Wine & Dine in Mallorca: Eating & Drinking in Majorca

Restaurant Reviews in Mallorca & Palma

Read our reviews of some of Mallorca's best known restaurants, and also some of those a bit further off the beaten track. Join us as we adventure over the whole island, looking for gastronomic gems, and establishments that offer something more than just good food. If there is a restaurant you would like us to review, please let us know!

Eating Out in Mallorca

Mallorca is swamped with places to eat - from cafes and tapas bars to old style cellers (old converted winecellar specialising in traditional Mallorcan cuisine) and Michelin starred restaurants. Lunchs are served usually from 1pm to 3.30pm, and can be particularly good value when restaurants provide a set menu, the 'Menu del Dia'.  The Spanish like to eat late - many restaurants do not even open until 8:30 in the evening, and fill up an hour or two later. It is a good idea to book a table in advance, especially in summer and at weekends. Formal dress is rarely necessary, even at the best establishments 'smart casual' is the rule and children are always welcome! In Spain, a coffee after the meal means only one thing: cafe solo, served short, strong and black, with sugar. Ask for a carajillo and it will have brandy added, or a bottle of Coñac left on the table for you to help yourself. If the waiter brings a liqueur with your coffee, this is a Copa, a treat on the house. A celler is an old winecellar converted into a restaurant specialising in traditional Mallorcan cuisine. Real basement cellers have wine vats to prove it, but nowadays the term is used for any old-style restaurant. Cellers are good places to go in order to try Mallorcan classics like llom amb col (pork wrapped in cabbage) or frit mallorqui (fried offal). The best cellers are found in market towns like Inca and Sineu.

Cafes, Delis & Juice Bars

Cafe culture is a way of life for the locals in Mallorca.  Often doubling as bars, the cafes offer a place to relax, read a newspaper and socialise with the help of a pick-me-up in the form of a cafe solo, or a brandy (indeed, they are often served together). They are open throughout the day and will serve small tapas or pastries for you to nibble on, should you desire.  Modern delicatessens are opening up all over the place now, but are especially popular in the more affluent areas of Palma, Soller and Deia.  They offer a range of local produce, including olives, sausages, preserves and pastries and some will sell a range of Spanish wines. Juice bars are also springing up, especially in Palma - freshly squeezed local orange juice is something you will not want to miss!

Mallorcan Wine

Wine making has been part of the culture of Mallorcan living for centuries (and yep, it was those ubiquitous Romans again who first brought vines to the island). The industry prospered from the 14^th century right up until the end of the 19^th century, when the vines were attached by a plague of phylloxera. The wine industry was wiped out, and much of the agricultural land was replanted with almonds. A small number of vines were re-introduced but only enough for local consumption. During the 20^th century, the wines produced on the island lacked finesse, and a great deal of the wine consumed in Mallorca was imported from mainland Spain.

Traditional Mallorcan Produce

Agriculture is a mainstay of the Mallorcan economy, and the central part of Majorca is devoted to farming. Crops such as citrus fruits, almonds, olives and other soft fruits like apricots and grapes have been grown for centuries. Pork has long been a central part of the Mallorcan diet and the island's own Sobrassada sausage is a delicious and unique spicy paste. Gourmet sea salt has grown in demand in recent years and the salt plains to the south east of Majorca are producing flavoured salts for a global market.

Healthy Eating and Organic Food

The organic boom has been slow to arrive in Mallorca, probably because the local produce is so good and flavoursome that many people assumed that the produce was actually organically grown.  However, with growing awareness now, there is a greater selection of organically produced foods and demand is growing.  Farm shops and some market stalls now offer organic foods, and organic restaurants are beginning to open up.  An organic co-operative has opened in the Mercat Santa Catalina of Palma, selling fresh meats, fruits and vegetables.

Traditional Mallorcan Dishes

Mallorcan cuisine, based on pork, fish and vegetables with generous use of garlic and olive oil, is hearty peasant fare steeped in tradition and rooted in local ingredients. Not long ago every village would celebrate the matanca, the winter slaughter of pigs, with songs and dancing and the making of hams and sausages for the coming year. Sausages come in several varieties - sobrasada (raw minced pork with hot red pepper) and botifarro (cured pork with blood), as well as spicy chorizo from Spain. And no bar would be complete without its jamon serrano, a whole cured ham displayed on an attractive slicing-board.

A side effect of the matanca (traditional slaughter of pigs in winter) was frit mallorqui, a fry-up of the most perishable offal with potatoes, onions and tomatoes. Nowadays you find it on menus alongside tumbet, a Mallorcan-style ratatouille of aubergines, potatoes and peppers in olive oil, and sopes mallorquines, a thick broth of thinly-sliced brown bread and vegetables. Other classic dishes include llom amb col (pork wrapped in cabbage with pine nuts and raisins) and lechona asada (roast suckling pig).

Paella is not specifically a Majorcan dish but it is widely available; paella ciega (blind man's paella) comes without bones. The local equivalent is arros brat ('dirty rice'), saffron rice cooked with chicken, pork and vegetables. Fish is mostly imported and frozen - restaurants have to state this - but lobster, prawns, sardines and sea bass are all good. The latter, baked in rock salt, is a Mallorcan speciality.

Desserts are not Majorca's strong point - often the choice is between helado (ice cream) and flan (creme caramel). An interesting alternative is gato de almendras, almond cake served with toasted almond ice-cream. Mallorcans are very proud of ensaimadas, fluffy, spiral-shaped pastries dusted with sugar and filled with anything from pumpkin jam to sobrasada sausage; the secret ingredient is said to be the lard in the pastry. Cheeses include Mahon from Menorca and Manchego from central Spain as well as local varieties.