CIUTADELLA
In October my wife and I spent four nights in this beautiful island. We have been fortunate to receive expert advice prior to our trip. Specifically, we relied on the advice of two of the most distinguished Spanish palates we have met: Rogelio Enriquez and Borja Beneyto. Borja is a frequent visitor to the island, and their help is most appreciated. Below is a brief summary of our impressions.
HOTEL XUROY
We stayed in this hotel and liked it very much. It is located in a gorgeous bay, and we swam right in front of the hotel. The Xuroy village is tiny and is full of character. The architecture reminded us of the Greek islands with typical white houses, but the surrounding hills are very green and the landscape lush, unlike the bald, brown hills you encounter in Greek islands in the Ionian sea. The only problem is that when it rains and there is strong wind, the bay in front of the hotel becomes muddy. But there are very good sandy beaches in the island and some are organized. Fortunately the weather cooperated and we were able to use the hotel’s beach which is quite insulated from the wind. As a result, the water was turqouise colored and calm.
We had two lunches and one dinner at the hotel. They get fresh fish in the morning and the chef expertly handles it. Look for local fish, such as Escorbay (Corvina), Pagre (Pargo), Meru (Mero), and small fish. Grilling was just right, properly salted and not over-or under-cooked. My favorite was Meru, but Escorbay was also good. We would have liked to try Pagre in salt crust, but it was too big for two.
As for the rest, the tomato-onion-caper salad was under-seasoned, and the tomatoes were uninteresting. They succeeded with both clams and mussels on the plancha. Escamarlans (cigalas) were fresh. But it is better to grill them whole rather than cut them in half. We loved their croqueta of sobrasada, and I think sobrasada is an ideal component when used to flavor traditional croquetas.
The island is rightly famous for very tasty spiny lobster or langosta. All Balearic islands have a version of lobster soup or stew called caldereta. It is cooked in an eartherware pot with a sofrito of fresh vegetables (tomatoes, onion, green pepper, garlic, water, olive oil) and served with toasted bread to dip in the sauce. As one can guess, it is a preparation of humble origins, invented by the fishermen from fishing villages.
We pre-ordered a caldereta at Xuroy. We liked it very much and the serving size was very generous and quite tasty. We could not have a dessert after the langosta stew but tried the semi-aged Mahon cheese. The raw milk Mahon cheese was excellent, and the hotel buys it directly from an artisanal producer. The cheese also helped us to savor the last sips of the 2021 Ladoix from Philippe Pacalet which accompanied our lobster.
SA PEDRERA DES PUJOL
We certainly enjoyed our meal at Sa Pedrera, but maybe because our expectations were too high, we failed to feel ecstasic at the end of the meal. The service is very good, and they are very friendly. As this was our first time in the restaurant, we opted for the menu degustation but made one substitution.
The amuses were quite good: olive with sobrasada, sobrasada on biscuit, partridge fritter with cabbage, and cremosa de queso or Mahon cheese croquetas. The last one was my favorite.
The first dish was superb: an exquisite “oliaigua with figs”. This is a modernized version of traditional Menorcan sofrito soup with figs in multiple textures (fresh, semi-dry, jam, panna cotta), made with four different kinds of tomatoes and flavored by basil. It sounds complex, but the flavors retained their identity and the overall taste impression was clean, pure, and harmonious.
The soup proved that chef Daniel Mora knows how to combine and calibrate flavors. The next dish was more simple: “Mussels from the Port of Mahon ‘en burrida’ with pickles”. The mussels were de-shelled. I did not think that they still had mussels in October in Menorca, but perhaps I am wrong. At any rate, the dish was quite good.
