Mallorca is a destination that I keep returning to again and again. There are many reasons why one may fall in love with this island paradise. You only need to glance at some of the many incredible things you can do in Mallorca in order to be sold on arranging a trip. But when I think of Mallorca one thing springs to mind. Food.
Mallorca is home to some of the best food I have ever tried in my life. The thought of having to wait back in rainy England each year for summer just so I can jet off each year to have my favourite food, downright depresses me. Why can’t we have food as good back here?
So as soon as July hit, I wasted no time booking my flights to the Balearic island for my annual food get away. I’m pretty sure my stomach waits keenly for this trip throughout the year!
Whilst I sometimes book a lengthy getaway to make the most of summer, in recent years work has been pretty full-on so this year I was going for a mere 3 nights, Thursday to Sunday. My return flight on Sunday was pretty late so this left me with 4 evenings to gorge myself on some of the island’s most delicious meals.
I tend to stay in the same part of Mallorca each time I visit. However, there are a whole host of spectacular areas just waiting to be explored. Learn more about where to stay in Mallorca.
Trust me – 4 nights is no where near long enough to enjoy the proper eating tour! But if you are jetting off to the sunny Spanish island for a long-weekend, here are my absolute must-visits. But before we dive in to the delicious details (see what I did there?), let’s have a quick overview of the essential stuff like getting to Mallorca and getting around Mallorca. I’ll be quick – don’t worry!
Getting to Mallorca
Mallorca is a very popular island that attracts hordes of visitors over the summer months. It’s the third busiest airport in Spain and on some days it has as many flights organised as Heathrow airport! As a result, flights to and from the UK are in abundance. There is therefore no shortage of flights to choose from.
I booked my flights to Mallorca no sooner than a couple of days before I planned to fly. Skyscanner is my go-to site to find deals and if that fails, I know which airlines fly to Mallorca so I check their websites directly and compare.
For this particular trip, the best deal was to go with two different airlines. TUI was my choice to travel from Manchester to Mallorca and Easyjet was the best deal to travel home again. Skyscanner is pretty good at finding these combinations that I wouldn’t have thought to search for.
Getting Around The Island
A rental car allows you to have the ultimate freedom to explore. Not having our own car in Sri Lanka made life rather difficult for us and I’ve learnt that it’s pretty-much an essential item when travelling, especially when there’s food involved. If I don’t have my own transport my meal schedule seems to go out the window and I’m left with a very unhappy belly!
Plus the taxis in Mallorca aren’t exactly cheap. It can be €20 for a 10 minute drive and is €50 for a 30 minute trip to the airport. If you consider that a rental car can be from as little as €30, you’ve already saved €20 on that journey!
There’s no shortage of rental companies to choose from. I always avoid mainstream rental companies like the plague. They are riddled with hidden costs and poor customer services. Instead I always opt for the smaller, local companies. Often this means that their offices aren’t actually at the airport but I believe the 5 minute shuttle ride is a small price to pay for going with a friendly company who don’t try to scam you left, right and centre.
We opted for a little-known company called Roig Car Hire. We selected this company due to the glowing customer reviews, great range of vehicles and the fact that they operated on a full-to-full basis for petrol. This means that they gave us the car with a full tank and we returned it with a full tank, only paying for the petrol used. You’d be surprised how many companies don’t offer this and add an extra fuel charge.
When Lewis and I entered the arrivals hall, a representative from Roig was there waiting for us. He greeted us warmly before taking us to his minivan which was a free shuttle to Roig headquarters which was just a 5 minute drive away, on the other side of the motorway.
Picking up the car was easy. We had hired a BMW X3, a car which we were super excited to take for a spin. At €80 per day, I felt like the luxury rental vehicle was a great price. For a long-weekend this cost us roughly €300.
Roig do, of course, have more budget options available with car prices starting from €40 per day.
