Vol.3
Quick facts
Fun meter: Yummy
Location: Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Adventure: Food
Type: Tapas
Time: However long it takes you to eat
Level of difficulty: Really easy
Good for what ages: All ages
Cost: Medium
Access: Parking is hard in this area but there are paid parking garages
Hint: the cheese and olives are delicious
Overview
The mercadillo del puerto is a tall open space with a lot of small restaurant stalls and grocery stands. It’s right behind la puntilla and it is a perfect break during a beach day. Sojourns favorite beach playground is close by. We love to grab food in there for lunch/early dinner between activities because everyone can pick someone different. Mom and dad ate weird sandwiches. Sojourn and I ordered sushi. I also bought some cheese and dad got fancy olives.
How to get to the Mercadillo del Puerto
The mercadillo is one block from the most popular sand beach at Las Canteras. If you look at a map, it is at the narrowest part of the island. The beach at La Puntilla has gorgeous white sand and plenty of space, even at high tide. It is the spot with all the boats on the beach. We love hanging on the beach, and then going for tapas around 3:30pm once the lunch crowd has left. Walk behind the big bandstand, down the people only street, and you will see it. I focused this article on the tapas, but in the morning, the grocery stalls are open and you can buy fresh fruit and fish and more. There are a number of underground garages, but we always walk so I don’t really know where to park.
Bocadillos //Tiny Sandwiches
Bocadillos are mini sandwiches. It actually translates to tiny bite. It’s a small slice of toast with all kinds of things on top. Lots of people eat them with fancy cured ham. Some with cheese and vegetables. Or weird fish. Mom and dad’s had one with grilled veggies and almogrote (cheese herb sauce). I thought it looked weird. They also had one with a tiny fried egg from a quail bird and a tiny hotdog.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE OLIVE?
I love the cheese from the Canary Islands. Every time we go to a restaurant, I like to order a cheese plate and olives. I went for a slightly smokey and salty hard goat cheese. Totally my jam. But daddy forgot to take a picture of the cheese. You’ll just have to trust me. The Acitunas Antequera (olives) are so good here that I am spoiled. It is hands down the best Olive in the world. If we went back to America some day, I would bring back a barrel of Antequera olives and use the Harry Potter refilling charm to make it infinite. We had two types today, traditional with garlic + red bell pepper, and olives in mojo. Mojo is a Canarian spicy sauce and they put it on everything. I liked the traditional olives better, but dad snatched the mojo ones and they disappeared like that. The place where I got the cheese also had a bunch of classic cured ham.
Sushi
While mom and dad wanted bocadillos, I really felt like sushi. I’m so happy when there are so many options. The sushi place let me tell them how many individual rolls I wanted. Sojourn got a bunch of slices of salmon and rice. Mom and I picked tempura rolls, rolls with cucumber, crab and fish eggs, tuna rolls. I did not like the tempura rolls and the rest all tasted almost the same. It was not the best sushi I’ve had on the island, but it was not bad. I’m still on the hunt for a great sushi place like the one down the street from our old house in California. If you find one, let me know.
Do you like sushi?
Me too! Sojourn eats it every week. I could eat fresh raw tuna for almost every meal.
There Are Other Options
There were also a lot of other stalls with cured ham, pizzas, seafood and more. Everyone can find something.
The best playground on las Canteras
Towards the end of Playa Grande, near la Puntilla, is a playground on the sand. There is a play structure shaped like a boat, as well as a normal playground, traditional swings and even a swing for someone in a wheelchair (it is fun to play in). Sojourn loves the place where you put sand in it and it comes out in strips. It is always full of kids, and it is a great place to have a little kids birthday party. We had my little brother’s birthday party there a few years ago.
Sorry random woman who is in our photo.
Traveling With Serenity 