Comfort eating's an option in Fuerteventura. Tucking into grub you like to enjoy at home. Yet whilst you're away, how about letting your taste buds play with some new flavour sensations? However, our top 10 restaurants in Fuerteventura offer some familiar cuisine alongside the more unfamiliar. In no particular order, they are as follows.
1.) Cantante Cafe
Take a head chef who's worked under the Michelin-starred Mark Hix in the UK, mix in locally-sourced produce, and you end up with Cantante Cafe's innovative gourmet menu. Short on quantity of dishes, it's long on quality. Enjoy a meal with a view, as you can survey the neighbouring islands of Lanzarote and Lobos from the vantage point of your table.
Contact details: Paseo Atlantico 2, 35660, Corralejo. 928 537 357. website.
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday: 9:00am - 2:00am
2.) Restaurante Marabu
Unlucky for you if your holiday on Fuerteventura's during the first week of December, the last week of January, or from the third week of June through to the end of the July. For these periods mark Restaurante Marabu's vacaciones. If your vacation doesn't coincide with the restaurants's, you'll be able to yummy down on sumptuously-prepared Mediterranean cuisine in an ambient setting.
Contact details: Calle Fuente de Hija, 35626, Morro Jable/Esquinzo. 928 544 098. website.
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday: 1:00pm - 11:00pm
3.) La Arroceria
La Arroceria reminds you that whilst the African coast lies just 100km away, Fuerteventura's very much Spain. So, you'll be able to feast on the finest Valencian paellas and rice dishes from Alicante. Washed down with a glass or two of Bocopa's fine wine.
Contact details: Calle Pejin 10, 35660, Corralejo. 928 535 291. website.
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday: 12:30pm - 10:30pm
4.) Casa Toño
Although red tuna's a speciality, the food prepared by rising star of Spanish cooking, Toño Alonso, is as about the turf as much as the surf. And so goat and ox turn up on the menu. And for lovers of an after-dinner drink, the only dilemma will be which of the more than 40 gins to choose to accompany your tonic.
Contact details: Calle Alcalde Alonso Patallo 8, 35600, Puerto del Rosario. 928 344 736. website.
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday: 12:00pm - 12:00am
5.) Land of Freedom
Land of Freedom? Is it a pub, restaurant, or wine bar? In truth, it's probably all three rolled into one. A new addition to the Fuerteventura gastronomic scene, this eatery only opened in summer 2014. And wherever you come from, you should be able to understand the menu; seeing as it's been painstakingly translated into 48 different languages.
Ostensibly specializing in Italian cuisine, Land of Freedom are committed to the slow-food philosophy. They offer tasting trays with five dishes paired with five wines (or juices for kids). Themes include land, sea, and vegetarian. If you then want a larger portion of something you've sampled, the kitchen are happy to prepare it for you. Although as yet there have been no takers; with visitors reserving space for dessert.
Contact details: Urbanización Lobos Bahia Local 5, Avenida Nuestra Señora del Carmen, 35660, Corralejo. 928 867 732. website.
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday: 9:30am - 11:30pm
6.) Restaurante Mahoh
Housed in an early 19th-century rural abode, Restaurante Mahoh takes its name from an old aboriginal word meaning "My land, my country." Mahoh's also the appelation for an environmental group set up to preserve Fuerteventura's landscape. Its president's restaurant owner, Tinín Martinez.
It's a family affair at Restaurante Mahoh with Martinez' son in law Victor Curbelo acting as the maître d'hôtel. A temple to classic Canarian fare, the menu features such staples as potaje de berros (watecress stew), papas arrugadas con mojo picón (salty boiled new potatoes with spicy sauce) and baifo (goat). The restaurant's beautiful garden displays flora both endemic and imported to the island.
Contact details: Calle Francisco Bordón Méndez 1, Sitio Juan Bello, 35640, Villaverde. 928 868 050.
Opening hours: Monday to Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday (closed Wednesdays) 1.00pm - 12:00am
7.) Rojo Tomate
There are more than red tomatoes to eat at this family-run pizzeria. And not only green peppers. Chef Alberta lovingly prepares everything on the menu, from the focaccias available as starters through to the fresh pasta and later the meringues which accompany your post-meal coffee.
Contact details: Calle La Cancela 8, 35650, Lajares. 928 861 513. website.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday: 6:00pm - 11:00pm
8.) The Ugly Duckling
Small but perfectly formed Scandinavian restaurant marries style with substance. See what all the fuss is about regarding Danish cuisine without paying the sky-high prices of the likes of Copenhagen's Noma. A recently-updated wine list features vintages from Lanzarote's leading wineries.
Contact details: Calle Isla de Lobos 2, 35660, Corralejo. 618 044 896. website.
Opening hours: Open for dinner only. Times vary from week to week. Call to reserve in advance.
9.) La Vaca Azul
Settings don't get much more special than La Vaca Azul's on the old harbourfront in El Cotillo. This seafood restaurant does a mean paella, as you can see in the picture above. Vegetarians, though, will prefer the local majorero cheese which is battered and then fried before being served with a dipping jam.
Contact details: Calle Requena 9, 35650, El Cotillo. 928 538 685. website.
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday: 10:00am - 10:00pm
10.) Baobab Juice Bar Casa Vegetariana
Veggies will be even more spoiled for choice at Baobab Juice Bar Casa Vegetariana which is so (pure) vegetarian-friendly, it's actually vegan. Unlucky not to make the cut for our top 10 vegetarian restaurants in Spain, it goes big on the usual suspects to be found in an organic larder. So, expect to see plenty of cous cous, seitan, tofu, and tempeh on the menu.
Most of the decor's at this relaxed restaurant's recycled. There's an emphasis on fat-free breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. So make your way to Baobab Juice Bar Casa Vegetariana if you want to get fit rather than fat on a Fuerteventura holiday.
Contact details: Calle José Seguro Torres 14, 35660, Corralejo. website.
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday: 10:00am - 5:00pm