One of my favourite things about Roig was that they allowed you to rent a car even if you are 23 years old (like me). This meant that I could also drive the BMW and I couldn’t have been more excited!
The boot opened with the click of a button on our keyring (I know, I get excited by the smallest things) and once inside, we were greeted with the smell of high-quality leather. There were buttons and gismos everywhere. I mean, you could adjust the music volume by waving your finger at the music system in a clockwise motion – yep, I tried it and it worked!
We were both fascinated by the technology in the car. We didn’t put the key anywhere. You literally just pressed a button to start and it sensed the key was in the car and started up. But the best was yet to come.
As we cruised down the motorway, Lewis decided to put the BMW to the test and put his foot down. The world passed us in a blur and a roaring sounded in my ears.
“Jesus Christ!” I cried as I was thrown back in my seat.
“Wow.” Was all that Lewis managed to mutter.
What a beast of a car. We decided to call him George. It suited him.
Top Picks For Eating Out In Mallorca
Best Spanish Food: La Terazza
It’s become almost a tradition for us to visit ‘La Terazza’ restaurant for our first night in Mallorca.
After picking up our rental car, Lewis and I met up with my family. This short break away was going to be a family holiday and was in fact the first one I’d had for many, many years. Can you not tell how buzzing me and my siblings were to be holidaying together by the picture above?
We made our way to La Terazza, a traditional Spanish restaurant located in Port Adriano, in the south of Mallorca.
La Terazza is a long-standing restaurant in the port and was here prior to the expansion of the port which had taken place a few years ago. It started off as a quaint restaurant on the top floor of a two-storey building but had now expanded to takeover the entire building. The name ‘La Terraza’ translates to ‘the terrace’ and is reminiscent of its humble beginnings as the top-floor.
The food is exquisite and the service that accompanies it is unrivalled. Over the years, I had made friends with several of the waiters and they were keen to ‘high five’ me whenever I arrived. They also know exactly what I want to order!
And if that wasn’t enough, the location was also blessed with panoramic views of the port below and the villa-lined cliffs which encased the harbour. I loved watching the super yachts and daydreaming about which would be mine (in my dreams, obviously).
The food is typically Spanish with a vast array of tapas to choose from. My favourite tapas dishes include the Iberico ham (an absolute must), the cod and ham croquettes and the garlic prawns. Other recommendations include pimientos de padrons (if you can handle the fact that 1 in every 100 is a scorcher), the beef carpaccio and the patatas bravas.
In terms of mains, you are inundated with options from traditional seafood paella, goats cheese salad, rack of lamb and my absolute favourite, the sizzling rib-eye steak. The steak comes out on a hot rock plate and gradually cooks away in front of you. This is perfect as you can grab your steak whenever it is cooked how you like it. I love my steak as rare as you can possibly have it so I grab it literally immediately. But if you allow it time, you can have it as well-done as you like!
There is also a delicious selection of deserts including warm chocolate cake (yum!). I also hear the apple pie is to die for.
Best Sushi Restaurant: Tahini
My all-time favourite restaurant in the entire world (I know right – what a claim but I am not exaggerating here) is a sushi restaurant called Tahini. Located in the up-market Puerto Portals, this restaurant makes the absolute lip-smackingly (is that a word?) delicious sushi I have ever tasted.
After a day of doing nothing, an evening gorging on heaven’s food was well in order. There was no way that I was going to visit Mallorca without eating the food from the Gods so as evening fell, we leapt into George and roared off to Portals.
We passed the rows upon rows of super yachts and line of swanky restaurants. Tucked towards the back of the port is a hidden oasis of peace and tranquility. You’d literally have no idea that Tahini in fact backed onto a carpark and was not in prime position to have any sea views. But it didn’t matter. The restaurant is so well designed that you actually think you are in Japan whilst you are eating there.
You can either eat in or out. I always opt for eating outside, in the gardens. The gardens are lined with walls of bamboo. There are 3 glass houses that sit around 4 tables each. These houses are perched upon slate tiles and are surrounded by waterways. You have to cross a small wooden bridge to get to each glass house which is surrounded by trees.
