I’ve just come back from a bit of a whistle stop trip to Palma. Often when I am visiting a city for a short time I like to check out before where to eat so I can pick up an instant flavour hit from the city. This might sound a little contrived, but it does mean that I usually do get to eat some decent nosh without having to walk round and round the city endlessly first!
However this time I was with my father and a friend and though I’d been given the brief; ‘get me the best fish in town!’ I thought I’d ‘wing it’ a little, just go native, and check out where the locals ate instead. Well… to be honest the incredibly nice girl on the reception at the Portixol hotel (Home | Portixol Hotel y Restaurante, Palma de Malloroca ) pointed me in the right direction.
From the moment you walk in through the door at Cash Fernando ( en ) you know its going to be good. There is a glass showcase of wonderfully fresh fish and shellfish then another glass case of rather bizarrely, salad, some vegetables and lots of different kinds of mushrooms. There is no menu as such just a chef standing behind the counter (who told us he WAS the menu!). You choose your fish and vegetables and it all goes on the grill (a la plancha!).
As all the fish comes straight from the market, caught over night it is spankingly fresh. We picked some gorgeous sweet red prawns from Soller on the Northwest of the island. These red prawns (much rosier than the usually prawns) have a much sweeter flavour and gastronomically they are up there with the best in the prawn world. The really are lipsmackingly good and so do try them if you get the chance.
After the prawns the salad arrived which was fresh and crunchy and even my father wolfed it down.
Next the grilled mushrooms and finely sliced baby artichokes arrived. This seemed a perfect combo, all juicy and crisp.
Then finely the king of the fish, the turbot which was simply sublime. Soft and succulent with that wonderful slightly gelatinous texture I’m afraid the picture doesn’t quite do it justice but trust me it was devine.
We finished off the meal with some rather good homemade mango and lemon sorbets a perfect end to a fabulous meal.
As fish restaurants go, this has got to be one of the best and least pretentious ones Ive eaten in a while, and considering the food that we ate (washed down with a couple of bottles of rather nice local white wine) the bill was not bad at just over 50 euros a head.
Foodie travel spot in Palma
