Corralejo Restaurants: My Guilty Pleasures After long a Surf Session

Half past six, salt drying tight on my face and the board strapped to the roof. After three hours on the water I don't want a salad. I want something greasy, and these are the Corralejo restaurants I head for when I feel I've earned it.

None of this is food you should eat every day. That's the whole point. If you've just got out of the water at Punta Elena or another spot nearby, the town is right there, wetsuit drying on the back seat, and the four places below are where I usually end up.

Tacos in Corralejo: Taquería Malverde

When my arms are still shaking from the last few runs, Malverde is my first stop. It's tucked into a little alley just off the seafront promenade.

Order the quesadillas carnitas. Slow-cooked, crunchy pork in soft tortillas, and the portions are generous. If I want something a bit less heavy, I go for the tacos with camarones, the shrimp version, which still fills the hole without making me want to nap in the car park.

It isn't a sit-down, table-service place. You order at the counter, you pick it up, you sit down, you eat. Nothing on the menu is very spicy, but they give you a proper hot sauce on the side if you want the burn. Of all the Corralejo restaurants on this list, this one has the best workaround for a full house: if every seat is taken, grab a drink at Cheers - the bar next door and have your tacos there.

Burger in Corralejo: Single Fin

Single Fin is my favourite burger in town and the most surfy of my Corralejo restaurants, and it's only a short walk from Malverde, which is dangerous on hungry evenings. The name alone tells you who it's for. It feels like a surf shack that happens to have a grill.

I'm a classic bacon cheeseburger person, sometimes with BBQ sauce. They bake their own bread, and the fries are seriously good. Everything arrives in a plastic basket, which is exactly the right level of fancy when you've still got sand in your shoes. There's a decent craft beer selection too, if you're not driving back.

The practical bit: Single Fin is at Calle Hernán Cortés 2, behind the C.C. Atlántico shopping centre, and it opens from lunchtime. Parking in the centre of Corralejo gets tight in the evening, so a spot a few streets back is often quicker than circling the block. Both this place and Malverde sit close to the seafront, so you can park once and walk between them.

Neapolitan Pizza in Corralejo: Big Wave

Some evenings only pizza will do. Big Wave makes proper Neapolitan pizza: the thick, puffy, doughy crust that you tear off and eat last, a stone oven, and buffalo mozzarella on top. If you can't decide between two pizzas, they'll split the toppings across one, which after a long session is the kind of decision-making I can handle.

As a rough guide, a pizza in Corralejo usually costs somewhere between 8 and 16 euros. Big Wave is the one I keep coming back to among the Corralejo restaurants doing pizza, and I'm clearly not alone, because it fills up fast. Reserve a table or turn up early, because Big Wave is often full in the evening. Walking in at nine with three salty friends and no booking is a gamble.

Ice Cream in Corralejo: El Gusto

Dessert is non-negotiable after a big day. El Gusto is a family business that has been making ice cream in Corralejo for more than ten years. Everything is made in-house, and the flavours rotate regularly. Back in 2014 it even made TripAdvisor's list of the ten best ice cream parlours in Spain. You'll find it on Calle Antonio H. Páez, in the Edificio La Molina.

Here's my honest take. Vrebac, about thirty metres away, is the cooler, trendier spot, and plenty of people swear by it. I still walk straight past it to El Gusto. It's less of a scene, it's been around for years, and the ice cream has never let me down. Ask what the new flavours are before you order your usual.

Where to Eat After Surfing in North Fuerteventura

So that's my list of Corralejo restaurants for the days when discipline goes out the window. Tacos carnitas at Malverde, with the bar next door as backup. A bacon cheeseburger in a plastic basket at Single Fin. Pizza Napoli at Big Wave, booked ahead. Then a scoop at El Gusto to finish.

None of these Corralejo restaurants are about being healthy, and they're not meant to be. They're for the evenings after a serious surf session. 

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