Dear PP fans
Well that’s the annual jaunt to PP over for another year and is my cue to bore you to tears with another trip report.
There are six of us in all, my wife and me, our two sons and “other halves”. We’ve been coming to PP since 1994 and we rent a villa with pool, for many years using Villa Parade, who have always offered good value and decent accommodation.
Villa Parade have a
car hire deal with
Avis, and I’ve been very happy with the quality of the cars (this year a Seat Ibiza 1.6TD 5 door, and a VW Polo 1.4 5 door, both with very low miles). As we were on early
flights in and out of Palma the queue at the car hire desk required just a 15 minute wait (I’ve waited nearly 2 hours for Goldcar before!). Drop off was also a breeze at 7-30 in the morning on our return day and Avis have a full/full fuel policy, so our diesel cost was just 19 Euros.
I know that the main focus of any trip report will be the restaurant reviews.... so here goes………..
Brisa Marina: This is SUCH a favourite with our family, and always a huge welcome from the two Franciscos. We visited on our first and last days, and the middle Friday. The stuffed mussels are a particular favourite starter, though the fish soup is as good as I’ve had anywhere in the Port. The lamb chops are always a safe and tasty option and the fillet steak is really good value here. I like steak rare, but the youngsters like it blue, to the point of mooing (!), and Brisa Marina always deliver steak cooked as you request it. This is a good place too for fresh fish - cooked as you like it. The wine list is realistically priced, the service is friendly and attentive - it’s a place I hope we’ll go back to for many years to come. The only disappointment was a Paella that wasn’t the same as in previous years…..but I can forgive that for the friendly welcome. We enjoyed all our three visits this year.
C’an Josef: Formerly the old RAF Bar that we frequented for many years, Josef has made this restaurant a very special place indeed . Lovely staff and a warm welcome await here, with food from the top drawer. There’s a particularly fantastic starter of eggs, chorizo and pepper baked in the oven, superb smoked salmon, a dish of mushrooms and Serrano ham. Fish here is always superb - John Dory and Sea Bass are fantastic. If you like cheese, Josef has the most interesting cheese board I’ve come across - a sample of a number of (mainly) local cheeses. There’s music here three times a week - Mariano Miranda on guitar and a sax player - both great musicians, though Mariano is my favourite.
Zarzales: This is a favourite for so many of you. Sitting in the walled garden, with music playing - what an atmosphere! Mariano puts in an appearance with the guitar here too, but on our first visit we were entertained by an opera trained singer, Cristiana, who sang popular classics and one or two Spanish standards. Yolande, as always, is a wonderful hostess and made us feel very welcome, even giving us some festival T shirts - thank you. What’s not to like about the food here? Starters of seafood stuffed peppers, broad beans with chorizo, prawns with sobrosada were highlight dishes. The lamb chops are as good as you will see anywhere. The signature dish, however, must be the roast suckling pig - it’s wonderful……but, as I will reveal later, there are other places to discover where the suckling pig can be just as good. We ate here twice. The first time was truly brilliant. Sadly, the second fell on its sword in the service department, and what should have been a two hour meal lasted for over three. There’s a waiter here who only seems to be able to count up to five…..one wrong main course, one missing plate, etc. Pity. Still go back though - it’s a PP legend.
IRU: Now here’s a restaurant that Jane and I tried on our solo trip in May, and took the family to this time. Established in 1944 it has been around a long time, and the food is absolutely superb. I’m not sure I’m that keen on the Pine Walk setup with one restaurant lined up against the next, but there’s no faulting the quality of the food here. There is a particularly wonderful starter, a puff pastry tartlet with goats cheese and roast vegetables, and a seriously nice caesar salad. Mains are the usual things you’d expect but all wonderfully cooked.
C’an Torrens: Up to a couple of years ago this was called “C’an Andreu” and is in the main square, at the church end. Some of our group went for lunch, had a really good experience, and so we all went for dinner. We were not disappointed. The staff were charming, the service excellent and we all enjoyed our meals. The cost was very reasonable too, with a particularly excellent John Dory at only 13.75 Euros.
