Last night, my wife, son and I had the great pleasure of dining in Pascal restaurant in Los Cristianos. We hadn’t planned to go there but just happened to be passing and dropped in. We were welcomed by a very pleasant host who showed us to our table.
My first impression was one of shock. I am not used to seeing such beautifully decorated restaurants in Los Cristianos. It’s style, which can be quite confusing oscillates between, Thai, Indian and Moroccan. My second thought was, ‘oh no, my son is going to touch something and break it.’ I began to think that it maybe wasn’t a good idea to be there with our seven year old, but the maître d’ soon put my mind at rest. Once we had sat down he explained that they could provide something simple for my son, no problem at all.
Once we had sat down in our plush leather chairs i had a chance to peruse the menu. You have the option of paying 35€ per person, which gives you one starter, one main dish and desert, or to pay each plate separately. All the starters cost 12€, the mains 19€ and the desserts 7.50€
We ordered a couple of glasses of Californian Cabernet Sauvignon which was delightfully fruity and light and a great treat to see such a wonderful new world wine on offer. It’s very rare to see anything other than Rioja or Ribera del Duero on offer in restaurants on the island.
After several long minutes of deliberation of the menu, we finally decided what we were going to eat. We started with a French goats cheese pasty and foie with sweetbread and jam. Both dishes were amazing. The goats cheese came wrapped in a floaty light and crispy flaky pastry that cracked and crunched beautifully as I cut it with my knife. The foie was equally delicious, not too fatty and combined perfectly with the bread and fig jam that came with it. Both dishes came served on slate plates and decorated with figs. The most surprising item on the plate was the dusting of icing sugar over the goats cheese pasty. It worked wonderfully with that little sweet touch.
For the main we shared a free range chicken breast, stuffed with caramelized pineapple and served with a mildly spicy red curry and coconut sauce. It really was a superb combination of flavours. The sweetness of the pineapple really played well against the spiciness of the red curry. The rice that accompanied it was also good, with vegetables, but in my opinion slightly overcooked, but that didn’t stop me enjoying it.
Although we weren’t that hungry, we did choose dessert. I had a frozen chocolate Marquesa with a raspberry coulis, and my wife had a crème caramel with mint. Both desserts were luscious and light and left us feeling completely satisfied. Our delightful host then offered us a small ‘chupito’ to go with our bill, we opted for limoncello, although when it came out it was more like half a bottle!
At the end, we paid 99€ for everything, which was a bottle of sparkling water, four glasses of wine, a Fanta, our sons beef steak with chips, two starters, one main course and two desserts. Was it worth it? Yes definitely. The food was exquisite, the service courteous and knowledgeable. I can’t wait for the next visit.