Citurna were originally located in the centre of town, but we didn’t ever manage to try them while they were there, so we used a trip to the southernmost resort to check them out at their new location at Las Colorades.
They describe their cuisine as “casual food.” The new premises are really spacious, light and airy, with plenty of glass, and they were busy the night we visited, so we were pleased to have booked.
The tables are simple, but robust, and the menu offers a really interesting range of dishes, with “Snacks” which are one course meals for those not too hungry, a selection of hot and cold starters, mains, sides and desserts. The owners are from South America, and many dishes are based on south American staples, but often with a twist, for example, of Asian or local Canarian elements.
As neither of us was driving, we each chose a pre dinner cocktail to enjoy while we were perusing the menu. I had a classic Margarita, which was superb, and Julie went for a Mexican Mule, which she described as having a real Kick of Tequila!
We decided to share three starters – Korean chicken, a prawn taco and croquettes. I actually elected for a dish called Beef Keftas, but they’d run out of them, so the waitress suggested the croquettes.
The Korean Chicken was an absolute show stopper – spicy, crispy, sweet and delicious. It was so good that we tried to re-create it at home a few days later, and we got pretty close. The prawn taco was lovely and fresh – served in a crispy taco shell, with prawns, avocado, coleslaw and chipotle mayonnaise. The croquettes were OK, but I wouldn’t order them again. The portion was huge, and the dish was fine, but nothing stood out about it.
For our mains, Julie chose Iberico pork “Al Pastor.” It was a loin of pork, marinated in Chillies, and cooked with roasted pineapple and served with corn flour tortillas. The pineapple sauce cut through the greasiness of the pork really well and it was served in a separate bowl. The flavour blend was wonderful, although the meat wasn’t the best cut we’ve come across, and the tortillas were very strongly corn flavoured.
I went for an intriguing dish – “Covered Chaufa Rice,” which was served in a bowl, completely covered by a thin omelette. The waitress then mixed the rice and omelette together in front of me, and it became a delicious egg fried rice, perfectly moist and succulent, with vegetables, bean sprouts and Char Siu pork. A really interesting, tasty and innovative dish.
We also ordered a side of truffle fries, which were perfectly seasoned, and not, as so often happens, “over truffled.”
We ordered too much food, as we often do – the portions are very generous at Citurna.
As it was a special occasion we had a bottle of Sancerre to go with the meal and also one of fizzy water.
The service was excellent throughout, and we felt very well looked after all evening.
CIturna is definitely somewhere worth visiting, it’s a joy to see really unusual dishes, and to be able to try things we’ve never had before. The upside of the location is that they have plenty of space, but the downside is it’s now some way out of town. We arrived prepared to walk the 5KM back to our hotel, because taxis have been in short supply in the resort lately. But our waitress said she’d order one for us, and it arrived within 5 minutes.
Our total bill was €70 a head, but €40 of the total was a bottle of good wine, and as mentioned above, we ordered too much food! Have a more normal wine and lose at least one of the dishes and you’ll eat very well for around €45 a head.
Citurna is at Calle El Moral, 1, Las Coloradas, Playa Blanca. You can see their full menu and book a table, at their website: Citurna Casual Food.
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