Eat Like Ushi

All beach towns need a good gelato place. There weren't many reviews to find online for C'an Pastilla and even a Google Maps search didn't have too many options that were nearby and open after dinner. We decided to meander down and look for one along the promenade expecting to find something.

The first one we walked into was called Eiscafe Oso Polar. They advertised homemade icecream so we'd peeked in. Unfortunately the flavours didn't really appeal and the icecream had that fluoro tinge that I don't go for. After walking away the angry woman yelled at my friend about how rude it was and there was no "gourmet" icecream in the town if that's what we were looking for. Happy to have left there, I looked across the street and saw a sign saying "gelato per passione" and a giant icecream luring people in. It looked simple and more modern and I'm glad I ended up there.

The gelato is well maintained in silver containers but with clear lids to see the product. It's a good compromise between the overflowing views of some and the hidden metal canisters of others. They didn't have pistachio but happily settled for fig and coconut. Both were good quality, smooth although a little light in flavour. It was nice on a humid Mallorquin evening to sit along the promenade wall and watch 5yo children blasting reggaeton and hooning in tiny cars.

There's also an option similar to Cold Rock in Melbourne where they mash chocolates and other things into your gelato if you wish, but that would only make the flavour messier in my mind. Simple is best.

Given the beach location and general heat of Puerto Pollensa, I tried hard to find a gelato place to look forward to. Gelats Valls was the closest I found even though it seems like the location I initially found was closed and moved a short way away. It may have converted in that time from a little stand to an actual shop, I'm not sure.

There was a broad range of flavours and pistachio and hazelnut jumped out at me. It's possible that the two nut flavours were too similar for contrast but I didn't find myself enjoying them all that much. The hazelnut was moderate strength because it really it difficult not to and I'm used to it being incredibly strong in other areas of Spain and Italy. Also the pistachio was a very weak flavour and I like it bursting and strong.

Overall adequate and I don't know if there is a better heladeria in Puerto Pollensa. But if so I'll look for it next time.

After Patio@49, there was a couple of blanks fired at Tapas y Punto who had no interest in serving us even though others were waiting for food, and Neptuno who had just closed for the evening. The tail of the trail had La Cabaña and Imperial Bar & Tapas but Google Maps suggested both had or were about to close. Luckily in between there was Norai Pinxtos & Wine Bar which is open until 4am including the kitchen open late. How opportune and generous of them.

It was lucky because we were quite hungry after much sangria but little food and this place ended up being my favourite of the lot. The tapas or racion list has many interesting items, the sangria is good quality, there's a nice vibe of people eating inside and outside, they have sports showing on a TV next to the bar, and they are along the promenade with still reasonable prices. It doesn't get better in Puerto Pollensa (or perhaps anywhere in Mallorca).

- Tempura vegetal €9 - thicker than usual tempura batter with no seasoning in the batter so using the sauces brought the items to life;
- Pulpo a la Gallega €14 - I don't usually like Galician-style octopus but this was a good one with soft juicy octopus and potato drinking up the octopus liquor;
- Alitas de pollo con salsa teriyaki €6 - teriyaki chicken wings definitely weren't my idea in a Spanish place but tasted good;
- Patatas Bravas €5.5 - we were hankering for some of these Spanish classics and they didn't disappoint especially served with a moderately hot chilli sauce;
- Albondigas €6 - the meatballs were full of flavour and tenderness. It would have been great to get some additional bread to mop up the sauce with.

They also have some nice sounding burgers and other dishes available too. This would easily be my recommendation for tapas, food, drink and general enjoyment to anyone visiting Puerto Pollensa.

The second stop of the self-created tapas trail was Patio@49. It actually used to be another place that had excellent reviews but was now taken over by an older British couple who had made their way to live and setup in Mallorca. It's not a bad life choice is it? I don't think they necessarily offer on the tapas trail but the entree sizes fit the bill easily.

I think the female was bemused but not amused that 5 of us only ordered 2 dishes and some drinks. Yes, we are sampling bits here and there so we know what we are doing.

Fresh steamed mussels in white wine & parsley €5 was a reasonable serving for the price. There was about 15 mussels or so which enabled a good sampling each.

Fresh salad with breaded Camembert & tomato chutney €5 was a nicely fried and mild flavoured cheese with salad leaves and vinaigrette.

Onward we moved.

Rustic Cafe is traditionally the first (or last) stop along the Puerto Pollensa tapas trail. Some bright person has decreed tapas day to be Thursday rather than what I would have thought is the busier weekend evenings. Maybe it's a ploy to increase business on a weekday. Unfortunately there's only about 3 changing places that participate any longer and many have stopped or closed down. Rustic seems to still keep their hand in, and full respect to them for doing so.

Rustic offers a tapas + drink for €3 on Thursday, whereas a tapas dish alone is €5 otherwise. To be honest I expect the dishes normally are larger than the Thursday single serve tapa, but who knows.

