La Lapa, tapas on Plaza de las Palmas in the heart of Arrecife

There is a corner of Arrecife where the capital stops being a place you pass through and becomes a village: the triangle between the Charco de San Ginés, calle Real and the small squares in between. In the evening people walk there, and they walk slowly.

La Lapa sits on Plaza de las Palmas, inside that triangle. It serves tapas: small plates to share, the format Lanzarote eats in when there is a group and nobody wants to commit to a single dish.

Why this part of town

The Charco de San Ginés is a lagoon inside the city: fishing boats moored twenty metres from the tables, low white houses all around, the water coming and going with the tide. It is the most photographed spot in Arrecife and, not by chance, where the evening life has settled.

Plaza de las Palmas is a minute away. The advantage is practical: you park once and walk, hopping from one place to the next, which is exactly how tapas are meant to be eaten.

What you eat

The menu is short and fits on one page, which with tapas is nearly always a good sign: it means someone is cooking, not reheating.

Something light. It starts cheap: a gilda at 2 euros, house spiced almonds at 3, marinated olives and Spanish tortilla at 3.5, pan con tomate at 4. Then it climbs — boquerones with oil, parsley and lemon 5, burrata and anchovy toast 6, crisps with jamón and piparras 6, smoked sardine on a cracker 4.5. Casa Santoña anchovies and the ensaladilla are 9, the Lanzarote cheeseboard from Uga 16, and the Joselito ibérico ham 19 — the big one on the list.

Tapas and plates. Homemade croqueta at 2.8 each, ham or fish. Buffalo burrata and tomato salad at 6, green salad with cashew dressing 6.5, green beans with labneh, breadcrumbs and za'atar 7, padrón peppers 7. The polenta with sautéed mushrooms and cream at 9 has a vegan version. Ceviche of the day's fish 10, fried baby squid 9, tuna tataki with straw fries 12, red tuna tartare served in pani puri with spicy pink sauce 15. Among the proper plates: roast beef fillet with rocket and parmesan 18, beef rib with Lanzarote white beans 21, clams in Mediterranean sauce — garlic, parsley, white wine — 23. Fries with homemade alioli and brava 6.5. Huevos rotos change price with what goes on top: 9.5 with padrón peppers, 12 with jamón, 15 with cecina. And the fish of the day, with potato and parsnip mash, at market price.

Sweets, 6 euros each. Strawberries from Tinajo with vanilla cream and shortbread — the strawberries come from the island. Panna cotta with mango compote, chocolate ganache with crème fraîche, and an ice cream sandwich on cookie dough.

Two people sharing four or five things land at 25-30 euros a head. Go for the clams and the beef rib and you pass 40.

Where and how

Plaza de las Palmas 4, 35530 Arrecife · phone 636 02 89 31.

Opening hours change with the season and are not published anywhere: a phone call is the safe move, especially for a group or on a weekday. In August and during the San Ginés festivities the centre fills up and a table is not a given.