Eat Like Ushi

When we walked out of Hotel Balear I asked the reception staff for a recommendation for Mallorquin/Spanish. After informing him we prefer not to drive, he thought hard. I thought he said a place along the promenade called La Mejillonera was the place to go for a famous paella stemmed from a place in Palma. However (hence the name) it really only does mussels. Next door to it was a place that specialised in paella (La Payesita) but was closed on a Sunday sadly.

Next to that was a perhaps slightly more tourist looking operation (but everywhere is in this German town) although the redeeming qualities were a seafood tank, a view of the beach and some evening sky, and the waiters were all elderly 50yo+ Spanish men and friendly.

- Pimientos de Padron €9 - well grilled, salted and mildly spicy. Delicious;
- Croquetas de Bacalao €8.5 - a smooth mild cod paste was enclosed in a golden crisp and thin coating. I suspect this was the better choice than the chicken version;
- Caracoles €8.95 - sea snails in a very strong salty earthy flavoured broth which was perfect for the complimentary garlic bread. It's always an enjoying treat pulling those suckers from within the shells.

Between 5 of us, there was possibly a little bit of food overload particularly with respect to the shellfish and the volume of rice. The two guys in the group powered on and dominated the rice. Luckily it was very good.

- Parrillada de Mariscos €38 - a generous plate of all grilled seafood headlined by half a lobster, delicious rich flavoursome prawns and their heads, langoustines, slightly overcooked razor clams, big meaty mussels and some little clams;
- Paella de Mariscos €28.6 (2 servings) - an extremely flavoursome (heavy with the salt) paella that soaked up all the lemon juice I could squeeze. The most impressive part was the way the burnt crisp crust had formed along the edges and on the bottom of the pan providing excellent textures and flavour. This was a better cooking quality in paella than I've had anywhere including Valencia;
- Paella Vegetariana €24.1 (2 servings) - this healthier version was equally well cooked but much less flavoursome. It seemed like the salt hadn't been well distributed as some portions were very light and others were over salty. Otherwise still good.

I think I enjoyed this paella more than any others so far. I don't think I'd ever find myself back in C'an Pastilla (never say never) but if I did I'd go back for it. Or try the famous one next door...

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.

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.