Warning: DONOTLEAVETHEISLAND without eating at Son Son. It’s mandatory. No, seriously, I’ve made a law based around this and if you do, I’ll find you and smack you about the chops. No trip to Fuerteventura where my parents live is complete without an epic meal at Son Son, and it’s one of my absolute favourite places to eat. Decked out like a 1950s-style diner, it’s situated in the heart of capital city Puerto del Rosario and it supports the benchmark by which I judge many Canarian eateries — if it’s full of locals, it’s good. Skip the tourist resort trap and head here with haste. You shan’t regret it. Continuing the 1950s theme, the food consists of fries, mountainous bocadillos, hamburgers, croissant sandwiches and perrito calientes(hot dogs) served on crusty bread. My advice is to get a painful hunger on, bring some folks here and share a plate of papas fritas with alioli. Seriously, these things come out so hot and fresh… and they’re already laden with salt. Note: fear of salt content has yet to reach the Canaries. Just look up the recipe for patatas arrugadas and you’ll get my drift. Your fries will come with cute little plastic forks, and as for the rest of the menu, it’s small and perfectly formed. There are many sandwiches to choose from — the regular sandwiches come on that classic Spanish Bimbo bread, sometimes crustless, toasted over a griddle. Bocadillos come on large fresh crusty rolls. Whatever you order, if there’s the option of ‘especial’, TAKEIT. A sandwich or hot dog especial will cost no more than a regular and is heaped with salad, vegetables, a fried egg, cheese and probably even more. Things I’ve had here that I’ve adored have been the sandwich vegetal integral(a tuna, salad and all the trimmings sandwich on griddled wholemeal bread), the bocadillo con tortilla gambas(a crusty roll with a thick prawn omelette) and a soft cold sandwich made with prawns and avocado. The prawns you’ll experience certainly aren’t your regular boring Marie Rose tiny tiddlers, although they do use the sauce liberally. These are massive juicy things, rather like tiger prawns. My mum loves the pollo especial made with shredded chicken, the other half was very keen on his club sandwich with bacon overload and my dad’s tried loads and has yet to be disappointed. A warning to veggies: Fuerteventura might not be too kind to you, but give it a chance — one bite of a bocadillo con tortilla patatas(Spanish omelette sandwich made with potato and onions) and you’ll feel very at home. I know this from when I had my temporary aversion to fish. They serve alcohol here like most cafés in Rosario, and if you’ve room for dessert you can pick out a sundae or milkshake made with Kalise ice cream, one of the best named brands here. Then there’s the juicer which pulps any kind of fruit you can think of, fresh and zingy. Anything else? Try adding awesome service, stonking coffee, food coming out faster than you can say ‘I’m starving’ and being criminally cheap to boot… yes, now you can see why I made that law. Abide!
