El Refugio - El Pinar de El Hierro

Typical canary dishes and fresh fish, all kind of types, prepared in many different ways. The restaurant is located in a side fairly quiet street, close to the sea. There's a covered area, some tables in the sun and a few more indoor. The service is less interesting: they got our orders wrong a couple of times (but we got to taste unexpected food! and they disappeared few times. They are nice, though, and there's a cute cat asking for fish to entertain the clients while waiting to be served! Mid prices.

We found this place in trip advisor and decided to check it out. Well worth drive down to La Restinga. We ordered mixed grill and were absolutely blown away by the quality of food and the customer service. They were very friendly and attentive! The fish came with three mojo type sauces and this was probably the best mojo we’ve had in the past month on several island. Definitely check it out if you’re anywhere near by!!

We initially visited this restaurant (which is a little more expensive than some others in the immediate area) and were shown the fish of the day platter from which a red fish called el fronceno (close as I can remember) was recommended and chosen. I eat a lot of fish and this was exceptionally good (mostly due to the fish being prepared simply which all fish should be, but for some reason is exceptionally rare) perfectly cooked with garlic and moist as you wish. We complemented the lady chef for having such a light touch. We were also presented with the customary mojo sauces and bread which although un-ordered will be charged for. The waiter is also worthy of special mention as he done all he could within the limits of his English and our Spanish to guide us through the menu offerings. So impressed were we that we returned for a second visit (which was just after a very busy public holiday weekend) and it was the complete opposite experience. We now having a little pre knowledge stated that we didn't want the bread and ordered the fish platter, consisting of a selection of fish, all of which were extremely overcooked. It consisted of Moray Eel which isn't great at the best of times but when overcooked is exceptionally unpalatable. Tuna which was so overcooked as to be inedible and two other types of fish, one served on the bone which wasn't to bad and a fillet which was just about ok. So unfortunately as spectacularly good as it was for our first visit, it was spectacularly poor for our second.

Nos dejamos aconsejar por Manolo y pedimos el Pescado fresco del día a parte un queso herreño a la plancha q te mueres de ricoo con mermelada de pimientos rojos exquisita. Recomendado totalmente!

Muy buen servicio y buena comida en una calle lateral. Desafortunadamente no es bueno para sentarse, pero lo anterior lo compensa.