Turó, Can Picafort

Turó describes itself as a ‘restaurant with history’, although it reopened under new management only in 2024. The history relates to the finca that’s home to Turó – the centuries-old estate, S’Alqueria des Comte. It was first mentioned in 1273, when the Count of Empúries acquired it, however, the estate also features a prehistoric cave. The Consell de Mallorca has listed the finca as a Cultural Heritage Site.

The history isn’t the only reason diners flock to this photogenic restaurant, popular for its attractive courtyard and terrace offering extensive views towards the Bay of Alcúdia. We had a table for two in the courtyard, just beneath the steps up to the cave.

Turó is part of the Es Celler Group, with restaurants serving typical Mallorcan food in Petra and Manacor, but the culinary offering at Turó is Mediterranean/fusion, based on local produce.

Each section of the à la carte menu is divided into ‘fine food’ and ‘street food’.  There are three kids’ dishes too. We chose a starter from the separate list of suggestions, sharing queen scallop gyozas (4 for 20€). Each one contained a whole scallop – delicious. We also ordered bread with olives and spiced mayo, because the home-made bread of rye and carrots sounded different (and it tasted good) (3,50€ pp).

The menu offers some premium meats, but we opted for fish. My husband chose one of the ‘fine’ dishes: a decent-sized piece of hake in a tagine with green curry cream and citrus couscous (31€). After persuading him to allow me a taste, I’d order this next time.

I had the ‘street food’ John Dory tempura, served with ‘airbag’ potatoes. (31€) In Mallorca, John Dory is often accompanied by fried onions, as it was here. The ‘airbag’ potatoes were a molecular gastronomy touch from chef Antonio Gabiria. Although the dish was okay, it was served on a plate that was too small for the generous pile of fried onions, so every time I forked up my next mouthful, there was some off-plate spillage onto the table. A bigger plate is needed for this dish!

We were both quite full at that stage, so we shared a scoop of good, salted-caramel ice cream (3,90€) to put a sweet end to our dinner.

Wines here are from Mallorca and the Peninsula, with a rosé from Provence. We drank a glass each of the Mallorcan Columpio Rosat from Celler Tianna Negre (5,50€ a glass).

The culinary offering at Turó is interesting, with enough dishes to tempt us back. Add in the restaurant’s romantic setting and the friendliness of the many servers, and you have a unique, rural dining experience only around 6 kilometres – but a world away – from the resort of Can Picafort.

Photos: Jan Edwards