There is very little that you really have to be warned about on Lanzarote, especially as far as eating out is concerned.

But there is one thing where you really can be tricked into giving out more than you planned.

When you order your meal at most restaurants, the waiter will bring you basket of rolls and butter. What he or she does not tell you is that you will be charged for this!

Normally you will receive one roll per person, some restaurants only bring a roll for those who have not ordered a starter, but the charge is per roll.

Depending on the restaurant this charge can be excessive – around 80 cents is normal but sometimes it can be 1EUR or even more!

The trick is, of course, to say that you don’t want them (unless, of course, you do!) when you order. This may not help – I’ve told the waiter in Spanish that I didn’t want any rolls as we were sharing our starters, but he – yes, the same waiter – still brought a basket of them to the table.

So that is step 2 of the trick – send them back again!

Even then, this may not solve the problem entirely, as often they have already been entered into the computerised till and will appear on the bill.

This where step 3 is important – the word in Spanish for butter is mantequilla – not something vaguely recognisable if you don’t know it (and not like other European languages where the word for butter has some resemblance to the English version).

So make sure you check the bill to see if pan y mantequilla has appeared anyway, and if it has – get it removed.

Unfortunately, this may not be the end of the problem. When questioning a bill once (although not about the rolls) the waitress proceeded to ask the other guests at the table to confirm that they really hadn’t had the items that I was having removed. If the waitress suddenly doesn’t speak much English and you don’t speak Spanish, then it’s all too easy to say “yes” to something that you was meant a different way, only for the waitress to turn round in Spanish and say “see, I told you so” and want full payment.

That is, however, the extreme version of the problem. Normally you should be OK after the first 3 steps.

Bon appetit!