La Chama

I used to visit this restaurant on a very regular basis when I first arrived in Corralejo (in December 1999) and, in fact, it was one of the first establishments we visited when we were searching for a location for the Rogue’s gallery. Oscar and Montse who own the restaurant decided not to sell and have since become a family of four ( two children of four years and 7 months old). Oscar is a Majorero from Fuerteventura and the delightful Montse hails from Andalucia. They were assisted in the kitchen last night by two staff and the restaurant provides a selection of daily tapas, “medio raciones” and full dishes as well a “menu d’el dia” at lunchtimes.

The restaurant is located just off Corralejo High Street (diagonally opposite Josie’s English restaurant). It is decorated in typical rustic Spanish Style with a selection of old fashioned farming implements on the walls and pictures of country scenes. A selection of the daily tapas is displayed in a chiller cabinet behind the bar.

I arrived last night for a very quick supper (due to time constraints) and chose four tapas between two of us and the dishes were served very speedily. For starters we chose the Russian salad and “Ropa Vieja” which is a typical Canarian dish, literally translated as “old Clothes” which essentially is a hearty soup containing all the leftovers from the previous day’s cooking and normally bulked out with chick peas. This particular dish included a good mixture of pork, chicken and vegetables along with the chick peas. We also chose the leg of pork, which was served in slices with an abundance of garlic along and a large dish of mushrooms, prawns and ham. The ham was a little sparse but good quality Serrano ham all the same and there was a large amount of excellent prawns and the mushrooms were plump and buttery. The four dishes together provided a good filling meal along with the fresh warm bread rolls and alioli. Sadly, they did not serve butter but that was my only complaint.

The dishes on offer include a mixture of standard Spanish and Canarian fare such as goat’s cheese, stuffed piquillo peppers, octopus Galician style, pimientos pardon, churros pescado, tortilla and meat balls. The meat dishes include entrecote, beef stoganoff, veal escalope, chicken and pork chops. Paella is available to order in advance and the fresh fish fillet and squid (a la Romana or grilled) are on the menu.

Of an evening, there s normally a handful of customers drinking at the bar or enjoying a single tapas and there is a steady stream of customers sitting at the tables enjoying a more substantial meal. The price of my meal was extremely reasonable and all the prices I saw on the menu were very good value.