La Cocina de Colacho

Should You Go Back? Yes; and Book Sooner This Time

If you visited La Cocina de Colacho once and left thinking you'd return, that instinct is worth acting on. The restaurant in Playa Blanca has held its Michelin Plate for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025), which signals consistency, not a one-off performance. For a second visit, the question isn't whether the experience holds up; it does, but whether you've left enough runway to actually secure a table. Booking difficulty here is easy relative to Spain's bigger-name tasting menus, but don't read that as indefinitely available. Reserve at least two weeks out if you're planning around a specific evening, earlier if you're visiting during peak Lanzarote season in winter.

What You're Walking Into

The open-view kitchen is the first thing that orients you. You can watch chef Nicolás Machín, known to everyone as Colacho, his team work from the dining room, which gives the room a focused, purposeful atmosphere rather than the hushed reverence of a formal fine-dining setup. The designer details throughout read as considered rather than showy: this is a space that has been thought about, not just styled. The couple running it, front and back of house working as a unit, keeps the service register warm and personal without being casual to the point of inattention.

The format is a single tasting menu, which means there are no decisions to make once you've committed to the booking. That structure is either a feature or a friction point depending on how you prefer to eat. If you liked the format on a first visit, know that the menu evolves around what the island is producing at the time, sourced partly from the restaurant's own vegetable garden. The Michelin guide specifically called out the loin of cherne fish with vegetable pisto and creamy potatoes with thyme, a dish that shows how Colacho works: local ingredients, traditional reference points, enough technical attention to justify the €€€ price tier without trying to perform at a €€€€ level.

The Tasting Menu and Value Question

At the €€€ price tier, La Cocina de Colacho sits meaningfully below the big Spanish tasting-menu circuit. Compare it to Quique Dacosta in Dénia or Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María, both operating at €€€€ with multiple Michelin stars, you're looking at a very different financial commitment. What Colacho offers isn't a scaled-down version of that experience, it's a different proposition entirely: island-focused, ingredient-led, human in scale. For a diner who wants a tasting menu that feels rooted in place rather than aimed at international accolades, the value case is strong.

This is also worth considering for the Lanzarote context specifically. Playa Blanca is a resort town, the surrounding dining options trend heavily toward tourist-facing menus. La Cocina de Colacho is operating at a different register: a Michelin-recognised kitchen running its own vegetable garden in a market that doesn't demand it. That gap between context and ambition is part of what makes it worth the reservation.

On the Takeout and Off-Premise Question

The editorial angle deserves a direct answer: the food here does not travel well, that isn't a criticism. A single tasting menu built around just-harvested island produce, plated in sequence, served from an open kitchen is format-dependent in the leading way. The experience is contingent on being in the room, watching the kitchen, eating the dishes as they arrive, having the couple explain what you're eating and where it came from. There is no logical off-premise version of this. If you're looking for something to take back to a villa or eat elsewhere, this isn't the right restaurant. If you're deciding between booking a table here versus picking up food from somewhere else in Playa Blanca, book the table.

Practical Details

La Cocina de Colacho is at C. Velázquez, 15 in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote. The price range sits at €€€, significant but not the top tier of Spanish fine dining. Booking is direct relative to the major Spanish tasting-menu destinations, but availability does tighten during high season, so two weeks' notice is the sensible minimum. Hours are not confirmed in our current data, so verify directly before planning your evening around it. The restaurant does not publish a phone number or website through our current listings, which means the most reliable booking route is to ask your hotel concierge to make contact, or to check the most recent third-party reservation platforms operating in the Canaries.

For a second visit, consider requesting a position with a clear sightline to the kitchen if you didn't have one on your first visit, the open-view format is part of the experience, where you sit shapes how much of it you actually get.

Where La Cocina de Colacho Fits in Playa Blanca

For the full picture of where to eat, drink, stay in the area, see our full Playa Blanca restaurants guide, our full Playa Blanca hotels guide, and our full Playa Blanca bars guide. If you want to explore the island beyond dining, our Playa Blanca experiences guide and wineries guide are worth a look. The creative end of the local restaurant scene also includes Kamezí, which is the closest peer in Playa Blanca for a considered, non-tourist-menu dinner.

For context on what traditional cuisine looks like at its most committed elsewhere in Spain and southern France, Cave à Vin & à Manger - Maison Saint-Crescent in Narbonne and Coto de Quevedo Evolución in Torre de Juan Abad offer useful reference points in the same cuisine category.