The Grill Castillo Hotel Son Vida, Palma
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.
The Grill opened last summer on the upper level of the Sa Font Pool Bar and has become a popular place for the food, the location, and the views of Palma and the bay. And you don’t have to stay in the hotel to eat here.
The Grill overlooks the hotel’s large swimming pool, and we’d loved to have plunged into the inviting water on what was a very hot night. It was an even hotter one for the chef, Luigi, at the outdoor charcoal grill. I hope he was able to have a long, cold beer at the end of the night!
We celebrated getting what we considered to be the table with the best views by sipping a glass of Freixenet Elyssia Brut Rosé cava (13€ a glass/55€ per bottle).
Almost every dish on the menu is cooked on this grill. Our dinner began with grilled crusty bread, served with smoked butter and Na Capitana extra virgin olive oil. A delicious start.
We tried two of the five starters: grilled vegetables with romesco sauce (23€) and vegetable ‘escalivada’ (18€). The latter is a tasty, smoky-flavoured Catalan dish, cooked over embers. My platter of grilled vegetables included red, green, and yellow peppers, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, corn on the cob, and courgettes – I felt virtuous tucking into this plant-based offering. Both dishes could easily be shared.
Six meat dishes are on the menu, including good beef. I chose lamb ribs, served on a bed of sweet potato purée, with shallots. (46€). The meaty lamb was glazed with honey from the hotel’s hive, and the flavour and texture were excellent.
My companion ate grilled tuna belly with the Mallorcan salad, ‘trempó’, from the five fish dishes on the menu (44€) which, not surprisingly, include lobster. Lobster fans can enjoy the traditional grilled lobster with garlic butter, chips, and fried egg here (90€) – a luxurious dish for a luxurious setting.
Neither of us had space for a dessert, although two tempted me: grilled pear with melted caramel (14€) and kebab of grilled pineapple with coconut sorbet (14€). Ice creams and a sorbet are made on the premises.
Wines are mostly Mallorcan and from the Peninsula, but with a few from France, and one each from New Zealand and Italy. As you’d expect, there’s a good choice of champagnes and cavas; on this occasion, we had a second glass of cava rather than wine.
On Wednesdays and Saturdays, dinner is accompanied by music drifting down from the hotel’s huge terrace – part of the Castillo Nights Live Sunset Music Sessions (these free sessions are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays 19:00h-21:00h).
Service and prices are as you’d expect in a place of Castillo Hotel Son Vida’s calibre, but for expertly cooked grilled food, excellent service, sublime views, and the iconic location, The Grill could be a great choice for a memorable celebration dinner.
Photos: Jan Edwards