Fine dining and elegance in Alcudia

[alcanadakid]

If you like fine dining and elegance and budget is not a problem try the Jardin restaurant in Alcudia.

The chef is a young Mallorcian girl trained in New York. The food is simply amazing and equivilent to the best you would find in the UK. They have two tasting menus priced at €45 and €65, exclusive of wine. There are 4 different types of bread served with a local olive oil and 4 different flavoured salts. We chose the €45 menu which started with an appetiser of the smallest Pambo Li you could imagine, followed by a mushroom compot with red pepper. The next course was cod in a jus,(just cooked tender and juicy) followed by an absolutely amazing suckling pig. This was quite small and uncluttered by vegetables but lip smackingly good. Dessert was an apricot and raspberry biscuit.

The portions are very small, (Nobu style) and you are left hungry after every course but smacking your lips with the aftertaste. At the end we were left slightly hungry BUT very very satisfied. Service and decor matched the food. The chef came out twice during the meal to check that everything was OK which is the sign of someone very confident about their food.

Not a place to go if you are on a budget or if you like to be stuffed, but it is definately a very special place.

The cost for two of us including two predinner sherries, house white, water and coffee was €135.

 

[Belladonna]

Sounds very interesting ak. I can imagin us fighting or bargaining over the suckling pig course! Where exactly is this restaurant please, and is it open all year?

N.B. have just googled this restaurant and it does look lovely. Also went into trip advisor for a couple of reviews. They do correspond with your post ak, but also mention that not all the main dishes were available when they went, and of course, being a nouveau cuisine type restaurant they did confirm that the portions are a little on the pricey side for the amount. It still looks lovely for a special meal though and I am very interested in trying it hopefully in the next 2 or 3 months.

 

[alcanadakid]

Hi Belladonna,

As far as I know all the dishes were available. The restuarant will close for December and January and is open Wed - Sunday inclusive although when we tried to book for a Sunday evening in October they weren't sure that they would be open in the evening although they said they would definately be open at lunchtime. I forgot to mention that as the weather wasn't great yesterday we ate in the upstairs part which is very tasteful and elegant. Downstairs as the name suggests is a garden.

It is located on the beach road between Port D'Alcudia and C'an Picafort. If you travel from the "Knot" roundabout towards C'an Picafort after about a quarter of a mile you will see a big green corrigated iron building set back on the left. Take the second turning on the left and it is right there in a little back street. Packing on the road is easy

 

[Belladonna]

LOL! "packing" is NEVER easy on the road ak!

Thanks for the directions, I will write them down and keep them safe. Over in November so hopefully business has been good enough for them not to close earlier than December. Upstairs does indeed look lovely on the website, which is good as I doubt we would have a choice of the garden anyway in November. Now, back to the parking or packing, or both!

 

[alcanadakid]

Oops - I agree that packing on the street is not to be recommended. I hope you enjoy Jardin when you go in November. Have you tried D'Arca in Alcudia old town? That is also a special place with exceptional food at about half the price of Jardin and also an elegant setting. They are open in the winter too.

 

[Belladonna]

Have just googled it but it seems they are closed in October and November unfortunately, open again in December. Any more?

 

[alcanadakid]

Have just googled it but it seems they are closed in October and November unfortunately, open again in December. Any more?

Really? That's a shame. We might try it tonight and check it out. Ca´n Currassa would be next on our list and then Meson Dulcina in Port D'Alcudia

 

[Belladonna]

Thank you for putting yourself out! Will appreciate your answer. CC always a favourite, but not been to Meson Dulcina, usually go to La Bogavante. Are they of similar standing?

 

[alcanadakid]

Thank you for putting yourself out! Will appreciate your answer. CC always a favourite, but not been to Meson Dulcina, usually go to La Bogavante. Are they of similar standing?

Went to D'Arca last night to do some research for you Belladona - they are open all through the winter except possibly around Christmas and January. They are currently open everyday but will soon close one day of the week but haven't decided which yet (last year it was closed on Mondays). It was full last night and we got the last table. The food was once again excellent and I mean excellent! We both had cappaccio - beef cappaccio for me and my beloved had three fish cappaccio. I had steak which I rate as some of the best I have eaten and my beloved had salmon which was just seared on the outside and served with a ground olive/anchovy sauce. We then both had lemon mousse. With the house red, water and two coffees it came to €65 which was almost exactly half of the cost of the Jardin. But that doesn't mean that Jardin isn't worth it because it is. D'Arca is exceptional food at a reasonable price.

Meson Dulcina is much better in quality than La Bogavente which we only rate as average. We tried the "Bog" once again last week and once again we were less than impressed. Meson is open all through the winter and is a favourite for Spanish family lunches on Sundays which says it all. They specialize in tapas and paellas.

 

[Belladonna]

Well it seems that you are determined to bankrupt me before Christmas ak! But what a way to go! Thank you for those reviews, printing them out now!

 

[alcanadakid]

Well it seems that you are determined to bankrupt me before Christmas ak! But what a way to go! Thank you for those reviews, printing them out now!

Enjoy - that is what life is about!

 

[alcanadakid]

The portion sizes have increased so that you are full at the end of the meal. Quality is as good as ever. Jardin is now only open for lunch on Friday Saturday and Sunday

 

[Belladonna]

Do you mean that they are not open for anything else at all, or that they only serve lunch on those days and no other? Just to make sure!

 

[alcanadakid]

They are only open at lunchtime on those days (Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun) and not open at all in the evening. When we were there this week the menu was only the tasting menu and there was no a'la carte. There were some things that we wanted that weren't on the menu and they managed to accommodate our requests.

 

[Belladonna]

That's a real shame for us! I don't think I will try it for lunches when we are over in November, but will wait until Easter and see if they are open in the evenings. I would like our first impression to be an evening one I think
.

 

[alcanadakid]

That sounds a good idea.

Do try D'Arca though. It is lovely in the evening, we were there again last week and it is still great food.

 

[Belladonna]

Will do. Hopefully not too many more will close down before December for the season. Thanks for the updates.

 

[cumberland8]

Its nice to see some real foodies on here i will certainly take up your reccomendations, thank you.

 

[Belladonna]

Hi cumberland8. If you are interested in Alcudia fine dining, also give Satyricon a try. There have been a few write ups on it, and we went at Easter. Check out our review; http://www.forum.puertopollensa.com/alcudia/5839-satyricon-restaurant-alcudia.html

 

[Belladonna]

Trying to google D'Arca restaurant but keeps giving me L'arca D'en Peter - is this the same one?