It was an occasion – Julie’s birthday – so we decided to try out a very special restaurant for lunch to celebrate.
César Lanzarote is the restaurant at the Numa Signature hotel of the same name, located in La Asomada, and in a stunningly restored finca surrounded by vines.
You know you’re somewhere special the moment you pull into the long driveway, with huge iron gates on either side of the entrance. Parking up, you’re surrounded by vines and the views down to Puerto del Carmen, the airport and Arrecife are simply amazing. Walking around to the front, you’re greeted by a huge sun terrace and infinity Manrique style swimming pool, complete with a bridge across it.
The restaurant is on the “view side” of the finca and overlooks the pool area. The restoration is simply perfect, with so many original features of the old building tastefully restored, but with the addition of modern lighting. You immediately feel at home in the light, airy room.
The tableware, cutlery and furniture are top quality, and our waitress brought a basket for Julie’s handbag – putting a bag on the floor is considered to be unlucky here in Spain.
The restaurant prides itself on using only local top class ingredients, and serving them in a fusion style, using influences from all around the world. We were given a little taster dish to enjoy with some bread while we were reading the menu.
There are a lot of starters to choose from, including several types of ham and cheese platters, caviar, anchovies and more.
The mains are more limited, with three vegetarian dishes, made with veg grown on the finca, six different fish dishes and six meat dishes.
For our starters I went with a salad of La Santa prawns, which consisted of a large portion of a very tasty potato salad topped with the delicious little red prawns. Julie also went for La Santa prawns – they’re a delicacy here and often not available, and hers were served not cooked, but slightly pickled like ceviche, on a plate and they were stunning.
For our mains, Julie chose Quail Wellington – two small filo pasties stuffed with quail and vegetables and drizzled with a delicious gravy. I went with more fish, this time another delicacy, which was Carabinero with chorizo stuffing. It was amazing, served in a foil envelope and every mouthful was bursting with flavour and goodness.
The presentation and care that went into the dishes is just superb, and the flavour of everything is perfect, and each dishes integrity is added to, rather than overpowered. But, the portions are quite small, and we were surprised that the mains were served without anything – no garnish and no vegetables. I understand the chef wanting the dish to do all the talking, and that’s fine, but why not offer a side of locally grown vegetables in season? There aren’t any side dishes or even side salads on the menu.
For dessert I chose, on the recommendation of another guest, the Huevos Mole, which was a kind of egg mousse, with crunchy gofio. It was a good choice – absolutely delicious and I’d love to know how to make it. Julie had Papaya with smoked cheese – a chunk of smoked cheese ice cream in a sea of pure’ed papaya, and that too was incredibly tasty and the perfect end to the meal.
I’d describe the service as “upmarket.” Very discrete, professional and fast, but not the most friendly – I got the impression that it isn’t the done thing to have a chat or a laugh with guests.
In summary, a wonderful, tranquil place to enjoy a really top class meal made with ingredients of the very best quality, and served and presented beautifully. We’d go again for a special occasion.
César Lanzarote, as you’d expect, is expensive. My single carabinero was 55 €, but it was the most expensive dish on the menu. Our total bill came to 90 € a head, with two zero alcohol beers, a glass of wine, water and two coffees.
You’ll find César Lanzarote at Camino Barranco Por la Vegueta, 24 in La Asomada, and you can book a table on their website: César Lanzarote.
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