The essentials
- CACT says El Diablo's grill sits above a five-metre well where the earth's natural temperature reaches around 250 degrees.[1]
- El Diablo does not accept reservations; tables go first-come, first-served, subject to availability.[1]
- Mains cooked in the heat of the volcano range from €18.00 for chicken thighs to €26.00 for the entrecôte.[2]
- The dining room, conceived by César Manrique, looks out over the malpaís lava field through a large circular glass wall.[1]
- The Timanfaya National Park Evening Tour with Volcano Dinner on GetYourGuide lasts 5 hours and starts from US$155.[3]
- Evening, volcano dinner from US$155 Duration5 hours[3]MealVolcano dinner named in the title[3]Rating4.44 from 261 reviews[3] See this tour
- Volcanic craters tour from US$68 Duration5 hours[4]MealNot in the listing[4]Rating4.35 from 2,523 reviews[4] See this tour
- Top choice Timanfaya, Jameos & Cueva from US$102 Duration9 hours[5]MealNot in the listing[5]Rating4.47 from 2,662 reviews[5] Check availability
Craters, lava flows and lunar-like landscapes reflect the heat of the earth. On the Islote de Hilario, geothermal activity shows that the subsoil still holds part of that heat.
A meal at the volcano grill, or a dinner tour
Before you eat
El Diablo Timanfaya: how the volcano grill works
El Diablo cooks with the ground's own heat. CACT says the grill sits above a five-metre well, where the earth's natural temperature reaches around 250 degrees.[1] The Fundación César Manrique adds an oven: of three curved walls in the building, two give access to the restrooms and the third, closed off with what it calls a decapitated dome, holds an oven where natural heat cooks the food.[7]
The restaurant stands on Islote de Hilario, where the measurements differ by source. IGME's geosite description gives a surface temperature of about 250°C and more than 600°C at 13 metres depth, and Geoparque Lanzarote gives the same figures, while the scientific-interest section of IGME's own page gives 100 to 120°C at the surface.[8][9]
IGME explains that heat by a residual magma chamber at around 2-4 km depth.[8] The grill's well is five metres deep, a shallower point than those 13-metre readings.[1][8] The Canary Islands park authority names two other hot spots above 100 ºC in the park, at Casa de los Camelleros and the floor of the Timanfaya crater.[10]
What is on the menu
The published menu's section of meat cooked in the heat of the volcano lists chicken thighs at 18,00 €, a pork and chicken skewer at 20,00 € and entrecôte at 26,00 €, so mains range from €18.00 to €26.00.[2]
For children, the kids menu offers spaghetti bolognese from €7.00 and breaded chicken from €9.00.[2] CACT's visitor guide says the restaurant and cafeteria have high chairs, and that access with a pushchair can be difficult, so it recommends a baby carrier.[1]
Food cooking over the ground's volcanic heat
Who designed the Timanfaya National Park restaurant
The dining room was conceived by César Manrique and opens onto views of the malpaís lava field through a large circular glass wall.[1] The Fundación César Manrique dates the Cabildo's intervention at Timanfaya, which built the El Diablo restaurant and the Route of the Volcanoes, to 1970, led by Manrique with collaborators including Eduardo Cáceres, Jesús Soto and Luis Morales.[7] CACT describes the Route of the Volcanoes, also conceived by Manrique, as a coach route with an audio narrative that invites you to read the landscape.[1]
In the centre of the restaurant sits the Jardín Muerto, a small glazed garden that pays tribute to the legend of Hilario: on the volcanic ash lie the skeleton of a dromedary and the trunk of a dry, burned tree.[1] Outside the glass, the malpaís is the rough, jagged and impassable surface that very viscous aa lava forms as it cools, as MITECO describes it.[11]
The devil theme runs beyond the dining room. Manrique's ink-on-paper drawing El diablo is dated 1968, and the sculpture of the Devil of Timanfaya, the park's symbol, welcomes visitors on the road to Montañas del Fuego.[1][12] MITECO says the signs at the park's entrances carry the El Diablo logo designed by Manrique, made from the timber of scrapped boats.[13]
Getting a table, and getting there
El Diablo Restaurant does not accept reservations: tables are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability at the time of your visit.[1] MITECO lists the restaurant among the Islote de Hilario facilities, alongside a car park, cafeteria, souvenir shop and restrooms.[14]
Driving in, CACT asks visitors to remain inside the vehicle from El Taro to the car park on the Islote de Hilario, and warns that the car park's slope can make a car door hit other vehicles.[1] CACT says all of its centres have parking areas.[15]
Islote de Hilario is the main core of Montañas del Fuego, and hours for Montañas del Fuego differ by source: CACT's ticket page gives 09:30-15:45, Turismo Lanzarote gives 09:00 a.m. to 04:45 p.m., and MITECO gives 9:00-17:00.[1][14][16] Montañas del Fuego tickets are sold online only, for a fixed date and time.[15][17] CACT asks visitors to arrive 15 minutes before their booked time, and says a ticket used outside its slot is no longer valid, with no changes or refunds.[15]
5 m
The depth of the well under El Diablo's grill, where CACT says the earth's natural temperature reaches around 250 degrees.[1]
Is there a Timanfaya volcano dinner?
