I probably first tasted food prepared by the chef Adrián Quetglas when he worked for the renowned British chef Marc Fosh at the former Reads Hotel. Now there’s a blast from the past. Before that, the Buenos Aires-born chef Adrián – whose father is a Mallorcan – had gained culinary experience in Paris and in London, where he worked at Marco Pierre White’s Quo Vadis restaurant.
We’re off to Japan for my Restaurant of the Week, with a visit to Quinta Avenida in Palma. Located on the Avinguda del Comte de Sallent, known locally as the ‘avenidas’, it’s only a short walk from the Intermodal station at Plaça de Espanya and several underground car parks.
I probably wouldn’t have discovered Sa Figu Morisca Gastrobar if it weren’t for a Dutch friend in the nautical sector who recommended it to me. I wasn’t familiar with Sardinia’s regional specialities and had never heard of this Palma restaurant, so I had to try it.
This week I’m reviewing a gastronomic experience, featuring not one but four restaurants. Food Tours Balearics offers self-guided food tours, during which you eat and drink at four different establishments.
Only a short walk from Plaça d’Espanya, you’ll find Bar Rey Sancho, which, despite its name, is a restaurant – and a surprisingly good one that’s off the tourist-beaten track.
When you find a restaurant in Palma that is already almost booked out for its New Year’s Eve celebration, before September has even begun, it’s fair to say you’ve found a restaurant worth a visit. That’s the case with Pedro’s Day Bar Restaurant in Santa Catalina.
After a morning appointment in Palma on a day that was unbearably hot and humid, we needed somewhere cool to eat lunch – preferably away from that day’s cruise-ship crowds in the city centre.
If eating tasty Mediterranean cuisine with a side order of sea view and cooling breezes appeals to you, A Popa Sea Club restaurant at the 5-star Hotel Santos Nixe Palace ticks those boxes.
Although I’ve never stayed overnight in the iconic Castillo Hotel Son Vida, I’ve visited many times over the years for various reasons, drawn there by the unbeatable, panoramic views of Palma and the Bay of Palma, as well as the splendour of this iconic hotel, located on a 13th-century finca.
Plenty of restaurants and cafés in Palma offer pizza, but the quality varies, and some pizzas are bought-in as an easier option to cater for tourists seeking something familiar. For lovingly made artisan pizzas, head for A GoGò Pizzabar just off Plaza Santa Eulalia, where the welcoming business owners and life partners, Camilla Riccardi and Jerónimo Alonso, have been offering their authentic Italian pizzas and street food since the summer of 2024.
I last reviewed the Palma restaurant Arume in 2019, so a follow-up review was well overdue, especially as it’s one of my favourite places to eat in Mallorca’s capital. Its amiable Mallorcan owner and chef, Tomeu Martí, won the title of Spain’s best young chef in the year 2000 and seven years later opened Arume. He had gained experience in Tokyo and worked at the Japanese restaurant Tahini in Puerto Portals.
Strictly speaking, Bhukkad Boca is a café rather than a restaurant, but food and drink are served all day, and there’s even a ‘menú del día’. For a café, Bhukkad Boca’s hospitality ethos punches above its weight, thanks to the experienced couple behind this family-run business.
I’d not considered eating out in the Palma suburb of Son Rapinya until I heard about GastroBar by Angélica Pastrana. After dinner there, I understand why this small eatery attracts diners from all over Palma and beyond. And why it’s garnered numerous positive reviews.
Now is an excellent time to eat out in Mallorca – and here’s why: The second edition of Mallorca Restaurant Week has begun and, despite its name, this special promotion featuring some of the best restaurants on the island lasts for five weeks this year, until March 31st.
Hunger can strike at any time when shopping or sightseeing in Palma, so it’s good to know a stylish place where you can eat in a relaxing ambience in the heart of the city. Café Rialto fits that bill and is in the appealing setting of the renowned Swedish-owned lifestyle store, Rialto Living.
If you’re planning a day in Palma and want somewhere stylish where you can enjoy a reasonably priced ‘menú del día’, Xalest could be for you.
If you like a restaurant with a specifically themed décor, Motorworld Inn could be for you. If you’re a serious petrolhead, you’ve probably already discovered this restaurant within the German-owned Motorworld complex that opened its doors in April 2025.
If you’re looking for a vibrant but sophisticated place to eat tapas and experience a high level of hospitality, El Camino in Palma is recommended. First opened in 2019 by Eddie Hart, it’s become one of the Mallorcan capital’s hotspots for visitors and residents, which means that securing a short-notice reservation in season can be difficult.
Chef Abraham Artigas’s food at Ponderosa Beach on Playa de Muro first impressed me in 2016. He raised the bar for eating in a ‘chiringuito’ and turned Ponderosa into a foodie destination.
Choosing where to eat in Santa Catalina can be a challenge with such a large choice of eateries. But if you value honest, stripped-back cooking and dishes made from carefully chosen ingredients, I’d recommend trying chef Irene Martínez’s restaurant Nus, which has been open for three years.