The third course sounded great, but it did not live up to its promise: “Par las barbas de Neptuno. Huevo termal, congrejo, gamba blanca, erizo de mar y salsa de ortiguillas”. I had liked the soup very much, because the distinct flavors retained their identity and mutually supported each other to achieve a unique balance. In contrast, in this soupy seafood dish, the slow cooked egg dominated the rest, and I would never have known the presence of sea urchins and sea anemones (ortiguillas) had they not been written on the menu. I failed to taste the sweetness of white shrimp either. The overall impression was runny egg and congrejo crab. This was an acceptable, slightly bland dish without much character.
The two fish dishes were better. The first was a stew or a caldereta of monkfish: rape or monkfish in a stew of fondant potatoes, safran, fennel, and “morey eel” (morena) broth. The monkfish retained its flavor despite being cooked a long time in the broth, but the broth was a little bland. Perhaps they used too much water, and it needs more concentration, such as in a proper “bourride”.
The raya or skate fish, on the other hand, was amply flavored: “Raya a la manteca negra, con alcaparras capuchinas e hinojo marino”. In English, this translates as: “skate in black butter, with capuchin capers and sea fennel”. The skate was definetely wild (not farm raised) as the flesh was firm and flavorful. Overall, this was an excellent “meuniere” dish, and capers and sea fennel nicely balanced the rich butter and imparted a saline and tart component which enhanced the overall flavor, without compromising the sweetness of the fish.
Beef Wellington is a specialty of the chef. We had seen it going to other tables and noticed that the meat was cooked medium. We requested medium rare and got it. There is not much too say about the filling (mushrooms, foie gras and tenderloin). Proportions were right, set well, and its gravy was good. I found the coca dough quite soft and different than a typical French pithivier. As the island is famous for game meat, we wondered why they did not prepare a wild game pithivier (such as palombe) which would have left a stronger mark.
We enjoyed the “menjar blanc” or “blanc a manger” with toasted almond ice cream and amaretto toffee.
We tried for the first time a Mallorcan wine: 2022 4 Kilos Red. It is an assemblage of three native grapes: Callet, Fogoneu and Manto Negro. This is an aromatic and elegant red wine from high altitude vineyards. It was a nice surprise, especially given its price.
Overall this is a very good restaurant with the potential of becoming an excellent one.
CA NA PILAR
Located in a small village in the middle of the island, this is a cozy and very likeable venue. The young chef is Catalan and especially keen on combining meat offals and shellfish. In the beginning of the meal he offered us an excellent pate de campagne from smoked island pork and sauce ravigote. The ravigote needed a little more acidity, but the homemade pate was flawless.
Surf and Turf Scallop Carpaccio sounded appetizing. The thinly sliced scallops are combined with pig trotters, jowl and cuixot or camot, an intense Menorcan sausage that includes fat and blood. I expected a rustic dish with intense flavors, but did not get it. There was much less collagen in the dish that I expected, and the scallops did not taste very fresh.
After a little disappointing Surf and Turf, we were served a very satisfactory example of another “terre et mer” combination: sea cucumbers or espardenyes with Iberian presa. They were cooked meuniere, and the rocket salad with a horseradish vinaigrette added a nicely sharp contrast. Although I prefer espardenyes with pork feet (manitas de cerdo) as the Roca brothers used to prepare in old, good days, this was an excellent dish.
We had a little bit of a let down with the next dish: Arroz Ca Na Pilar, rice with cuttlefish, pork ribs, pork belly and eel, served in a paella pan with dots of mayonnaise. We had some excellent rice dishes in our trip, and, in comparison, this one did not leave an impression.
Last savory dish was very good: wood pigeon. The pigeon was imported from France, and it was most likely strangled to retain its blood. It was roasted perferctly and served with orange flavored endives and black olive puree. There were no frills. It also went well with 2022 4 Kilos red wine mentioned above.
The millefeuille with diplomate cream and strawberry coulis was adequate.
Despite the ups and downs, one can eat well if one orders the best dishes.
