We’ve just spent a week on Tenerife on the Costa Adeje. Most of the restaurants there are cheap and offer mediocre quality at best. Reviews on the internet are not of much use because most people going here seem to like this mediocre food and appear to award five stars (out of five) only if the service is friendly. Although we have not sampled restaurants exhaustively, here’s my take from a week’s stay with links to the full reviews I posted on TripAdvisor.

1. Rosso sul Mare in La Caleta: our favorite. Authentic Italian, great seafood, nice decor, good view, good wine list, dishes between 10 and 20 euros. We spent around 125 euros for 2 including wine. Food 9/10, service 8/10, value 8/10.

2. El Patio in Hotel Jardin Tropical (Playa Las Américas): more formal, for special occasions. Original contemporary cuisine with a local touch. Not quite good enough for a Michelin star. Excellent wine pairings. We spent 175 euros for 2 including wine. Food 8.5/10, service 8/10, wine 9/10, value 8/10.

3. San Marco in El Duque. Straightforward Italian food by actual Italians. Would be average in Italy but stands out from the crowd in Costa Adeje. We spent 80 euros for 2 including wine. Food 7/10, service 7/10, value 7/10.

4. Capri Little Italy in Playa de Fañabé. Less authentic than San Marco but cheaper and not bad. We spent 40 euros for 2 including wine. Food 6.5/10, service 7/10, value 8/10.

We also tried Great Little Italy (food 5/10, service 7/10, value 6/10) and La Brasserie (food 6/10, service 7/10, value 6/10) on Playa de Fañabé, but I would not recommend those unless the seaview is really important. For something simple for lunch Edward’s on Playa de Fañabé wasn’t bad and good value (food 7/10, service 6/10, value 8/10).

Conclusion: don’t go to Tenerife for the food, but if you look hard enough you can find decent places even in tourist areas.