Noi E - Santa Cruz de Tenerife

A winderful culinary experience combining local traditions and international influence. The tasting menu is recommended for its sucession of discoveries and good value.

On Noi 's website the hope is expressed that "a small part of Noi will stay with you” (a esperanza de que una pequeña parte de Noi se quede con vosotros). Unfortunately for us, his wish was fulfilled because during our 2 weeks ' stay in Tenerife, my partner and I didn 't stop talking about Noi. We simply couldn 't stop moaning how, of all the high-end restaurants in Santa Cruz, we wasted our money on Noi. We couldn 't stop reflecting how we made the mistake of believing this was a high-end restaurant. And we couldn 't stop whining on about how other restaurants making similar promises, offered so much better. First and most important, do not expect the tasting menu to resemble anything like a Michelin standard experience. It doesn 't even come close. The fact that when we approached the restaurant, the maitre d ' was smoking a cigarette in the doorway was in itself a warning. Second, do not expect what you are served to look anything like the wonderful images displayed with this TA entry. The dishes look dreary and taste about the same. In short, we didn 't like Noi. In fact, we felt well and truly ripped off paying approaching 200 euros (with drinks) for a meal with no high points which left us feeling we had wasted both precious time and money that could easily have been better invested elsewhere in Santa Cruz. Of a truly dispiriting experience, here are the most memorable fails............ My partner is a pescatarian which we mentioned when we made the booking, anticipating the need for the occasional substitute. When we arrived, they reconfirmed the request but it was clear they were completely unprepared when the menu was verbally summarised and we had to point out that the foie gras course needed a substitute. The response was not a confident ‘don’t worry, we’ve got your non-meat alternatives all planned’ but ‘ we’ll come up with something’ as if it were a case of seeing what was left in the bottom of the fridge. When my foie gras course arrived, it was a dreary dish: in essence, an anchovy on a lump of foie gras with a side of toast, hardly the work of culinary genius. My partner fared even worse: she got 3 pieces of toast with a smear of smoked butter and an anchovy on top, something akin to taking an English cooked breakfast, removing the bacon and sausage and calling it a vegetarian breakfast. Pathetic. Most high-end restaurants like to excite the palate and delight the eye with interesting foams, veloutes and all manner of intense reductions and sauces. Pablo’s thing appears to be broths; watery, grey, uninteresting watery puddles that afflicted most of our dishes. Supposedly, they comprised a plethora of exotic (seemingly mostly Japanese) ingredients but the effect was always the same: a grand disappointment. On more than one occasion we felt the seasoning was wrong. I didnt care much for the inclusion of frogs legs which, being marinated into oblivion might well have been a chicken wing for all the character that remained of the poor old ex-frog. Noi might think that four skewered half frogs on a plate looked ‘cool’ but they had about as much meat on them as my toenail clippings and simply offended my conscience. Incidentally, pressuring me to eat these grotesque lollipops with my fingers didn’t work. Another modern principle that seemed to have passed their chef by was the virtue of using local ingredients. The Canary Islands are a cornucopia of sometimes unique ingredients but for this chef, they were incidental and occasional, giving way to his preference for the aforementioned French culinary clichés which were never going to delight or impress unless you had just arrived from the 1970’s. I could go on about the disappointing lack of Tenerife wines by the glass because they hadn’t yet embraced the Coravin corking system or the acceptable but hardly impressive samphire risotto which was my partner’s other substitute or the mushroom which should have been accompanied by a sous-vide (slow cooked) egg but instead had a fried egg dumped on it instead, but I think I have made my case. The ‘gastronomic laboratory’ that Noi proclaims delivers mediocrity and over-priced food which neither deserves its current Bib Gourmand nor elevation to a higher state of Michelin recognition. Santa Cruz has much better to offer. Don’t settle for 3rd rate.

Sometimes a clumsy restaurant can be quite funny, but unfortunately not here. We had a very bad experience. The reception was neat. Tasting menu options fine. Wine list was not updated, my two preferred wines were not there. Slightly less. But we got a good alternative and this wine was tasty, so no problem. No cutlery for the 2nd dish and getting in touch with the staff was difficult. We eventually got cutlery for a cold dish. Can happen. Clams were served, they were a bit cold inside but hey, maybe that was the intention. This could be better. After dinner back to the hotel. My girlfriend got very sick in the middle of the night. I had a little stomach upset but my girlfriend threw up all night and had to stay near the toilet and so couldn't sleep. This, my friends, is really a bridge too far. You still have a lot of work to do on this concept. This wasn't bad luck anymore, this restaurant is definitely not Michelin worthy.

We enjoyed the tasting menu proposed by the chef and surprised us the originality and taste of all the dishes. the quality of the products you work with is observed in each bite. The dish that surprised us most was the eggplant. It was very delicious with the tomato shell and ras el hanout. all watered with a priory wine that drank terribly with the menu. the attention of the team was also excellent. we spent a very nice night. thank you for everything.

Noi the restaurant for me in santa cruz, in teneriffa, comes from me pretty clear 6 stars! michelin multiplemenu 9 courses, 75€Hammer creations, spectacularly skillful best torten and super service! only a few places to reserve, so and only open from Thursday, what I let you tell me pictures pero que debo decir las imágenes disfrutan de llamar yeuer gourmetnaut heinz