It’s hard to think of a better location than that occupied by
Stay. And it’s the only restaurant we’ve visited on our three trips to the Pollenca area over the last 15 years. It remains much as we remembered it (in spite of the revamp) – upscale and with pretensions to be even further upscale – evidenced by having its own “water menu” and by a starter of Jabugo ham at over €20. Now I know that’s a premium product that will always command a premium price but you’d expect the bill to be delivered by a man or horseback wearing a mask and carrying a gun.
The menu has been cleverly worked – bringing together their extensive fish and shellfish dishes with a scattering of meat and veggie based ones. No-one is going to feel left out.
CiL started with a simple dish of grilled veggies – the ubiquitous courgette, pepper, aubergine mix. This came with a Romesco sauce which was a new taste – thick and tasty with tomato, garlic and olive oil pounded together with a thickening (possibly almonds, possible breadcrumbs).
My own starter was described as “Octopus & Squid, Mallorcan Style”. It came very similar to a more traditional frito with potatoes and other veg. Everything had been chopped very small – much less than 1cm cubes. The seafood was tender but retained some bite and the whole dish tasted fresh with a sweetness from tomato (puree?). However, it lacked what should be the essential taste – seafood.
A main of hake with a saffron cream sauce worked well. Served off the bone, the fish was perfectly cooked – retaining translucence to the flakes. The sauce was well made – the flavour of the saffron being discernable in amongst the general rich fishy creaminess. It sat on some fried veg – yep, courgettes yet again. Rice provided the carb mopping up the sauce well.
A plate of grilled mixed seafood didn’t work at all well. Some items were hot, others luke-warm, others cold. It was just odd and left you wondering if the cold mussels were intended to be that way or had just been sitting round for hours waiting to give you an “upset tummy”. Grilled prawns and langoustine were superb – fresh and juicy- but squid and razor-clams were almost impossible to cut and unpleasantly chewy. They were left on the side of the plate. A couple of small filets of unknown white fish and one of salmon completed the plate. It came with a bowl of salad and alioli, which included some bitter leaves, like chicory and frisee, which contrasted well with the seafood.
Desserts were no more than OK. A puff pastry tart contained some cooked apricot (probably tinned - it’s not apricot season) and came with ice-cream. The other one a well made chocolate fondant – cooked on the outside, oozing gooiness inside – came with orange sauce and ice cream. Both had unnecessary and distracting garnishes of apple, kiwi fruit and pineapple.
The restaurant then committed its cardinal sin and unforgiveable sin – serving café solo barely lukewarm. And, of course, downing it in one, it’s too late to send it back.
We’d had aperitifs, some water and my life companion had a bottle of the house white. The bill came to €126. Service had been faultless so we added a few Euros. By any standards, this was not a cheap meal. For that sort of money, I expect the food to be spot on. And it just wasn’t !