Sitting outside eating the delicious and mildly spicy grilled padron peppers and little vegetable samosas drinking sangria was a warm delight. It is a pretty un-atmospheric location with nothing really else around so you have to really want to go to that place.

Would recommend it for a light start, but be aware there are plenty more to come.

For a 30th birthday celebration I wanted to pick a place with Mallorcan food. A couple of names came up in the area which were Celler La Parra and El Posito. Due to slightly more interesting reads, I ended up booking La Parra simply via an email. Even though it was a Friday night in August, the restaurant was only half full. There are plenty of restaurants along the promenade so perhaps that is where the bulk of people spend the summer evenings.

The walls are adorned with an eclectic mix clocks, dolls and barrels. It had a nice rustic atmosphere with friendly waiters making jokes and being helpful.

The menu (like all in Mallorca) have 5 languages but I'd accepted that as just part of the island. I was glad to see several menu items using less common offal cuts and cooked "Mallorquin" style.

- Bread & olives €1pp;
- Tumbet €5 - a typical Mallorcan vegetable dish of layered potato, peppers and eggplant and topped with a tomato-based sauce. It reminds me of ratatouille but with much less thyme. Delicious;
- Pa amb oli with cheese €4.5 - pan con tomate with sliced tomato rather than the blended pulp. Drizzled with EVOO and served on bread (my slice was a little too burnt);
- Grilled liver Mallorcan style €6.6 - (lamb?) liver slices of very strong flavour that needed bread, and probably next time something sweeter to cut through the flavour. Good to try but only so much I could eat, so I wouldn't be game again. I actually wanted to kidneys, but they didn't have any unfortunately;
- Roast suckling pig Mallorcan style €15 - a delicious small portion of juicy meat with crisp crackling served with some fries and salad for balance;
- Grilled squid - two heavily seasoned squid with some firm bitey texture and good flavour;
- Pudding of the house €3.5.

It was a very nice meal in a comfortable relaxed setting with quality Spanish/Mallorcan food and easily close enough to engage in a relaxing walk toward the beach afterwards.

There weren't many places left open to eat in Palma on a Thursday night around midnight. Most places were closed or the kitchens had closed and so it was nice to find Carmen still serving and actually have a very nice decor instead complete with a graphic of what looked like Claudia Schiffer.

I didn't take a photo but my friend ordered the seafood paella which had excellent strong flavour, good quantities of seafood but unfortunately no crisp pan base. Still a good choice.

Mallorca local picornell mushrooms €9 were my choice and cooked with butter and herbs. The most surprising aspect was the flavour which had almost a slight sour bitterness. It wasn't as unpleasant as that sounds but certainly unexpected and thus didn't enjoy them as much as I would have a standard strong buttery mushroom flavour.

At least it was Mallorquin and that's what one should be trying in Mallorca.

It was far from the finest meal to finish a trip but with a short amount of time before dropping off the rental car and making tracks for the airport, a very closeby bakery seemed a good idea for something fast. I think the bakery items on display overexcited me and I failed to notice the menu of bocadillos calientes and salads.

Instead a gluten meal of jamon queso croissant, meat empanada, tuna empanada and raisin scroll was ordered. Everything was ok with the empanadas being the best of the lot and heated in the oven until crisp again upon request.

The extraordinarily surly young lady serving everyone could use some joy in her life.

Walking through the heated humid 28C streets of Palma at midnight, it was clear the beautiful stone buildings with high construction also did a good deal for absorbing and radiating heat. After a brief dinner, the queues outside Rivareno Gelato may have been a sign of just the climate but inside revealed a serious gelato place.

The metal canisters show business rather than display. The Sicilian pistachio was reasonable strength and quite sweet whereas Sri Lankan coconut was a milder flavour with little bits of flesh dotted in. I suppose my biggest issue was how soft they were even from the outset.

Nonetheless a reasonable gelato start to the trip.

No it isn't the Cafe East that is reputed for Vietnamese food in London. This is the local Cafe East along the up and coming (or nearly there) Roman Road in Bow. Even though there are quite a few cafes in the area, I've yet to really experience many. This was an unusual Sunday brunch on a warm day, and it was surprising that not more people weren't out here. Maybe they were off in the park instead.

Their forte is probably pancakes as there is a dedicated menu for them. Even though the other dishes don't sound overly exciting, the do them damn well. This may well be my favourite standard breakfast in London so far. And the prices are cheaper than anything other than fried chicken and kebabs in this town.

- Eastern Pan £6.5 - an egg, a juicy portobello mushroom, a slightly old looking cumberland sausage, lovely grilled cherry tomatoes, really excellent really strong flavoured (not smoked though) bacon and some standard baked beans. The presentation in a frypan is just right;
- Potato Pancake £6.9 - 2 nicely salted potato cakes with squeaky grilled halloumi, excellent delicious spicy beef sausage, sliced avocado and 2 poached eggs (I prefer slightly runnier but it's fine). Perhaps a little salty overall but just plain tasty.

They unfortunately don't have much in the way of smoothies but there is some fresh house OJ at least.

I'll definitely be back for breakfast again.