Sea of Clouds

The weather on La Palma can be many things - and often at the same time around different parts of the island. In fact, when guests arrive here at the finca either at the cottage accommodation or bed and breakfast, they often ask, 'Is it always like this?' And that is no matter what the weather is doing. The answer to the question is, 'It's never always like anything'. (Incidentally though, if I may take the opportunity to mention it, that is the title of our book out on Kindle later this year - Is it Always Like This? And you might be relieved to hear, it's not just about the weather on La Palma but about our journey which led us to come and live on a finca in the most rural part of one of the smaller and less well-known islands in the Canaries and, yes, fun on the finca.)
But talking of weather, last week we enjoyed a particularly hot spell even at daybreak with the air like a pleasantly warm bath.
And this early morning warm air induced a phenomena known in the Canary Islands as El Mar de Nubes, The Sea of Clouds.

The photo above was taken from our car park area right here on the finca in Franceses, looking westward towards Santo Domingo de Garafia. The time was 07.25 in the morning - what an amazing spectacle to wake up to.

And this photo was taken a couple of minutes later looking eastwards towards Barlovento.
La Palma never ceases to amaze me.

El Bernegal

Any business person will tell you that the key to a successful restaurant is location, location, location. In that case, El Bernegal in Santo Domingo has thrown away the rule book.

Located on a semi-industrial looking road leading out of sleepy Santo Domingo, a town divorced from the main road by many kilometres and already out on a limb in the north west corner of La Palma, El Bernegal sits cosily between the fire station and health centre.  It’s hardly a promising start.

But the first glimpse of the restaurant will give you hope, not just by the number of cars parked on the piece of rough ground opposite, but by the façade of the building which looks temptingly interesting.  And you’d be right for just inside the main door, you will already see the central courtyard eating area with its bright blue Moroccan wall tiles, enormous ferns hanging from the high ceiling above and three small restaurant rooms and bar leading off. 

Apart from the current lovely décor, it is easy to see that El Bernegal is a historic house of some note, beautifully restored to the highest standard.  The menu is not however set in the past because, whilst it might look relatively simple, the presented dish really is about as cosmopolitan and carefully crafted as you will find on the island. 

 Starters include such dishes as grilled goats’ cheese with traditional mojo sauce, avocado with shrimp, chef’s own fish pate and mushroom with garlic and range in price from 3.00 euros to 7.50 euros.

The salads which, no matter how theoretically simple, the chef manages to turn into  exciting and beautiful platters, include tropical salad, roman salad, salad niçoise and tagliatelle with pine kernel and goats’ cheese and range in price from 5 to 7 euros. 

There are three types of omelettes to choose from – including banana omelette - and soups including courgette soup and a wholesome and filling Canarian soup.

If you manage to reject the famous ‘Bamy’ (tagliatelle with vegetables and shrimp at 7.00 euros – I think I’ve had it three times now and it’s delicious) then maybe fish is your fancy.

You can choose from fried squid, fresh tuna, perch with caper sauce (another favourite of mine) and grouper priced between 6.50 and 9.50 euros.

For the meat eaters, this is probably the main event and dishes include tournedo chasseur or béarnaise, half chicken, peppered steak, fresh pork chops or pork loin with chestnut cream - and once you’ve tasted pork from La Palma, you’ll know how tasty and moist it is compared to factory reared pork.   Prices range between 6.00 and 13.00 euros.

And then of course the desserts – home made peach sorbet, nougat glacé, crepe with chocolate sauce … If you don’t have room for any more at this point, share a dessert with some else – anyone else - or run around the block until you do!  Prices are 3.00 to 3.75 euros.

 Every single dish is presented with an artistic eye to detail and, with such a tempting menu and delicious food at a price which is more than fair on the pocket, be warned – it’s popular.  In fact, it’s so popular that they don’t even open in the evening and at weekends, reservations are highly recommended. 

I suggest you arrive no later than 5pm and don’t forget to leave room for that dessert.