Holiday Foodsteps: St. Cruz de Tenerife

St. Cruz de Tenerife is like a dream - gorgeous mountains, palm trees, sidewalk cafes and winter temperatures of 27 degrees celcius. Yes, extremely difficult to beat. We spend our time wandering around the small town centre, just a short (well marked) way from the marina. The town is a mix of new and old - on one hand, a market square that offers a lovely selection of fresh produce and on the other, a chic shopping area where we happily indulge in some retail therapy.

The market square is a celebration of colours, with impressive displays of fresh fruit and vegetables. Papayas larger than rugby balls - it took all of my reserve not to bring one back onto the ship with me.

Racks of spices that range from exotic to medicinal.

Of course, Spain would not be Spain without the ham.

At some point during our time at the market, faced with the many freshly baked pastries on display, Sapna and I rather foolishly think that we had found torrijas, those remarkable doughnuts that we had in Madrid. Alas, it was wishful thinking on our part as we discovered that we had really just purchased a custard-filled doughnut.

We wanted to move away from the usual Spanish tapas to see what else the island could offer - perhaps not exactly the best decision. We ended up in what (after settling down and placing our orders) appeared to be a fast food outlet of some sort that probably didn't quite provide a good representation of Tenerifian cuisine.

My starter - you guessed it, mushroom and scrambled eggs on toast. We had a good laugh about this as this would really be a typical lunchtime dish for me back in London.

Cuban Rice - rice with a fried banana, chips, tomato sauce and two runny eggs.

Crispy calamari with an interesting coleslaw-mash potato side.

Swordfish for the pescatarian.

So, another one of those life lessons:
Do not accidentally walk into a fast food outlet, even if rather cleverly disguised, just because "it was there".

Less than great choices aside, I have nothing but happy, sun-filled memories of St. Cruz de Tenerife.