Like Café Inca – a Restaurant of the Week earlier this year – Cafè Es Pes de sa Palla in Palma is part of Esment, the organization founded in 1962 to provide professional catering apprenticeships and meaningful work opportunities for people with mental health issues.
If eating out in a building with a history appeals, Andana fits the bill. This restaurant, next to the entrance to Palma’s bustling public transport hub, the Estación Intermodal, is housed in Mallorca’s first railway station building, dating from the late 19th century.
Did you know that you can eat in the best fine dining restaurant in Spain and the second-best fine dining restaurant in the world – without leaving Mallorca?
This week’s Restaurant of the Week is not only in a 5-star hotel but also has five-star views. The Castillo Hotel Son Vida is an icon in Mallorca, a renovated 13th-century castle in a commanding position, that’s been a luxury hotel since 1961.
Mallorca is home to several restaurants owned by chefs who gained invaluable experience working for the British chef Marc Fosh, whose Palma restaurant has a Michelin star. One of these is Vida Meva – a family business that opened in Palma in 2017. Chef Toni Martorell worked with Marc Fosh for seven years at the former Palma restaurants Misa Braseria and Simply Fosh. That experience is evident when eating at Vida Meva.
If you’re someone who likes to eat and drink in iconic places, the newly opened Victoria Grand Café at the Hotel Victoria Gran Meliá could be for you, as it’s inspired by the golden years of this hotel.
This week’s choice is for anyone in Palma who’s on a budget but would still like to have a three-course lunch with a glass of wine, beer, or a soft drink – in a stylish, contemporary setting – for less than twenty euros.
If you enjoy food that’s a creative fusion of Japanese and Peruvian with Mediterranean influences, a restaurant in the heart of Palma’s prestigious shopping area should be on your list.
Now is an excellent time to eat out in Mallorca – and here’s why!
The first time I ate chef Santi Taura’s cuisine was at his original restaurant, which opened in 2003 in his hometown, Lloseta. I was blown away by the experience and excited to find such an appealing representation of the local cuisine.
Canela is the Spanish name for one of my favourite spices, cinnamon. It also happens to be the name of one of the cosiest, tucked-away places to eat in Palma. This restaurant took its name from the building’s original purpose as a gourmet deli.
Having been a fan of Andreu Genestra’s Palma restaurant, Aromata, since it first opened, I was shocked late in 2024 to hear that the restaurant was leaving its original premises with no new address revealed at the time.
One of Palma’s most popular tapas restaurants, El Camino, now has a younger (and smaller) sibling – the appropriately named El Caminito, which opened in early October. British restaurateur Eddie Hart and his professional team created this new eatery in a tucked-away lane, strategically located only a few minutes away from El Camino.
If the Christmas decorations or some festive gift shopping mean a trip to Palma, you’ll probably need some midday sustenance. For a touch of luxury, an escape from the bustle of Mallorca’s capital, and good food and service, head to The Merchants in the area known as La Lonja.
If your palate becomes a little jaded with the arrival of autumn, I have the perfect prescription: Lunch or dinner at KOH in Palma, where the fresh and vibrant cuisine of Southeast Asia is a wake-up call for the taste buds.
The 30-plant challenge has been gaining momentum since Professor Tim Spector of Kings College London cited research on his nutrition website, Zoe, finding that eating 30 different plant foods a week benefits the gut microbiome. Mallorcan chef Andrés Benitez was ahead of his time, four years ago, when he launched his plant-based menu at Botànic, the restaurant at Palma’s 5-star Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden.
I must have passed Gigi’s Piccolo Ristorante in Palma many times, walking between El Corté Inglés and the Mercat de l’Olivar, without realising what I was missing. When a friend suggested the place for lunch together, I discovered it was home to the authentic Italian cuisine of chef Gigi and the warm hospitality of his wife, Jackie. This is where you’ll find slow food, cooked with love to order, and served with what the Spanish call ‘don de gente’ – people skills.
If one of your criteria for a place to eat out is a great view, L’Atic in Palma should be on your restaurant radar. L’Atic is on the seventh floor of the Hotel Saratoga – the home of the former Blue Jazz Club – but more than impressive views await you.
You’re unlikely to come across Basic Bar Restaurante on a wander around Palma because it’s tucked away in a side street off Carrer Aragón, close to the rear of El Corte Inglés on the Avenidas.
If you browse the web for Mallorca’s luxury hotels, you’ll find Cap Rocat near Palma. This 5-star hotel is a spectacular and award-winning renovation of a fortified citadel by the architect Antonio Obrador. I’ve always wanted to stay there, but Cap Rocat’s eyewatering accommodation prices are sadly beyond my budget. Fortunately, eating at the hotel’s Sea Club restaurant is a more affordable treat. And what a treat!
Authentic Canary Islands’ cuisine – with contemporary touches and creative presentation – is on the menu at the Palma tapas bar and restaurant, La Vieja de Jonay Hernández. Owner and chef Jonay is from Tenerife, and his New Canarian cuisine pays homage to the archipelago of his birth.
