Tasca de Blanquerna Restaurant, Palma

One such place is (Michelin-starred chef) Marc Fosh’s Tasca de Blanquerna on the pedestrianised calle Blanqueria, a few minutes stroll from Placa Espana. It’s a smart bistro-style restaurant that also sells gourmet foods, such as local salts, olive oils and special blend seasonings. Open from 1pm to 4pm and 8pm to 10.30pm, it’s a great place to escape the madding crowd, and enjoy some seriously good food. Eat on the pavement terrace or head indoors to sit at the counter of the open kitchen, and watch the chefs prepare your dinner as you wait.

With the Frenchman being indisposed, I took along our video reporter James who ‘will eat anything as long as I don’t have to make it’. Not really a discerning connoisseur for a restaurant reconnissance you’ll have to agree, however I was hopeful of convincing him not all food is created equal (or in a microwaveable packet)...

A very lovely young lady welcomed us at the entrance and we took a pew on the terrace. Menus arrived, and we had the choice of the menu of the week, or the a la carte option (tapas, charcuterie, Spanish cheeses, salads, entrees and main dishes). As we were presented with very fresh bread, local olive oil & pink salt, we placed our order. James decided on the set lunch menu (at €14 for three courses) and I asked for one of the tapas dishes and a salad.

My tapas of marinated salmon with lemon mayonnaise arrived very quickly, beautifully presented on a piece of black slate. Very sexy. Soft and fresh, it had a subtle sweet & salt edging to it. James’ cold tomato and red pepper soup was served with slivers of dried cod and cubes of yellow pepper. A daring choice for someone more used to cup-a-soup. He managed to refrain from using the line ‘Waiter, my soup is cold...’ and it was polished off rapidly with an ‘excellent’ verdict.

Next up was my mixed salad, which had been described as containing pine nuts, cherry tomatoes, croutons and served with a sherry vinaigrette. I am not keen on too much dressing and my salad was at the limit for me (The Frenchman would have loved it), it was nevertheless delicious. A word of warning to vegetarians however – the salad was liberally sprinkled with bacon bits (no issue for me), but its worth checking before you order as I hadn't spotted (perhaps blindly) that they were part of the dish on the menu...

A pork loin served in a sherry cream sauce was next on James’ culinary adventure, and he was delighted to find that the thick chunks of pork were soft and juicy. Served on a bed of mushrooms and really excellent chips, it was a great combination of flavours and textures.

James finished with a dessert of Ibizan cheese tart, served with spots of quince jam. It looked like a slice of spinach quiche but I was reliably informed that it actually tasted like a mild cheesecake with a spearmint overtone. An unusual dessert, if you are not from Ibiza that is, but it sure was appreciated by James. Our lunch came to €32, which is excellent value considering the quality of the food and the faultless service that we received.

I have since returned to Tasca de Blanquerna with The Frenchman for a couple of lunches, and I have to say that it is one of my favourite places to eat in Palma. There is always something interesting and delicious to eat on the set menu (look out for wondrous carrot cake) and the staff are uniformly professional and friendly. We really enjoy the open-plan kitchen and preparation area, and sitting up at the bar seats to get a good view of new dishes (with the occassional free taster if you're lucky!).

With great food, great service and a great price, Tasca pulls off an amazing triple whammy. Go seek it out!