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Where can you find nice-price, high-quality Chinese food in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria? Not at one of the infamous buffets on the island. But at one of our more recent discoveries: Restaurante Puerta de Oro.
We’ll start this post by telling you how to get to Restaurante Puerta de Oro before offering a reduced history of the establishment. Then we’ll review what you can drink there. Concluding with an overview of what you can order on the food front.
1. Restaurante Puerta de Oro: where it’s at
A little bit of our heart broke when Calle Sagasta’s Restaurante Chino Fénix closed. Located on the promenade above Las Canteras, it was a favourite with Canarian families. And those who fancied a takeaway, waiting for the dishes to be prepared with a newspaper bought from the nearby kiosk and a trusty bottle of the restaurant’s premier import: Tsingtao.
Unbeknown to us, Restaurante Puerta de Oro was doing a roaring trade just around the corner: in La Puntilla. Its exact postal address is Calle Tenerife 22. You can reserve a table/order a takeaway by calling the super-professional Victoria and team on +34 928 470 037.
Look out for the Restaurante Chino Puerta de Oro Golden Gate sign. There’s a small terrace and more substantial seating inside. The interior is as spick as it is span which we always find reassuring as if an eatery can’t keep their public areas clean, what grime (the non-musical variety) can you expect to find in the kitchen?
Mellow yellow tableclothes continue the Golden-Gate theme. There are traditional Chinese prints decorating the walls. Think solemn pictures of pandas and elegant Mandarin characters which these days you’re as likely to see scrawled across the torsos of Premiership footballers as you are at your local Chinese restaurant.
Restaurante Puerta de Oro have been open for 40+ years. In such a city as the fluid Las Palmas de Gran Canaria where new eateries come and go, that’s some achievement. Making it less a middle-aged establishment than an elder statesperson of an eatery.
2. Restaurante Puerta de Oro: what to drink
The aforementioned Tsingtao makes an appearance on the restaurant drinks menu and you’ll enjoy a floral-scented assault on your tastebuds with a lager whose smooth taste owes a lot to the fact it counts rice amongst its ingredients. There’s also the altogether more Canarian Arehucas, a rum best paired with a lemon slice, ice, and Coca-Cola. Wines come from the peninsula, however, including fiery reds and lily-coloured/fragranced whites from Catalonia’s Torres.
3. Restaurante Puerta de Oro: what to eat
We like to start with your classic opener: the spring roll. At Restaurante Puerta de Oro, both the meat and vegetarian versions of rollo de primavera cost 1,80€. Arriving to the table slightly charred pleasantly suggested a non-involvement of a microwave in the proceedings.
You’ll recognize a panda’s share of the menu from previous Chinese meals. So there’s egg-fried rice (arroz frito con huevo) priced at 3,30€, ternera con salsa de ostras (beef with oyster sauce) for 5,95€, and prawn chop suey (chop suey de gambas) costing 7,70€. But there’s more unfamiliar fare too in merluza rebozada en salsa agridulce (sweet-and-sour hake) for 6,15€ and the 5,30€-priced cucumber with ham and chicken (pepino con jamón y pollo).
The standout, and indeed knockout, dish for us, however, is the mapo tofu (picante). For 7,50€, you’ll embark on a veritable feast of deliciously piquant tofu. It can feed a family but you might decide you want to give eating for four a try.
Disclaimer: We paid in full for our meals as we were attending a friend’s leaving do. Restaurante Puerta de Oro open Wednesday to Monday from 12:00pm until 3:00pm and from 7:00pm to 11:00pm. They do, however, close for their summer holidays.
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Restaurante Puerta de Oro exterior
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s Golden Gate
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Restaurante Puerta de Oro beer
Cheer with beer at Restaurante Puerta de Oro
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Puerta de Oro ceiling
Looking up at Restaurante Puerta de Oro
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Puerta de Oro tofu
Some like it hot at Restaurante Puerta de Oro