If you’re a fan of fine dining and really top class service, you will want to read on!
We’d booked Kamezí for a special birthday treat. It’s located within the gated complex of Kamezí Villas, but is open to the general public as well.
The first question we had on arrival was “Have you been before?” When we said no, our host told us he was going to give us a short tour. First he showed us the produce section, where fresh herbs are grown and he took us through the many local ingredients they use, explaining which part of the island they come from, and showing us the produce market inside the restaurant where you can buy them. Next we visited the bakery, where the bread is made fresh every day, and then we moved onto the bar area and finally the kitchen, which is completely open to the restaurant. All the staff, throughout, looked up from their work to say hello to us.
We were shown to a table next to the glass doors overlooking their outside water feature, which was a fabulous position. The restaurant isn’t large, and is furnished in a sort of modern rustic style. All the crockery is locally hand made, and different styles of dishes are used for each of the courses, with amazing cutlery, which is burnished in different colours for each course.
Kamezí does a tasting menu, which changes according to season and availability of the ingredients. There’s a 9 course or a 12 course version. Either can be paired with wines chosen by the team, or you can, of course, order your own drinks.
We decided to have a cocktail to start with, and I had a Chocopiña, which was a fabulous Piña Colada, with a hint of chocolate. Julie went with a Green Dream, which was a gin based cocktail which tasted of green apples. A perfect start!
We chose the 12 course meal, and told the waitress we wanted the wine pairing as well. We were a little apprehensive as our recent experience with tasting menus has been that there was too much food, and we’ve felt rushed. That certainly wasn’t the case at Kamezí, and I’d say the size of the dishes and the pacing of them was perfectly judged.
Victor, the sommelier, arrived soon after our “pre-appetiser,” and asked if we wanted a Canarian Wine pairing, or the international pairing. We went for the latter, on the basis we already know most Canarian wines. It turned out to be an inspired choice! Victor is extremely knowledgable, and he introduced us to some stunning wines, which worked perfectly with each course, and none of which we’d ever had before. We had wines from Serbia and Turkey, for example, which were simply amazing. As he served each, in a fresh and differently shaped glass, he told us about the winery, where it was located in each country, a little about the producers and then told us what we should be tasting. He was simply brilliant and made a memorable evening all the more special.
Click any image to open the gallery with captions:
I’m not going to describe each course here, as it would fill a page, and not be relevant, as the menu changes. But there were several highlights like Strawberry Gazpacho, La Santa Prawns, a Beetroot risotto, slow cooked ribs and some amazing locally caught Sama. Each was cooked perfectly, served with an incredible array of foams, sauces, edible flowers and fresh herbs. Every single dish was an explosion of colour, flavour, and something to make your senses dance. We even had a special Tequila shot as a palate cleanser in the middle, served with real style, with the lemon being cut at the table, and small bowls of black Lanzarote salt.
When we finally reached dessert, we were blown away by the Creme Brûlée made with goats milk. Not only was it amazingly sweet and rich, but the topping was perfectly crisp and laced with cinnamon.
We had a final surprise at the end when a small birthday cake was delivered to Julie, which was a total surprise as neither of us had mentioned the occasion. We asked the waitress how she knew and she replied enigmatically “We know everything!” My guess is they checked our social media profiles when we booked, and to me, that sums up the quality of the service – it takes only a moment to do something like that, and it leaves a memory which lasts and lasts.
If you follow our restaurant reviews, you’ll know we’ve eaten in hundreds of restaurants in Lanzarote. We agreed afterwards that Kamezí was the best so far, for it’s combination of effortless great service, amazing ingredients and incredible food and wine. We’ll be back.
Kamezí is a “treat” restaurant and it’s quite pricey – our total bill was €160 per person, including cocktails, the 12 course menu, 7 wines, dessert and tip. If you go for the 9 course meal and get a decent bottle of wine, you can keep the cost below €100 a head. During the day, they do a Tapas Tasting menu on the Ocean View Terrace at €30 per person.
Kamezí is in Calle Monaco 2, Playa Blanca. You can call them on 676 87 36 95 or visit their website to book: Kamezí Deli & Bistro.
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.
