Antonio was for many years the restaurant manager at Lani’s Suites, and he opened his own restaurant in Puerto del Carmen in late 2022.
Several readers had already told us about the place and urged us to visit We eventually got there for our Valentine’s night meal.
The location isn’t the best, as it’s a little way out of town, but the upside is parking is no problem at all. The restaurant is really nicely furnished and the vibe is upmarket, with subdued lighting and plenty to look at. The crockery, glassware and cutlery are all top quality.
Although it was our first visit, we were greeted like regulars, and that set the tone for some of the best service we’ve had in a resort restaurant. Antonio runs front of house, but he is ably assisted by another waiter and two waitresses and there wasn’t a moment when we were looking for someone. Drinks were topped up regularly, dishes were cleared quickly, and we felt really well looked after throughout the meal. The kitchen itself is semi-open, so you can see the chefs working away from certain tables, which is always a good sign. Throughout the meal, Antonio and the rest of the team had time to stop for a chat with each table.
As it was Valentine’s night, I was given a rose to pass on the Julie when we arrived, the table was decorated with hearts and all the staff wore red ribbons.
There was a special menu on the night we visited, but we were able to mix and match from the regular menu as well. There’s a good choice of hot or cold starters, and for mains there are pasta and rice dishes as well as ten meat and ten fish choices. There’s also an extensive vegetarian menu of eight different dishes, so everyone is catered for. There’s an easy to understand key as to which dishes contain gluten and a range of other potential allergens.
For our starters I chose the seafood crepe from the normal menu and Julie went with the candied duck salad from the Valentine’s menu. The seafood crepe was absolutely spectacular – full of flavour and served in an ocean of melted cheese. The candied duck wasn’t really a salad, I would call it a confit of duck, served with little crackers. It came with crunchy apple on top, which gave the dish a sweet flavour and some texture. Julie felt the portion was a little large. In fact, either one of the starters would have been plenty to share.
For our mains, we both chose items from the Valentine’s menu – Julie went with the wild stuffed sea bass and I chose Angus fillet steak with a Pedro Ximenez reduction.
The sea bass was cleverly arranged with filets twisted around a stuffing of pine nuts and tomato vinaigrette. Again, it was too much and Julie could only manage one of the fillets.
My steaks, and yes, there were two, were fabulous – perfectly cooked, topped with foie, and the sherry sauce was just amazing. The steaks were served with wild asparagus, cooked al dente.
Our total bill came to 119 € and that included two bottles of water and two coffees. We didn’t have a dessert.
In summary, fabulous food, large portions, really amazing service, and a place we both agreed we will re-visit often.
I’d recommend booking a table as the word is out, and this is a busy restaurant. Antonio Restaurante is Calle Reina Sofia, 29, in Puerto del Carmen, down the hill from the El Toro roundabout. Their website is Antonio Restaurante and their phone number is +34 828 05 60 86. They are open from Monday to Saturday from 14:00 until 23:00.
For Information, we don’t give reviews in return for free food or advertising and we never tell the restaurant we’re planning to review them. We simply rock up, eat our meal, pay the bill, and then write our review.
See all our restaurant reviews.
