Mallorca Restaurants: Recommendations & Reviews

[PhilD]

Very timely, I'm staying in Deia for a few days in May!

Did you need reservations at es Racó d’es Teix and Sebastians?

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Matthew - we didn't book es Racó d’es Teix, however it was the Wednesday before Easter so the village was very quite, that said I think we bagged the last table. Looks like they have a nice terrace which will be good in better weather - hopefully it will be good in May. I would recommend booking al the restaurants as they are all relatively small - you can probably book most on the day.

Deia had a number of other interesting restaurants that looked good - although the menus/style similar so it could get a bit boring if you did one after another. We checked out the El Olivo at La Residencia and it looked good, but highly priced. Another one that looked good was Restaurante Jaime.

I would be interested in a more extensive review of the tapas bar in Deia (El Barrigon Xelini) we tried a few dishes however I suspect the menu could repay a deeper dive.

[Matthew Grant]

My memory is a little vague as to the details

Snacks (included an interesting prawn soup)

Majorcan red “grilled Prawns – the “grilled” was in inverted commas as they clearly hadn’t been grilled, beautiful sweet prawns barely warmed through and smoked lightly. Fantastic, though Rachel who is a huge prawn fan thought they were the worst prawns ever tasted so you’ll have to take your pick as to whose flavours match yours the closest.

Spring Soup with Majorcan vegetables, farm egg.

Duck Foie Gras Marinated and caramelized, apple, Beetroot, Maltobrioche – A good foie presentation the foie topped with a sugar glaze, two pieces of apple one infused with cranberry (as far as I could tell). Maltobrioche was a cube that turned virtually to powder in the mouth providing an interesting contrast though the sample was too small to really get to grips with its core flavours. From what I could tell it was a deconstructed brioche made using maltodextrin.

Spring rice “Arroz Brut” was with lovely plump snails, well cooked rice.

Fish Fillet of the day, Artichoke “ Macaron” Cured Bacon Sweet Lemon Sauce, Spicy Black olive puree. The fish was hake and it was perfectly cooked, I still don’t get the Spanish love of Hake but as Hake goes this was pretty good. The Macaron element came from the artichoke which looked liked it was pureed and then sandwiched between the top and bottom of the artichoke. The Lemon sauce combined well with the black olive though I didn’t detect the spicy element.

Majorcan Lamb shoulder, French beans, peas terrine and Sobrasada, Spring Onion COnfit and Majorcan Apricot – this was the description though what we received was a little different. A lovely lamb chop and also a piece of shoulder that could have done with a little more cooking, my guess is that it had been cooked sous-vide but not at a high enough temperature to break the connecting tissue. Bean and peas terrine was neat, a slice pf peas and beans bound together with a good mint element.

The Majorcan Countryside: Fresh Cheese, Strawberries, Apricots and Basil. Plated Cheese desserts, why bother, crappy Strawberries, even worse cheese. The Fresh cheese element was a little better being formed into what Rachel described as a cheese cake. The least Successful dish of the day.

Ensaimada with Chocolate.

Overall a very pleasant experience, well recommended if you are in the area, easily one star cooking, not sure why it hasn’t got one already?

Edited May 13, 2008 by Matthew Grant (log)

[PhilD]

My memory is a little vague as to the details

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....and the name of the restaurant is..?

[Matthew Grant]

That would help wouldn't it!

Bens D'Avall

[PhilD]

That would help wouldn't it!

Bens D'Avall

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I drove past it a least 6 times o our last visit - wish I had stopped now. Looks like a good recomendation for our next trip.

[Harters]

Just back from a fortnight in the Pollensa area. Managed to find some above average dishes in amongst the usual tourist array (and quite a few below average experiences in spite of research on a local discussion board). The goodies tended to be well-worked versions of the local classics - suckling pig, tumbet, roast lamb & kid, and the like.

However, one "stand out" was the Restaurante Jardin at Port d'Alcudia.

Macarena de Castro is, I understand, one of the upcoming young Balearic chefs. Place was all but empty, apart from a couple of other north europeans, when we arrived at 8.30. An hour later, it was packed with locals.

