Janice's Café Restaurant

British Cooking at Club La Costa’s Paradise Club, Tenerife

Sep 15, 2009 Sasha Arms

If visitors don't want to try the local cuisine in Tenerife, Janice's is the place for British tourists to go if they're missing good, old-fashioned home cooking.

First impressions of Janice’s are that it’s visibly less classy than Zacary’s restaurant next door. Plastic tables and chairs give it a typically ‘diner’ or ‘greasy spoon’ feel. And to be honest, that’s exactly what Janice’s gives their customers. Non-fussy, hearty British grub.

Meat and Three Veg

What’s great about Janice’s is that it does what it says on the tin. Unlike Zacary’s next door, which is trying to be something classier than it is, Janice’s gives the majority British clientele of Paradise Club the food they would cook for themselves at home.

Daily specials include a Mixed Grill for nine Euros, or steak and chips and other such British delights. Diners will also find more of their favourites on the menu – lasagne and chips, spaghetti bolognaise, jacket potatoes, burgers and toasted sandwiches. But for the true taste of Britain, guests have to wait for Sunday, when the Brits are most likely to miss home cooking. It’s the Sunday Roast of course, which Janice puts on for hungry Brits lost in Tenerife of a Sunday. She’ll feed you up on those British gems – roast chicken or beef, roast spuds, a selection of veg and of course, Yorkshire puddings. For dessert, apple crumble and custard seems to be a firm favourite.

Is the Food at Janice’s Better than Zacary’s?

The food on offer and the quality of it is pretty much the same between Janice’s and Zacary’s. The difference is that Janice’s doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not and as a result, diners know what to expect and go away feeling that at least they got what they paid for. And they would have paid slightly less for a feed at Janice’s than Zacary’s, which always helps boost the level of satisfaction.

Janice’s doesn’t accept credit cards either, which is usually an outrage in the twenty-first century, but as long as diners realise in advance, is actually marginally endearing. If anything, it gives guests an insight into the fact that they’re pretty much just sitting in Janice’s front room, eating her home cooking served either by herself or her family and friends in high season.

Extra Treats at Janice’s

Despite the ‘plastic’ exterior of Janice’s, the inside provides a pleasant contrast. A shiny, mirror-fronted bar is home to rows of spirits and coloured concoctions, poised to get visitors in the holiday mood. The walls are covered in iconic black and white prints of Audrey Hepburn and the like, and classic tunes come lilting out of the stereo system in the corner. If the outside is Janice’s front room, the inside is her boudoir and although it could seem tacky, it somehow isn’t.

An ice cream bar with rows of traditional and exotic flavoured ice creams (the After Eight flavour is particularly good) join the inside and out. Alongside the daily food specials are the daily booze specials, as anyone who catches sight of the bar would be able to guess. Jugs of Sangria (one of Janice’s only indulgences into her Spanish surroundings) go for just a few Euros and a different ‘Cocktail of the Day’ each day costs just 3.50 Euros.

There’s no gourmet or exacting cuisine at Janice’s. But there isn’t at Zacary’s either. So if Paradise Club guests don’t want to venture off-site to find some decent Spanish food then save a few Euros and go to Janice’s.

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Janice's restaurant, Paradise Club, Tenerife	Janice's menu, Paradise Club, Tenerife	Janice's restaurant, Paradise Club, Tenerife
Zacary's restaurant, Paradise Club, Tenerife	Paradise Club resort, Club La Costa, Tenerife