Sounds magical right?
Then there is the food.
I’m just gonna leave these images here.
My absolute favourite dish at Tahini is the salmon sashimi. The salmon sashimi here is particularly gorgeous. They provide you with succulent, chunky pieces that are served at just the right temperature. Cold but not too cold. So many times sushi is served on ice and I just find it way too cold.
Tahini has its own unique soy sauce which tastes incredible. Instead of just being sour, it has a sweetness to it, almost like honey. However, I do not know what their secret ingredient is!
As well as the salmon, Tahini also excel with their prawn rolls which are served warm with king prawn tempura within them. I don’t normally like sushi rolls but I could gorge on these rolls all day every day. I could live off them for the rest of my life!
Special mentions also go to their beef teriyaki and chicken skewers, both are which are heavenly. The chicken gyozas are also highly-respected by both Lewis and my siblings. I’m not as much a gyoza person but I hear they are the best of the best in gyoza world.
Special Mentions
East Coast, Port Adriano
East Coast is another of Mallorca’s gorgeous sushi restaurants. Located at the very tip of the port extension in Adriano, East Coast is a very, very close second to Tahini in terms of sushi. Yeah, me second favourite sushi restaurant in the world!
As well as the typical sushi dishes, East Coast has some delicious meals like the crispy duck salad (heavenly!), steak tartar, fillet steaks and spare ribs. Oh, and don’t worry vegans (if you’re even still reading with all this meat talk), they have some yummy vegan options too!
Harbour Grill, Port Adriano
This is one for the meat lovers! The Harbour Grill does some of the best steak I have ever had Seriously, the menu specialises in steak. My favourite dish is the steak tartar but the fillet steaks and beef carpaccio are also to die for!
Nikki Beach, Magaluf
Nikki beach is the perfect place for some lunch in the sun. Their sushi boats are delicious! Just be prepared that they don’t exactly come cheap but hey, we all deserve to splash out every once in a while! The vibes here are super fun with entertainment and dancers.
Flanigan’s, Puerto Portals
An old favourite of mine is good ol’ Flanigan’s in Puerto Portals. The food is typically Mediterranean with a range of delicious seafood options as well as steaks. The penne pasta here is a must-try! The best pasta I have ever tried. And for all you meat lovers out there, the steak tartar is out of this world!
Vent de Tramuntana, Port d’Andratx
A cosy restaurant, tucked away from the bustling port, this restaurant has some delicious and unique Spanish food. Based by the fishing port of Port d’Andtatx you can expect to find lots of fish and seafood on the menu. Set in beautiful olive gardens, you are guaranteed to have an authentic Spanish experience here.
Cassai, Ses Salines
Tucked away in a quaint village that screams of traditional Spain is this hidden gem. If the decor doesn’t draw you in with the appeal of being super ‘Instagram’-friendly then the menu might. From delicious homemade croquettes to yummy steak tartar, you have a vast range of Spanish tapas to choose from.
Restaurante Dalt des Coll
located in the middle of nowhere (I’m not joking. Even google maps can’t place this restaurant in a town) is this beautiful restaurant, perched on the edge of a majestic mountain in the midst of a national park. To get here you have to endure more hairpin bends than I can count but the views from the restaurant are totally worth it, as is the food. The tapas is delicious and the restaurant has a range of special dishes to choose from including a rather mouth-watering rack of lamb. This restaurant is only open for lunch and is super popular so I’d definitely recommend booking beforehand!
Final Thoughts
Essentially, Mallorca is a food lover’s haven. I could literally go on with recommendations but I think I will leave it there. I am also sure there are many other hidden gems out there just waiting to be explored by my tastebuds!
Ellamckendrick.com is a free online resource. If you have found this website useful for planning your adventures, you can show your support by buying me a coffee. Thanks so much!