Palma is home to no fewer than four Michelin-starred restaurants – each offering the gourmet diner a memorable but different culinary experience. In 2015, the eponymous Marc Fosh was the first restaurant in Mallorca’s capital to gain the coveted star – a distinction it’s held every year since. And Marc is still the only British chef in Spain at the helm of a Michelin-starred restaurant.
If eating out in one of Palma’s oldest palaces sounds expensive, the three-course set lunch at NOI Palma within the Scandinavian-owned Nobis Hotel Palma may surprise you – at just 25€ a head.
Palma offers a fantastic choice of cuisines but if eating authentic Spanish food in a cosy, unpretentious ambience is what you’re craving, Cantina Panzà ticks that box … and others. Located along the iconic Paseo de la Rambla – home of the scented, colourful flower stalls – Cantina Panzà offers tapas, sharing plates, and a weekday ‘menú del día’.
Lume & Co is located in the former stables of Mallorca’s 15th-century Son Berga castle, just outside Genova. The restaurant is in gated premises, with a large private car park. Although only a short drive from the centre of Palma, it has a rural setting and makes a change from the bustle of the capital.
When holidaying in Mallorca, the Spanish royal family has dined several times at the restaurant Ola del Mar in Portixol, Palma’s former fishing village. You’ll find plenty of locals too eating out in Ola del Mar which, not surprisingly for its location, specializes in seafood.
Italian restaurants are ubiquitous in Palma, so which do you choose for authentic ‘la dolce vita’ cuisine? You could follow in the footsteps of the King of Spain and Hollywood ‘royalty’, actor Morgan Freeman, who have both dined at Sandro Restaurante this year.
If a trip to Paris for some traditional French cuisine is out of the question, a visit to Mallorca’s Les Artistes could be the next best thing. This cosy French bistro in Palma has the ambience and cuisine of the ‘city of light’ itself.
New restaurants are tempting – especially for those who like to post about them on social media. But established eateries with a good reputation will always have appeal, and if you’re looking for a seafood restaurant, where better than one located right above the fish market where the catch is auctioned in the early mornings?
Fans of the TV series ‘Friends’ will know that “Joey doesn’t share food!”. If you have a friend like Joey Tribbiani, don’t take them to Lassala Grill in Mallorca. Go with a foodie friend or two and order a few of the delicious dishes created specifically for sharing by executive chef Andrés Benítez – who is also behind the critically acclaimed plant-forward cuisine at Botànic restaurant in Palma.
Weather is warming up and we were in a mood to sit outside and enjoy a good glass of wine with a bite or two. Some friends had told us about this very authentic Spanish tapas bar in Ciudad Jardín.
On a rather chilly and windy Monday evening in Palma, the area of Santa Catalina was eerily quiet. Until we entered The Duke – a cosy nook of a restaurant in a side street near Santa Catalina market. This was where everyone was, creating the buzzy warm ambience that’s evidence of an eatery that knows how to please its punters.
Like several other chefs who have opened their own successful restaurants, Adrián Quetglas used to work for British chef Marc Fosh. After a decade working in Russia, in 2015, Adrián opened his own restaurant, which has a Michelin star. He also has the neighbouring D’Gustar tapas bar.
Plaça Raimundo Clar has become quite the foodie destination in the regenerated quarter known as Sa Gerreria, in Palma de Mallorca. Bars and restaurants border the attractive large square and, since last September, Japanese cuisine has expanded the variety of international flavours on offer here.
Toothsome isn’t a word I use very often, but it sprang to mind as I was eating a delicious lunch at Bi Bap restaurant in Palma de Mallorca last week. If I hadn’t been eating alone, I’d have used that word in conversation with my lunch companion. Instead, I’ve saved it for this review.
Forn in Palma is in a former 19th-century bakery in La Lonja that was converted into a restaurant in 1992. The founder’s sons Carlos and Christian are now responsible for Forn restaurant, which has recently undergone a stylish makeover.
This week’s Restaurant of the Week is, in fact, a café, but it’s one with oodles of style, delicious international food, and friendly table service. Café Rialto is within the Swedish-owned lifestyle store Rialto Living, offering a comfortable and super-stylish place to eat and drink at any time during the day.
Tucked away around the corner from Palma de Mallorca’s Jaime III, Fera Restaurant and Bar first opened in the autumn of 2017 and quickly gained a loyal following. The restaurant is in a tastefully restored old palacio and you enter through a small courtyard. Even before you pass through the automatic glass doors, you can see that the experience of eating here is something different.
The old town of Palma de Mallorca is home to Quadrat, within the 5-star Sant Francesc Hotel Singular. It’s an elegant restaurant located in this former palacio’s original stables and you’ll see hints of the space’s original use in the interior décor.
Offering one of Palma’s most diverse and innovative menus, Vandal is the product of its two creative owners’ international careers. Executive chef Bernabé Caravotta worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in France and Denmark – Mirazur and with René Redzepi at the renowned Noma, respectively – and at the Blue Elephant Thai cooking school in Thailand, before moving to Mallorca in 2007.