Kano 31, a restaurant review

All photos on this post were taken with my cell phone.

I've walked down this pedestrian street, Calle Cano, with a "C", parallel to and beside Calle Triana, many times before, and I'd walked past this restaurant just as often, but had never been tempted to go in. I'd never even noted the name.

Browsing through the names and reviews of restaurants around the Triana area, and which were open on Sunday, I decided on Kano 31, with a "K". Only when I got there did I realise what I'd mentioned in the first paragraph. A few tables on the terrace were occupied in spite of it being a cloudy and windy day, not very pleasant, worse when you take into account that this particular street doesn't get much direct sunlight anyway. So, the terrace was definitely not for us - the smokers could have it. We took a look at the menu and agreed to enter. Their menu can be seen by clicking here, albeit without the prices.

It was fairly full. They also have an upstairs room, which I suspect is used only if they really need to. We were shown to a barrel table. Literally a beer barrel, a big one, big enough to serve as a table for three. I presume when they get busy, these barrels come in handy as they're high enough for customers to stand around and have a beer and tapas. But we had high chairs to sit on.

Service could have been a bit quicker, considering it wasn't that busy, but staff were very cheerful and friendly. Warm bread was served with some alioli and all three of us find warm bread impossible to resist.

For the first course, we shared grilled morcilla de Burgos (rice sausage from Burgos) and fish croquettes. The former was somewhat disappointing. Having tasted finer efforts elsewhere, these were more on the bland side. The croquettes were better, crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Still, nothing sensational. These were probably the wrong choices.

Morcilla de Burgos a la plancha

For the main course, we decided on arroz negro con calamares. Minimum order for all the rice dishes, except the risotto, is for two people, which was what we ordered but shared the two rations among the three of us. The portion was perfect. If we'd ordered for three, it would have been too much.

This dish was simply spectacular! It was served with alioli (garlic mayonnaise) on the side, and I'd recommend you to stir it in. The arroz negro wasn't salty (a common complaint with rice dishes here in Spain), the rice was al dente, and the resulting taste was a perfect blend of the creamy alioli and hints of seafood. The taste left me dreaming of it for a week or so!

If you've been reading my other reviews, you'd be forgiven if you concluded that I don't eat anything but arroz negro! It does feel like I'm going round the island trying to find the best arroz negro, but I've been lucky and kept getting good ones, so much so I can't remember how good the previous one was! Needless to say, this won't be the last one I review [I've pencilled in yet another place to try].

The proof

The damage

Type of restaurant: Spanish, rice

Verdict: Highly recommended!

Average cost: €20-30 per person

Telephone: 928 431 331

Website: http://www.kano31.es/index.php

Location: Calle Cano 31; 35002 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria