This is a bit late since I am already back in Ireland after the trip but I figured a late post is better than no post.
At the end of November, Les and I took a much needed vacation to the sunny coasts of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It was a bit cooler than we expected, especially when the sun wasn’t out. For the three weeks we were there, it was cloudy and raining for about two weeks of it.
When the sun did come out, the place was amazing. And on top of that, I haven’t had so much GOOD FOOD in my life!!! Coming back to Ireland, I found out that I have gained about 5 pounds during the three weeks there. The jeans are fitting a bit tight now and it’s dangerous seeing as how the Christmas season is here.
We were staying out in Los Christianos so it was a bit more relaxed and chilled out (there were a lot of older people there) as opposed to Las Americas where there seems to be a younger crowd.
Crazy sand castle
In any case, while we were there, I celebrated my 26th birthday! Whoooooo! Seeing as how I haven’t had sushi or Japanese food in a while, we decided to head up to a recommended restaurant for a more Japanese inspired menu. The place we ended up in was the Oriental Monkey in Las Americas.
The ambiance is pretty amazing. It is part of four other restaurants/bars that are under the same chain.
Sangria!
We started off with some sangrias (so incredibly traditional!) because I was having a terrible craving for it. The menu is small but a lot of the stuff on it sounds pretty amazing. It is on the more pricey end compared to most other places in Tenerife but it was still a good experience.
While we were waiting for our food, the chef gave us a complimentary aperitif that was really interesting.
It was a variety of different fried cereal chips and two olive-infused jellies. The olive jellies were really intensely olive-y. Les didn’t like them very much but I loved it. It was like eating two olives at once but with no pits! The cereal chips were also lovely. They were very light and crispy. We then ordered the duck spring rolls to share.
It was DELICIOUS. It wasn’t super heavy despite the size and the sauce it came with was a orangey-citrus type plum sauce that has a bit of chillies mixed in to give it an added spicy kick. It was the perfect starter.
Les ordered the duck fried rice main course while I stuck to sushi.
The fried rice dish was amazing and actually quite a surprisingly filling meal. It came with a marinated duck breast that rested on a bed of fried rice that has been cooked with eggs, shallots, mushrooms and Chinese style BBQ pork.
I got the spicy tuna maki and a crunchy salmon-type roll (I can’t remember what it was actually). The spicy tuna was raw while the other one was cooked. It was pretty good and fixed my craving for some sushi for a while. The tuna was pretty fresh and has a good amount of kick in it. The crunchy roll came with a sweet sort of marinade sauce that went well together.
After our dinner, we took a long walk by the ocean back to Los Christianos where our apartment was. Seeing as how it was my birthday, we dropped into one of the local cafes that were still open to pick up a slice of cake! You can’t have a birthday without birthday cake!
It’s a bit sad 🙂 but it does the job!
~JGM
Canuck Across the Pond 