Balaixa restaurant

[beachboy88]

Hello forum users

Just wanted to know what you think of the Balaixa restaurant, just of Pollensa, I recently went there with my family, wife and kids, and was appalled with a couple of things that I was there. The dog they have, was terrorizing the children and being very aggressive towards everyone, there were cats everywhere, one even had a dead rat in its mouth! they were climbing all over the tables and everywhere. But that’s not all…
The pool was filthy, looks like no one can be bothered to look after it, there was dog …. Near the outside eating area, witch is not what you want when you are out for a bite to eat.

I must say, the food was rather enjoyable, but it is extremely expensive, I think it was the shoulder of lamb that was 25€!! These are the prices you expect to pay at a top restaurant (witch Balaixa is not) back at home. Owning a top restaurant in London, I would not allow anything like this to happen there, that tells me that the owners of the place don’t really care to much about their business.
One of the waitresses there pointed the owner out, a lady I believe is called Mandy who just seemed to be running round rather stressed, not knowing what to do.

I hope this post does not offend anyone, but I also hope that the people in charge of the place read this so they can do something about it.
Maybe I went there at a bad time, and was unlucky, so will you locals tell me your personal opinion on the place.

Thank you all for reading, and lets hope something is done to save this beautiful and perfectly located restaurant (id say get Ramsey in there myself)

BB88

 

[JH02JLH]

Hi Beachboy88 and welcome to the forum!

It was great to read your review of Balaixa, which, incidentally, is one of the forum favourites but the one thing I like about this site is the balanced reviews it attracts.

I've eaten twice at Balaixa and our very first experience there was different to say the least! I had read some great reviews of the restaurant and whilst we enjoyed the food, I did mention the cats wandering about (over the tables) and the huge dog (predecessor of the current) that suddenly appeared.

But therein lies the charm, I think. Balaixa is family owned and run and when we went back last August for a forum get-together, my children were made very welcome and the various cats were an added attraction for them.

However, each to their own and in my opinion Balaixa is like an English country house transported to the countryside of Mallorca and I sometimes get the feeling that diners are seen more like house guests. This may suit some people whilst others will not appreciate it, but if we were all the same it would make for a boring world!

I don't know about the pool, never having actually seen it, so I can't comment on that, but I do think the atmosphere is very relaxed and friendly and it seems the staff are very serious about customers having a good time and being made to feel welcome.

I am interested to hear the views of other forum members and if you want to read more, a trawl through the Eating & Drinking Out section will yield more posts.

By the way, this message will probably be moved there by our Webmaster!

Looking forward to more posts from you, Beachboy88 and maybe you would like to venture into our chatroom and have a chat!!!

Regards
Jane

 

[beachboy88]

Hello Jane!

Thanks for posting a reply on your opinion on Balaixa. You gave your personal opinion and I respect that. Glad to see the reasons why you like it, but I also understand what you were saying about the atmosphere, it seemed to put on and fake to me, but yea.

It does seem as a family owned restaurant, that is all very well, I kinda guessed that they also lived there, but still this is no reason to let the animals run riot.
Im sure the place is perfect for children, with its gardens, pool and animals. My conclusion is, the only animals that should be in restaurants are dead and cooked (pref not cats and dogs) and with garnishing.

I guess we will be giving Balaixa another chance some time, hope its better then and I am proven wrong.

Once again thanks for replying to this message and I look forward to hearing more of your opinions on Balaixa.

Thanks

BB88

 

[Sazzle]

Hello BB88 and welcome to the forum

My family and I lunched at the Balaixa for the first time in April. We enjoyed it so much that we went back a second time.

As requested, here are my thoughts:

The weather wasn't warm enough for me to take any notice of the pool so I can't comment on that. I didn't see any cats thankfully cos I don't like them. If I had seen cats on the tables I wouldn't have stayed!

I have to say that the dog did make a very sudden appearance and absolutely terrified my two children. The owner (Arnie I think his name is) apologised and very quickly took the dog away when he saw how frightened they were. It didn't spoil our lovely meal though, in fact I had forgotten about it until now!

We ate from the lunch time 16Euro menu which was excellent. I have never had dinner at the Balaixa so I can't add anything there.

The Balaixa is certainly a firm favourite with lots of the forum members and I like it too. I think it's relaxed and friendly and the food that I tried was superb. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience there but I can certainly understand your concerns about the cats and dog.
I've never read any negative comments about the Balaixa before so perhaps it was just a one-off experience.

 

[debz1]

Hi beachboy88

I'm with you on this one but have never dared say anything before (except personally to a couple of other forum members) in fear of being shot down !!

We used to go a lot to Balaixa and have long lazy lunches with friends and all the kids and then spend the afternoon swimming sunbathing and drinking far too much rosado . The food was excellent and everyone had a great time .This was before the Mandy and Arnie took it over and we have only been once since it's been under new ownership. We also didn't like the cats and dog ( a huge Great Dane )wandering around and the meal we had was no where near as good as we had had there before.

Obviously the health and safety regulations are very different in Mallorca to England as I'm sure it would never be allowed in this country. Apart from the hygiene issues I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with children playing near a strange dog!

Welcome to the forum and it would be great to hear where else you ate and some more reviews.

Debs

 

[cheniesbucks]

Hi BB88,

I'm fairly new to the forum myself but I have over the last year written 2-3 comments about the Balaixa. I'm REALLY sorry to hear that you didn't like the Balaixa as if you look under the restaurants own thread you'll see that it is raved about.

My husband and I have been there for dinner twice and we could not fault it. We found the food to be superb and even though we saw some cats they certainly were nowhere near any tables. Arnie and Mandy were lovely hosts and treated us like we were their house guests.

