Batec Restaurant, Felanitx

Felanitx has become a town to watch for good places to eat. Back in February, former Restaurant of the Week, Pax Gastrobar, opened there and has become hugely popular, unveiling a front terrace and rear courtyard in the months since.

In April this year, Batec Restaurant opened its doors, adding to Felanitx’s gastronomic scene. It’s under the same ownership as Parc Café in the town’s municipal park.

Batec’s location is central, and we were able to park on the street just a short walk away from Plaça Espanya. Discreet signage made it initially difficult to spot.

Batec has some pavement tables at the front for drinks. Indoors, the dining area has some exposed-stone walls, ceiling beams, appealing lighting, good furniture, and quirky decorative touches such as a wall decorated with straw hats.

We ate in the courtyard behind the restaurant, which has a permanently covered area as well as parasols for shade when necessary in the open part.

Batec is all about Mallorcan gastronomy with a modern touch. The cuisine is based on high-quality local and seasonal produce, and comes from the kitchen of chef Juan Ballester, who was previously at the popular Salicornia Restaurant in Colònia de Sant Jordi. Our server told us that Chef makes everything here from the bread to the ice cream – which made me regret my earlier decision not to have bread.

We noticed other diners choosing several dishes to share, but we went for a traditional three-course meal. The coca we spotted at the next table looked very good, so that’s one to try on our next visit.

We both had flavourful prawn croquetas with saffron and kimchi mayonnaise (2,50€ each). The contrast of the crisp outer coating and the silky centre was excellent.

The menu also has a section for the Mallorcan cooked-in-a-flat-tin dishes known as ‘llaunes’ – with a choice of rice or noodles – as well as a choice of four fish and five meat dishes.

I chose skate as I don’t often see it on restaurant menus. The succulent fish was cooked over fire and served on a bed of chopped tomato, spring onion, and black olives, topped with a generous heap of crispy fried onions (22,80€). My only constructive criticism would be that pre-warming the plate would have kept the food hotter for longer. My companion chose seared tuna on roasted peppers (24,50€); our server asked him how he’d like it seared, and the tuna that arrived at the table was exactly as he’d wanted it.

From the five desserts (8.90€-10,50€), I chose Juan’s excellent home-made almond ice cream, with candied almonds. The portion was generous and well worth the 9,50€ this delicious dessert costs. My companion had sorbet (8,90€) served with a tuile biscuit and a blueberry garnish.

As you’d expect in a restaurant celebrating Mallorcan gastronomy, there’s a wide choice of island wines as well as labels from the Peninsula and the ubiquitous – well, it is summer – Miraval rosé from Provence. Ten wines on the list are available by the glass, from which we had a Loess Verdejo (5,40€) and an Armero i Adrover Rosat from Felanitx (5,80€).

Thanks to Estragon, Pax Gastrobar, and now Batec, foodies have three good reasons to eat out in Felanitx.

Photos: Jan Edwards