location, this place is a straight serve. With an infinity pool looking out over the sea, hammocks, a cocktail bar and sun terrace, this is somewhere you can easily spend an entire day. Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’, you get the gist. The main character here is the cuisine, a Japanese & Peruvian fusion guaranteed to get your tastebuds typing…  

We dined at Nami Sushi Bar, prepared by the brilliant Tadashi Tagami. Ordering a selection of plates to share seemed the only logical option. I’m a bit like Joey from Friends regarding sharing but don’t you worry, we ordered enough to feed a small army. Recommend heading here early evening so you can nibble and watch the sun set over the sea. 

Order: Spicy Salmon, Crab Tempura Maki roll, Atún Rojo Nagiri 

Visit: https://perchelbeachclub.com/en/ 

2. Restaurant 360º, Bohemia Suites and Spa – You had me at Merlot

I like my meals served with a skyline. I simply had to include this place in my Gran Canaria food guide as it was recently awarded the “Best Hotel Restaurant of the Canary Islands 2018” by Qué Bueno Canarias, and it’s no surprise. This was by far my favourite meal in Gran Canaria if you know me, you’ll know I’m a sucker for a taster menu, and these guys know how to create great plates.

Located on the eighth floor of the boutique hotel Bohemia Suites & Spa, the restaurant offers dinner with a view. The menu created by Juan Bertolín offers a mixture of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, plus a sommelier to advise on wine pairing- safe to say, after 6 glasses of wine, we were having a great time! 

Order: Grilled aged beef loin with canary potatoes and yellow mojo, Pork cheeks with potato cream & a glass of Bodegas Ochoa to wash it down with. 

Visit: https://bohemia-grancanaria.com/en/restaurants-playa-del-ingles 

3. Seaside Palm Beach Hotel – Beach you to it 

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay with spacious rooms and delicious Tapas located within a nature reserve, then the Seaside Palm Beach Hotel is a great option. 

You simply can’t visit the Canary Islands without sampling some Tapas, and boy did we indulge. To start, we opted for Patatas Bravas, Padron peppers, an assortment of charcuterie and fresh bread, plus huge great bowls of prawns in a garlic sauce. And then I ordered fresh fish of the day for mains… don’t judge me for my ability to put food away. I am a human dustbin!

If you do decide to stay here, make sure you try the Tai Chi class and reward yourself for your efforts with a relaxing massage at the spa. 

Order: Fish of the day and a blush rosé.

Visit: https://www.hotel-palm-beach.com/ 

4. El Puerto restaurant, Marina Suites hotel – Never met a boat I didn’t like

An a-la-carte restaurant with an ocean-based menu, this restaurant overlooks the marina providing Canarian delicacies served with a sea breeze. 

Again we opted for sharing dishes, aka my favourite way to try multiple dishes at once; highlights include Ceviche of sea bream, Leche de Tigre, mango and coriander, Scallop popcorn with Teppanyaki sauce and Kimchi croquettes. Make sure you check out the cocktail menu, as they have a tipple to suit every palate. 

You can also stay here if you wish, and despite not seeing the rooms, I would say it’s 100% worth it just to spend an hour sitting by the infinity pool with a glass of fizz. If you hadn’t already realised, my type = look like an infinity pool, feel like an infinity pool, be an infinity pool. 

Order: Fried aubergine chips with palm honey and sesame seeds *chefs kiss* 

Visit: https://en.marinagrancanaria.com/restaurant/ 

5. Bodega Señor de Cabrera – I don’t complain; I simply wine in different locations 

As I mentioned in my top things to do in the GC blog – my vineyard dress got another outing which I was pretty pleased with, and I’m cheating a bit here as this is a wine-based recommendation rather than food, but a grape is food, so bear with.

We enjoyed a variety of wines, from dry whites to fruity reds, in the most idyllic mountainous setting, which made for the perfect afternoon activity. They provided us will some delicious homemade tapas here that was next level, and I’m sure if you contacted them, they might also be able to recreate this for you, ya heard it here first. 

Order: Barrel red – aromas of red forest fruits, vanilla, liquorice, green tobacco, with hints of cocoa. 

Visit: http://senoriodecabrera.com/ 

6. Senses Restaurant – Salobre resort – The pastabilities are endless!

She is beauty, she is grace, my oh my, there is so much personal space. This place is massive. 

Here we have another hotel with fab food. Aesthetically this was my favourite hotel, with day beds, vertical gardens, an infinity pool (hello) and decor giving all the palm springs vibes. Totally my type on paper. 

Would recommend staying here as a couple that enjoys both activities and relaxation. I could happily send Dem off to play 18 holes while I indulged in horizontal pool naps. You’d probably need to rent a car to get around and explore because it really is huge. 

I’m not usually a lover of a buffet, but this resort does not come to play. You can have steak cooked on the spot and prepared to your taste, fresh pasta, sushi, Thai, you name it, they have it. 

Order: Literally anything you like and then go back for more. They had four different chocolate cakes on offer, four! Need I say more?

Visit: https://en.salobrehotel.com/ 

7. Restaurante Parador de Cruz de Tejeda – Life’s short; eat dessert first

We enjoyed a range of locally sourced produce in the shape of perfectly cooked tapas, dramatic mountain views and an extensive wine list. 

Notably, I sampled a bienmesabe dessert which I will shout about because it was incredible. A sweet Spanish dessert prepared with honey, egg yolk, and ground almonds was the ideal combination of soft and crunchy. If you like marzipan, this will be a bit of you. 

Order: Pan-fried tuna, cheese board and croquettes, bienmesabe dessert

Visit: https://www.parador.es/es/gastronomia/gastronomia 

Writing this has made me hungry, so I’m going to make like an egg and scramble but hope you enjoyed my Gran Canaria food guide! Let me know if you’ve been anywhere in the big G.C that is worthy of adding to the list…

More from me:

• Top things to do in Gran Canaria
• Algarve food guide 
• Krakow City Guide

*the restaurants mentioned in this post were gifted as part of a press trip with Jet2Holidays, but there was no obligation to post, and all opinions are my own.