On GetYourGuide, the Timanfaya National Park evening tour with volcano dinner lasts 5 hours, starts from US$155, lists pickup and has a live guide in English, Spanish, German and French.[3] The Timanfaya National Park Tour with BBQ Dinner lasts 4 hours from US$149, with pickup included and a guide in German and English.[18] The evening tour is rated 4.44 from 261 reviews, with 4.6 for the guide and 4 for value for money.[3]
At CACT's own centres, CACT says its cafés and restaurants are as a general rule not open during evening cultural events, with one exception: the Jameos Noche evening, where dinner is served before a show.[15] On those nights the Jameos del Agua restaurant runs from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm and the concert from 10:30 pm to 11:15 pm.[19] The menu costs from €98 per person, the vegan menu from €88 and the children's menu from €49 for ages 7 to 12.[19] On Noches de Jameos evenings Jameos del Agua stays open until midnight, the self-guided visit takes about an hour, and the concert plays beside the underground lake of the blind albino crabs known as jameitos.[19]
Hilario stops and dinner tours on GetYourGuide
The Timanfaya National Park Volcanic Craters Tour lists Islet of Hilario among its stops, lasts 5 hours with pickup included, and starts from US$68.[4] The Volcanos of Timanfaya and Caves Tour with Lunch runs 9 hours from US$109, with pickup included and skip-the-line entry.[20]
The tour booked from this site stops at Timanfaya National Park, Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua.[5] CACT says all of its centres offer restaurant or café services except Cueva de los Verdes, and the Jameos del Agua restaurant serves dishes such as tortilla conejera and wreckfish with mojo sauces.[15][21]
The heat you can see beside the restaurant
CACT lists the Montañas del Fuego general visit from €30.00, including the 35-minute coach route, with children aged 0 to 6 entering free.[1] Reduced rates for Canary Islands residents, Lanzarote residents and people with disabilities are sold only at ticket offices, on presentation of physical documents.[17] The Montañas del Fuego general ticket includes the geothermal demonstrations at Islote de Hilario.[1] IGME describes two of them: an artificial geyser made by pouring cold water into boreholes, and plants placed in a hole to watch them burn.[8]
CACT's visitor guide recommends photographing the geyser area, the natural oven, the Devil figure and the Route of the Volcanoes.[1] From Islote de Hilario, CACT says, the view opens onto a sea of lava with more than 25 craters concentrated in just a few square kilometres.[1] The Route of the Volcanoes buses leave Islote de Hilario every 20 minutes, and CACT's FAQ gives the tour as about 40 minutes.[15] One stop on that route, the Valle de la Tranquilidad, takes its name from the Moon's Sea of Tranquility, where Apollo 11 landed.[1]
El Diablo menu prices by dish
Prices from El Diablo's published menu, in euros, for the kids section and the meat cooked in the heat of the volcano.[2]
Price a Timanfaya tour with or without a meal
Each amount is that listing's own "from" price in US dollars, and the calculator applies the same listed figure to every traveller.[3][4][5][18]
Times and rules at Islote de Hilario
Visiting Islote de Hilario
Book the Montañas del Fuego visit
Montañas del Fuego tickets, which include access to Islote de Hilario, are sold online only, for a fixed date and time.[1][15][17]
Drive to Islote de Hilario
Stay inside the vehicle from El Taro to the car park.[1]
Wait for a table
There are no reservations; tables are first-come, first-served.[1]
Order from the volcano grill
Mains cooked in the volcano's heat range from €18.00 to €26.00.[2]
See the Jardín Muerto
A dromedary skeleton and a burned tree trunk lie on ash in a glazed garden.[1]
Visit Timanfaya's Fire Mountains on a guided day tour
from US$103Reserve now & pay later
