Eating out in Mallorca: Wine & Dine by Food Tours Mallorca

We started at Vermuteria La Rosa near La Caixa Forum where we were seated at super cute bar, overlooking shelves full of drinks, hanging peppers and garlic, and a large “jamón” on a wooden stand, which was cut on demand. A lovely French manageress offered us a choice of drinks that were included in our deal. My friend went with a glass of cava, while I opted for some house vermouth, as we were in a vermuteria after all.

For our first course we were offered a selection of small tapas that included a generous spoonful of insalada rusa i.e. Russian salad and two croquetas, one with ham and another with spinach, blue cheese and walnuts. While I was slightly protesting at insalada rusa having some tuna in it (I know that’s the Spanish way of preparing it, but I prefer without), I cannot deny that it was delicious. So were the croquetas, both very crispy on the outside and meltingly soft on the inside. My friend commented on some tasty looking manchego cheese in a jar and the manageress was quick to offer us a couple of cubes to try. This kind of detail, especially in a busy place, always wins me over. I have not been to this place before and I wowed to return as I loved both the food and the atmosphere. It seemed like a great little spot for either a date or a catch up with friends.

Next stop on our tour was Toque de Queda, another great little find, tucked away behind La Rambla. Here we had a Deep fried zucchini flower with ricotta cheese and “lagrimas de pimiento”, a tear shaped sweet and sour little pepper that added some zest to the earthy taste of the the dish. I have eaten at Toque de Queda before with a friend who lives around the corner, but I have not tried this dish before, so in that sense it was another great find.

Third stop, for our main meal, was Xalest at Concepcio by Nobis. While the first few stops were very casual eateries, this was a high end experience in a stylish restaurant on the ground floor of an equally stylish hotel. Here we had some Beef cheeks in a beer sauce on a bed of mash potatoes, garnished with parsnip straw chips. Coupled with some good red wine, this was one of the tastiest main meals I had this year. Simple, yet full of flavour and really moreish. I also liked the presentation in a bowl that looks like or possibly is, carved out of lava rock. While here, we made friends with a waiter named Ruben who is a food photographer in his spare time, and he gave us some cool tricks to do better food photography.

Our final stop was Lo Divino on C/ Carme. As we were approaching, we spotted the chef, Dino, at the door, taking a few breaths of fresh air. It transpired that he was both the chef and the owner of this lovely place, another one I have not been to before and I added onto my “return to” list. Here we had our dessert; a warm orange and almond cake, served with orange ice cream and sliced almonds. I loved the mix of textures and temperatures here. A warm soft cake was combined with coarse ice cream and crunchy almonds. It was absolutely delicious and perfectly paired with a glass of sweet desert wine. We scoffed up the desert pretty quickly but stayed there a while longer, just soaking up the atmosphere and checking out a very interesting menu, ahead of our next visit.

All in all, both Georgia and I absolutely loved this tour and vowed to return next year, maybe for a different set of restaurants. For both of us this was a return visit to some place and a discovery of a few great spots that were not on our radar before. I particularly liked a mixture of dining styles we experienced that night, from a bustling tapas place to a classy, high end restaurant.

I think this was a pretty great end to a year of Eating out with me. May we all be happy, healthy and well fed in 2024! Cheers!