Na Ruixa: I don’t recall seeing this restaurant reviewed before. It is situated at the end of Pine Walk (where it narrows to the cobbled bit where Bahia is, on the side street that leads to the Formentor Road (the next street is where Bar Coral is). We went about four years ago and enjoyed our visit this time too. The service was good, the staff friendly and the food generally excellent. I had a fish soup that was a bit watery and under seasoned, with only one type of fish in it, but otherwise we all enjoyed our meals and would go back again.
Celler La Parra: We’ve been here before too, and always thought that they do the very best almond cake ever. We can certainly say that the roast suckling pig, cooked differently from Zarzales, is really, really good. The food is cooked in a traditional wood oven and is generally fantastic. You may have seen a post earlier in the year, citing a mention of this restaurant in an article in the Guardian, by one of the Hart brothers (owners of Fino in London) who called in on a cycling tour, and raved about the food. I’ve eaten at Fino and, believe me, this is praise indeed. We ordered red wine at about 17 Euros a bottle but Alex, one of the owners, recommended their own home grown wine at just over 5 Euros a bottle. After our hesitation a glass was produced to try. Now I don’t like Mallorcan wine. Many of you rave about Marcia Batle, but I just can’t take to it, but this home grown stuff is fantastic - and what a bargain price.
Siller Restaurante: This restaurant is situated up the street next to Celler La Parra, close to the new dual carriageway. We went two years ago and this year visited twice. WOW. This is a proper restaurant with a capital “R”. From the outside, it looks nothing. Inside it is spotless, with linen tablecloths, lovely decoration, faultless loos and Mallorcan food to die for. The family grow a lot of the produce on their finca, and it shows. We had tapas starters, dark brown homemade bread with serrano ham, lovely garlic prawns, and a beef chilli stew - absolutely fabulous. This is a place to savour the roast suckling pig, which also came as a special served with hake - that’s an odd combination, but I had that and it was quite brilliant. They had a lamb shank special marinated with honey and sobrasada at just 12 Euros, and it was just melt -in-the-mouth and so tasty. Finally, this really is the home of PP’s very best almond cake. Complementary home made dessert wine was a terrific way to finish off . The owner is such an enthusiast for his restaurant and his wife is in charge of the kitchen, and what a great job she does. This is no more expensive than many other favourite restaurants but it is a cut above the rest. Try it - please. You won’t be disappointed.
Neptuno: Some of our party went here for lunchtime tapas and came away very impressed indeed.
Joker Bar: Just a mention for our evening bar of choice, and where my younger son and I go to watch the F1 Grand Prix over lunch. Food here is excellent value and you won’t find better, friendlier service anywhere else.
So those are the restaurants we did visit. Some we chose to avoid this year.
El Posito is very popular, but we’ve got a bit tired of the same old specials and the same sauce accompanying starters and mains - so we gave it a miss this time.
La Goleta has been a regular every year, but in 2010 we had awfully slow service, and when my wife found a lump of sharp plastic in her food the owner Martin’s reaction was to laugh it off. No apology at all. We’ll go back again, but “voted with our feet” this year.
O Lume is a particular favourite of many of you, but we’ve had two poor experiences in the former and present premises, with under-cooked pork featuring dangerously last year along with dismal service. I think the owner (who many of you adore) is, how can I put this…..not for us - sorry. This restaurant will never feature in our future plans.
Stay is another favourite for many, and I get the location, and see that the location commands a premium on cost, but the food has never really grabbed me.
Corb Mari, situated just past the Barnard Hamilton office, we visited for the first (and last) time in May. Overpriced chargrilled meat with nothing much else to recommend it.
L’Almirante on Pine Walk is a tapas restaurant which, to be fair, is not entirely authentic but offers an interesting way to try different things at a reasonable cost. They also have a very interesting almond cake with chocolate chips, which was absolutely delicious when we visited in May. We gave it a miss in the summer as the nature of the meal means that everything is presented petty swiftly and the meal is over in a heartbeat.
So that’s it. Sorry for droning on for so long. I do read your very interesting posts regularly, but tend not to contribute so much myself . So this is my once a year indulgence. Private joke……good to see you again Agatha (Hazel).
Bye for now.
Duncan