Guachinche El Romance in La Orotava, Tenerife

We keep discovering Tenerife through its food and its guachinches, and this time it’s the turn of the Guachinche El Romance. Guachinche El Romance is in the Barrio de Barroso, in La Orotava. For us it’s an ideal place to eat after visiting the Teide and carrying on exploring the north of Tenerife.

If you’ve never been to one, a guachinche is a simple, cheap Canarian eatery serving the local wine (here, home-grown) and home cooking — above all chargrilled meat.

The guachinche is run by Mauro and his family. They’re very quick with the service and just as attentive and friendly — you’ll feel like you’re eating at friends’ house. As soon as you climb the stairs, you come across a green wall covered in funny phrases. Impossible not to stop and look, and take a couple of photos.

The atmosphere

Once inside, the first thing you find is the kitchen with its grill and our favourite spot, a little “venta” — what they call the old shops in Tenerife where you could buy anything from a bar of soap to a dozen eggs and put it on the tab until next time. Have you seen how lovely the old scales are?

Carrying on through the restaurant, you’ll see the small rooms where you can settle in, the area dedicated to Romance, and another Canarian cave-style room that’s very cosy.

As its owner Mauro told us, the Guachinche El Romance owes its name to the purebred horse he had. When it died, he decided to honour it by giving its name to the guachinche. Once inside, you’ll see there’s an area dedicated to Romance, with photos of competitions and saddles. A lovely gesture from Mauro.

Have you seen what a romantic little corner this is? It’s a little table for two where you can enjoy some privacy, thanks to this sackcloth curtain.

The terrace

Cold or hot, we always end up on the terrace. And if you’re going with kids, we recommend sitting outside. The views are spectacular and there’s a little pond with fish and a turtle, which delights the little ones. Lily loves sitting and watching them and feeding them bread.

With kids

If you’re going with little ones, sit on the terrace: it has a pond with fish and a turtle they love (Lily adores feeding them bread). The service is also quick and the atmosphere very family-friendly.

What to eat

But let’s talk about food. Remember you’re in a guachinche, and the rules aren’t the same as a restaurant, so there are some limitations. To drink there’s only: water, soft drinks or home-grown wine. As for food, there’s no menu. The waiter will tell you the dishes of the day. It can be a bit stressful ordering without knowing the prices, but trust us — on average you’ll pay between €10 and €15 per person. The dishes they usually offer are:

Starters

Breaded mushrooms, dressed tomatoes, fresh cheese, garbanzas (chickpeas), salad, chicken croquettes, escalón de gofio, fabada (bean stew), huevos estampida, papas arrugadas (wrinkly potatoes).

Mains

Bichillo, secreto, Iberian secreto, ribs, chops, chicken, mixed grill, and so on. All chargrilled. This place is paradise for meat lovers.

Desserts

They offer a wide variety of desserts, the most popular being a very simple, tasty one made with María biscuits filled with fresh cheese and quince paste. This dessert will whisk you back to your childhood.

But the truth is we’ve never had dessert at Guachinche El Romance, because when we go to La Orotava, we take the chance to have dessert at the oldest patisserie in the Canary Islands, Casa Egon. Do you know it?

How to get there and opening hours

If you want to know how to get to Guachinche El Romance and its opening hours, here’s all the info:

Address

Carretera General Las Cañadas, Km 9.200, Barroso (La Orotava), Tenerife.

Opening hours

Open Wednesday to Sunday, 13:00 to 16:00 and 19:00 to 23:00 (on Sundays, lunchtime only). It’s worth booking, especially at weekends.

Bookings

Phone: 676 86 96 29

Good to know

Although there are blackboards around the guachinche saying that you can’t pay by card, you actually can. Just mention it, because we’d always assumed you couldn’t, but the last time we went we saw they had a card machine, so we asked and indeed, they accept cards.

Traditionally, guachinches only open a few months a year, while their wine harvest lasts. El Romance, however, tends to be open for a good part of the year; even so, we recommend confirming before you go.

Our verdict

El Romance is one of our favourite guachinches in the north: the chargrilled meat is delicious, the welcome from Mauro and his family is warm — like eating at friends’ house — and the terrace with views and the pond make it ideal with kids. The only thing is that, with no priced menu, ordering can be a little daunting, but on average you pay between €10 and €15 per person. Highly recommended.

If you’re into guachinches, we also visited El Miradero, in Icod de los Vinos.