TREBOL
Located in a very scenic seaside village, this is a touristic restaurant known for its fish and fair prices. Maybe because we expected more, we were not too impressed. Tortilla de queso or cheese omlet was surprisingly bland and below average quality, given the standards of tortillas in Spain. Sardines a la plancha were overcooked, and the sardines were not very fresh and fatty. Gambas de Menorca a la plancha were possibly frozen, but not bad. If one dines here, order mussels and beer, as the nice Australians in the next table did!
SA LLAGOSTA
This was not just the best meal in the island, it was a great meal which gave us as much pleasure as our favorite seafood restaurants in Spain, such as Etxebarri, Elkano, Bar FM, Gueyu-Mar, Estimar, D’Berto, etc.
Part of the ecstasy comes from the way chef Coco handles langosta. Langosta in Fornells, a rocky coastline of the island, is remarkably tasty, possibly one of the best in the world. Caldereta or lobster stew is the traditional way to prepare it, and I talked about the caldereta we had at Xuroy. The Xuroy version was very good, but chef Coco’s broth was richer, more complex, and subtle. It became a reference point for me.
But not only Caldereta, the chef prepares langosta at least in eight different ways. We were torn between a preparation that was simply boiled in sea water or one that was gratineed in the oven with homemade mayonnaise. After consultation with the chef’s very nice wife, we decided to try the simple boiled version. She kindly offered to include mayonnaise as a side. Mayonnaise was as amazing as the quality of langosta as it was prepared with very good olive oil and farm eggs by utilizing a mortar and pestle. The ”Langosta heruda” will remain in my memory as a benchmark for spiny lobster. It was also delightful to taste the difference between its head and tail. The tail is firm, meaty and juicy, while the tail had is sweeter, softer and iodized flavor. As we had a female, we also enjoyed the eggs. Unfortunately I forgot to ask her name, as the langosta was alive when she was presented to us!
But not only langosta, there are delicious appetizers here, and the product quality is very good. They served a very simple amuse: hand cut tomato tartare with excellent bread and olive oil. The intense flavor of the tomato sent shock waves to my brain. I had not encountered this level of tomato in very expensive Michelin restaurants in recent years.
We had four appetizers. The only one that did not leave an impression was a terre et mer dish: skewered octopus and cow tripe. The chef nicely marinated the octopus and the tripe with what he called “salsa anticuchera”, a mixture of a spicy romescu paste with soprassada. It was good but the tripe element lacked the requisite gelatinous texture, and I could not detect the best part of the octopus which is its skin.
The other three appetizers were amazing. The escabeche was textbook Spanish, a touch sweet and tart and mouth-watering with firm skate fish meat. Chef Coco prepared it from raya fish or skate with tomato, carrot, pickled plum, paprika and cumin.
Ortigas de mar or ortiquillas was as good as in Andalucia. Fried just right with a very thin coating, they were served with an excellent, creamy hummus.
We were lucky as they had one of my favorite small fish as a daily special: lorito or parrot fish. The meat is very sweet and delicate, and they are delicious. But they have to be very fresh, and they should be cooked slowly to retain their texture and sweetness. Here the cooking of fish was perfect. Sometimes the simplest is the most pure and the most difficult to achieve.
The dessert was also as memorable as the rest. It was a homemade cheese cake using two Menorcan cheeses and apricot jam in a white chocolate soup. It was on par with the great cheesecake of Zuberoa restaurant in the Basque countryside which unfortunately closed down. In particular, the cheesecake was creamy and struck a good balance between savory tartness and sweetness.
The wine we chose, 2014 Remirez de Ganuza Blanco Reserva, a coopage of Viura and Malvasia, paired extremely well with the lobster. Rich, full, creamy and quite complex, this is a balanced and elegant Rioja. The fruit element, mostly ripe pit fruits and agrume, is there, but not too forward. The oak is well integrated in the wine, and the finish lasts quite long and leaves a pleasant aftertaste.
My wife and I went to La Llagosta in our last day which was a sunny day in October. It turned out to be the highlight of the trip.
We look forward to visiting this beautiful island again in near future.