There’s an interesting carta but we opted for the “surprise” tasting menu at €55 (there’s a more extensive €80 one).

With the aperitifs, came an amuse of an aubergine “crouton” – deep fried and crispy as bread might be, covered with a meat and tomato paste. A selection of bread also arrived – olive, ciabatta and baguette. Also arriving was olive oil for dipping and four salts – sea salt and three flavoured ones (hibiscus flower, curry and an indistinct something else). Good idea – dipping was fun. Bread was offered throughout the meal – something we like.

So, to the meal proper.

First up, a cauliflower cream – similarish to a thick cold soup. Good flavour of cauli and topped with just softened veggies, which added crunch, and ham, which brought saltiness.

-next, a coca of foie. A very thin crisp biscuit base, slightly sweet, covered in mushroom pate. On top, two chunks of just cooked liver – rich and meltingly soft.

- a tartare of tuna. The raw fish chopped very small (almost minced) and mixed with softened onion. Luxuriously soft, fresh tasting and, erm, slippery on the tongue. A few dabs of red pepper cream were both savoury and sweet as only a fully ripe pepper can be. A few croutons provided texture and crunch.

- a large piece of hake, off the bone. Texture just about spot on with no hint of overcooking. Topped with pine nuts, prawns, peppers, kale (or cabbage) and ham. This all worked well, each complementing the others. Finished with a drizzle of port dressing round the plate which was a little too sweet and jarred against, rather than worked with, the savoury tastes.

- beef sirloin served medium rare, with two slices of very potato-ey spud. The beef was not of the finest flavour and this was the least successful thing we ate.

- a dessert described only as “chocolate” brought a slice of chocolate fudge cake, superb chocolate ice cream and a thin shard of an intensely flavoured choccie biscuit. Separately, a shot glass of chilled white chocolate milk. This was good. Really good. And we're not normally dessert people.

Coffee and petit fours was a small extra cost. The coffee good. The petit fours not so good.

Final bill was an extremely reasonable €140.

John

[Mrs Foodie]

Has nobody on the forum been to Majorca since last year???

We are off to Pollensa next month and I haven't been for many years. I recall Clivia being good and from other websites it still seems to be holding its own. Not planning to travel too far on this trip but any advice on any other good eateries in the general Pollensa, Alcudia area would be much appreciated!

[Rogelio]

Has nobody on the forum been to Majorca since last year???

We are off to Pollensa next month and I haven't been for many years. I recall Clivia being good and from other websites it still seems to be holding its own. Not planning to travel too far on this trip but any advice on any other good eateries in the general Pollensa, Alcudia area would be much appreciated!

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Pollença is a shadow of what it was, in the port Na Rusia and Los Faroles are a must for local fishes and La Fonda in the old town for traditional and hearty mallorquian dishes are the best choices.

[Mrs Foodie]

Thanks for that - do you rate Clivia or not any more?

I remember Los Farolles from long ago!

[bmdaniel]

Has nobody on the forum been to Majorca since last year???

We are off to Pollensa next month and I haven't been for many years. I recall Clivia being good and from other websites it still seems to be holding its own. Not planning to travel too far on this trip but any advice on any other good eateries in the general Pollensa, Alcudia area would be much appreciated!

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We were in Majorca in June - beautiful island. We had one fancy dinner at Es Raco Des Teix, and I couldn't recommend it more highly. Sitting on the terrace there is probably the most spectacular ambiance I've encountered.

[Harters]

do you rate Clivia or not any more?

Much too late for you but I thought Clivia was pretty much top notch. Of the other good places:

L'Aup - good examples of the local classics.

Stay - depending on your point of view, it was as good or bad as it ever was.

Siller - smallish place at the back of the Port. Much of the produce is off the owner's finca, including the olive oil. Thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

O'Lume - cracking back street seafood.

Other than that (and the Alcudia recc above), it was all tourist stuiff. Some pretty reasonable. One or two, bloody awful.