We’re here to help you have the best possible time on Gran Canaria. And if you like dinner and a show, we’ll show you where to go. Our review series continues in Bahía Feliz.
Garbo’s in Gran Canaria’s south east was our last night out on the island. A venue where you’re wined and dined, accompanied by a live soundtrack of show tunes. Or so we thought.
Travelling south from the airport, Bahía Feliz is the first resort you’ll encounter on Gran Canaria. It’s one of the island’s most understated ones. With the bright lights of Garbo’s dominating the area’s nightlife scene from October through to April.
- Garbo’s: what we ate
- Garbo’s: what we drank
- Garbo’s: what we saw and heard
1. Garbo’s: what we ate
Our expectations were low regarding what would end up in/on our bowl/plate. Despite, or maybe even because, reading about the provenance of the cream of tomato soup, the fixed starter. Apparently, it’s a recipe passed down the generations to the chef.
And yet the soup tasted tinny. That maybe because it was poured steaming hot from a metallic pitcher into our bowls. Now was that some kind of double bluff on the part of the kitchen?
Moving onto our mains and Mrs Gran Canaria Local’s Chicken Supreme was certainly plated attractively. However, there was too much creamy mushroom jus for her. This is a woman, after all, who prefers her sauce on stage.
Mr Gran Canaria Local’s veggie lasagne was another looker of a meal. Given the low number of vegetarian covers (there was just one more on our table we shared with six other punters), we’re not disputing it wasn’t freshly made on the premises. However, a can opener was definitely involved in preparing the vegetables used.
Yet the rest of our fellow guests wolfed down their food appreciatively. So, perhaps Mr and Mrs GCL have morphed into Anton Ego and Solene LeClaire. Although there was common consensus on our table that what was presented as baked alaska bore little or no resemblance to the New York classic.
Garbos chair
It’s always showtime at Garbo’s
Milking the crowd at Garbos
All the world’s a stage
Garbos table setting
All set up at Garbo’s
The Brit Invasion at Garbos
Celebrating Brit hits at Garbo’s
2. Garbo’s: what we drank
Mr and Mrs Gran Canaria Local enjoyed a VIP Diamonds package (63€) which included show, three-course meal, coffee, and a free bar of beer, house wine, soft drinks, and water. Both the house wines hailed from the Spanish Peninsula.
The Finca Venta D Don Quixote white was a little light for our palates. Much preferable was the full-blooded red courtesy of Duque de Medina. Coffee was of the old-school, kick-ass variety.
3. Garbo’s: what we saw and heard
Mr Gran Canaria Local will admit to some eye rolling when he discovered that the whole Garbo’s experience lasted four and a half hours. We were told to pitch up at 7:00pm. Great, he thought, 310 minutes of show tunes.
Mrs Gran Canaria Local, by contrast, imagined reliving fave West End memories. Taking a trip down the Nostalgia/Drury Lane. Except she didn’t recognize the first number and another one reminded us of a national anthem.
You don’t come to Garbo’s for the food. Although you do for the service or perhaps we should say servers. For your waiter’s also a performer.
Our Julia would explain that we needed to tell her if we needed anything right now as she was off on a solo number or a team extravaganza. She’d advise us to visit the bar if we needed a top-up. Not that we did, with the house wines being more than enough booze.
Mr GCL’s eyes stopped rolling and his feet started tapping during the British Invasion sequence. The Garbo’s version of historical events continued into the 80s, with singalong numbers from the likes of Madness and Bros. Mr Gran Canaria Local’s not ashamed to have proved that he knew all the words. Thankfully, this evidence was drowned out by an impressive audio system reproducing some rather more professional warbling.
Disclaimer: Mr and Mrs Gran Canaria Local enjoyed a complimentary Saturday-night VIP Diamonds package. We’d gladly pay to return. And that’s our honest opinion.