Mentioned in the Michelin Guide and possibly worthy of its place (although there are some very odd Mallorcan inclusions/exclusions). Clivia has all the trappings that you might expect to find in a “good” restaurant in a small French town (which might explain its attraction to Michelin) – comfortable seats, room nicely decorated in neutral colours (the walls adorned with original artwork – that I’d give houseroom to), attentive service bordering on the formal yet retaining a friendliness (this is Spain, not France, after all). And, above all, a shortish menu of items that you just know they are going to cook well because much is local produce and local cuisine.
An “amuse” brought a home made cracker spread with a delicate fish pate. Perhaps too delicate. And some good bread.
A starter of pimientos de padron was very much as expected. The only surprise being that there were no “surprises” of the odd hot pepper. Otherwise they were well fried retaining the flavour of the pepper and sprinkled with a crunchy sea salt. The better menu pick were the grilled Soller Bay prawns. Simple, sweet, delicious – their flavour enhanced by a little garlic, parsley, salt and squeeze of lemon.
We both had one of the two house specialities – roast shoulder of lamb (the other is a whole sea bass). This was slow roasted meat; the lamb falling off the bone in a way similar to the pub classic of Lamb Henry. But this was as close a dish to the pub Henry as my Toyota Corolla is to a Bentley. The fat on the shoulder had slowly melted away retaining moistness in the meat and adding another flavour layer. It was enhanced by a “proper” gravy – no granules here – just meat juices, stock, seasoning. A couple of boiled potatoes, some carrot batons and aubergine accompanied. Aubergine had been coated in a lovely light batter and deep fried providing a nice bit of crunch on the plate.
As to desserts, all were homemade, but a crema catalana was very ordinary with no discernable vanilla flavour in the custard. A lemon sorbet, though, was superb. Served in a biscuit “cup”, which provided a tasty texture contrast, the sorbet had a powerful citrus hit going on around the sweetness.
CiL had drunk a half bottle of something red and we’d a couple of bottles of water. No coffees. Bill came to just on €110 – pretty fair value compared with some meals in the UK & Ireland this year.
Clivia
Linear Mode
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks