La Mamma Pizzería / Spaghettería
 

La Mamma has been an all time stalwart of many local ex pats as well as regular visitors to Corralejo and rarely, if at all, lets anyone down – by continuously serving very good Italian cuisine at extremely good prices. Everyone has their favourites there, be it the Steak Tropical (Jo and Derek), the Garlic Roll (just about everyone I know), the Poached Eggs Florentine (yours truly) or the Argentinian meat patties (Roger). The staff turnover in the restaurant is very minimal and there is always a good atmosphere of contentment from both the staff and customers.

My first visit there was probably in late 1999 for Angie Macdonald´s hen night where we had a large table in the upstairs restaurant for about 20 of us. I have since been there on a very regular basis for either lunch or dinner and had a large selection of the menu´s offerings. My last visit was this week for lunch with Lynne (Rosie O´Grady´s and Twinkle Trust fame) after delivering some spayed cats to Caleta Playa – as you do. I insisted on a quick snack as I wanted my afternoon siesta but it ended up into a full blown lunch affair (surprise!).

We ate outside the front of the restaurant for some fresh air, although views from the sea pass you by (the rear of the Atlantico centre doesn´t quite match up but still). Lynne hadn´t been to the restaurant before so I insisted that she sample the famous garlic roll (she chose without the cheese) as I explained that there was more garlic butter than roll. I ducked the starter (gulp!) as I was having my usual Poached Eggs Florentine (with cream spinach, ham and cheese) which is very rich and comes bubbling from the oven in an earthenware dish – other similar dishes to this are Courgettes with Meat Stuffing, Courgettes with Spinach and Roquefort Sauce and Aubergines with Meat, Ham and Cheese.

I recommended the pizzas and Lynne asked for a tailormade one of mushrooms and pineapple. The pizzas are quite substantial with a fairly thin base. I have also had the La Mamma (with cream spinach and Roquefort cheese) and the Vegetarian. Others include the Fuerte (with capers and anchovies), the Siciliana (fresh tomato slices and garlic), 4 cheese and a Mexicana (with onion, chilli and baked green sweet pepper) – a total of 26 in all.

As I mentioned, the Argentinian meat patties are a favourite starter. They also serve a 3 or 6 different cheese board, various vol-au-vents (spinach, mushrooms or fillet steak and mushrooms) or a vegetable nest with “pisto” (sweet peppers, onion, garlic and tomato sauce).

The salads are extremely good here and big enough for a substantial main course. I have recently discovered that you can order salads as a take away (as well as the pizzas and pastas). They include a Tropical, Capri, Cabbage, Italian, Mixed, Canarian, Tuna, Mediterranean and La Mamma. Doug and Janet ordered an Italian and a Canarian salad to go with their take away hot roast chicken and they looked extremely fresh and tasty. Talking of take aways, the restaurant is also included in the La Comidilla Expresss delivery service for anyone eating in. I havn´t made use of this service yet but many a time I have eaten in La Mamma and the delivery man is often picking up an order from there – must try this out one night when I´m not working.

As with all good Italian restaurants their lists of pastas is wide-ranging. They include a number of Spaghetti dishes, a selection of either Macaroni or Farfale dishes (Gorgonzola, All´arrabbiata, au gratin with pisto, or au gratin and Bolognese), Tortellini or Ravioli and Cannelloni or Lasagne with varying fillings - Bolognese, 3 cheese, tomato, à la Caruso (cream, mushrooms and ham), Roquefort, Stoffato (chicken sauce), smoked salmon or spinach. They also serve children´s portions.

I mentioned above, a number of the speciality dishes and this also include Trios of Pasta, stuffed Chicken Breast or meat escalope and a very nice Small Escalopes in Marsala wine sauce. Anyone wanting a meat fix will not be disappointed here either – the steaks are of exceptional quality and are served in varying ways – plain grilled, 3 cheese, mushrooms, green pepper sauce and “Tropical” which is served with ham, pineapple and melted cheese in a sweet sauce – I normally don´t “do sweet with savoury” but this is really moreish. The chips served with these dishes are of the nice big fat variety too.

I have always been too full (or too sensible) to go for a dessert but this week I succumbed to a chocolate mousse (after spotting another diner enjoying one). This was served in a tall cocktail glass and was not quite a dark chocolate nor a milk chocolate mousse – somewhere in between. The added extra was the small pieces or pure chocolate embedded throughout which made it very special. There are a couple of Argentinian specialities too – a pancake with milk toffee filling and a puff pastry tartlet with milk toffee filling. They also serve pancakes, a Coupe “Don Pedro” and a Coupe “La Mamma” – vanilla ice-cream with whisky, chocolate and walnuts and vanilla ice-ceam with strawberries and grenadine respectively.

All in all, the restaurant has something for every palate and has an extremely large following of regular customers who swear by its good, wholesome fayre.