In March, we were there over my birthday and we did not have a babysitter to look after our girls. (I had previously e mailed and cheekily asked if they would do a takeaway on my special day!) The reply was to pop in when we were out in PP so we did. To cut a long story short they did us the most amazing take away meal which we had phoned for about an hour previously after being given the menu earlier in the week. Simon, my hubbie collected it and came back to our villa with the car loaded with proper china plates cling-filmed up!!!! Everything was garnished/ served as it would be in the reastaurant and all we had to do was keep the food warm while we stuffed our faces! It was divine!!! There was even a bowl of olives, a little dish of butter, a basket of rolls, napkins and 2 bottles of complementary wine! All we had to do was eat it all up and take the crockery etc back the next day!!

Please give it another go - (maybe say its your birthday and ask for take away!) Although saying that I bet they are not able to do it in the height of summer I dont know.

It IS however, nice to read some different comments on this forum and its nice to see sometimes that someone like you says what he thinks instead of thinking about it but not saying it.

Anyway, happy holidaying in PP if you're going there again this year and maybe you'll try them again some time......

 

[sandy]

How nice to have balanced views. I've never tried Balaixa and was thinking of taking my sister there for lunch later in the year (Sazzle had mentioned it was a bargain at 16 euros). I now have some reservations. I too am not a cat lover and dislike seeing them roaming around a restaurant. I have a dog myself, but again feel they should not be in a restaurant setting.

On the plus side, I do fancy the idea of being welcomed as a house guest, which has attracted me to this restaurant. I will keep my eye on reviews to make an informed decision.

Well done BB88 for giving us your views. I hope you start as you mean to go on. I don't think any of us should be frightened of airing our views. Wouldn't the world be boring if we were all the same!

 

[Jimbo the Jambo]

Beachboy,

I have read a previous post, stating the same concerns regarding cats prowling over table settings etc. There is no way this side of Mars my wife and I would eat in a place that allowed this practice. I have suffered from serious food poisoning in the past, which was traced to dogs accessing food preparation areas.

You are also correct in that on this forum everyone's opinion is respected.

Thank's for the honest opinion.

Regards

Jimbo

 

[Portofan]

Re:Balaixa

Cant agree more with Jimbo the Jambo.

Never been to Balaixa but do remember the reference a long time back re the dogs and cats and that made my mind up that I wouldn't be there.

It is a restaurant which is being run or purporting so to be and animals and serving of food should not be mixed. Does not matter to me how nice and welcoming the propretors are, animals "front of house" are a no no and of course should not be anywhere near cooking, preparation or storage areas.

My twopence worth!:rolleyes

 

[pollensa]

Re: Re:Balaixa

This is a posting about a specific restaurant, please don't go off topic. Thank you.

Webmaster

 

[Jimbo the Jambo]

Balaixa

Pollensa,

Sorry if I broke any rules but I do not understand how I strayed from the topic?


Regards

Jimbo

 

[klad1]

Re: Balaixa

If that is the case shouldnt this topic re Balaixa Restaurant be in the eating out section?

 

[beachboy88]

Thank you all for your honest opinions!

Its good to see that some people agree and that some disagree with what I have said. Im glad to see that debz1 knows were im coming from ( I know its not only me who dislikes the place) and good to see that some of you enjoyed it.

Sorry to hear about the food poisoning Jimbo, must have been unlucky there.
I do know that the cats & dogs “front of house” would be strictly forbidden back in the UK, and I don’t believe its fine to have your pets run riot where customers are paying for a service. Im not sure about the rules and regulations in Spain, but don’t think this would be allowed, if not there must be some real health and safety issues there.
I don’t think I will be going back any time soon unless I have to, in wich case I will be talking to the owners, as they are such humble and nice people

I hope that something is done about the situation, for you guys who live there more than anything.

Thank you all for replying to my post, and I look forward to chatting with you all on the forum. Please keep your replies coming in.

Regards

BB88

 

[Keithmarwell]

In all my visits to Balaixa I have never seen or been bothered by animals
The food and service is always great and your are always made to feel at home
The service is also great and the attention to detail superb
Regards Keith

 

[Debilicious]

was at Balaxia last week, had a lovely meal, hhmmm...cats, one did wee, and bury it, a few metres from were we were drinking our wine, making us move, and did kind of the end of our meal....but didnt smell anything offensive, the hosts were lovely, had a great afternoon there, only downside was they were a bit over attentive, but thats not a complaint by any means ! the young waiter couldnt do enough, nice guy !

try it, you will love, the farmhouse is out of this world, it really is beautiful !

we had menu of the day at 15 euro, so no complaints there !

 

[mallorcaboy]

Re balaixa

I have watched this post with interest, and have not commented because most people will know that I rate this place highly.
Yes, there is a dog, and always was, and there are cats about t at times, but this has never bothered me. I have had 5 cats over the years, and my opinion is that they are often much cleaner than some humans, but that is beside the point.
Arnie and Mandy have their own unique style of running a very successful restaurant, and I love the way they do it. Some don't, and I guess probably don't return. That's OK I guess, each to our own.
They have, I believe, a large core of regular guests and this site proves that each year they seem to gain more. Their success is proven by the fact that they are opening another place very soon in CSV. I will go regularly to this too.
Sorry Beachboyy88 you don’t like it, that's your prerogative, and I assume you will become a regular somewhere else. Do let us all know where you have been that is your Number 1.
p.s. Swam in their very clean pool last week with my grandson. Fantastic

 

[Snowy]

Re: Re balaixa

Well said mallorcaboy been waiting for your reply.

Is it true the new CSV place is going to have birds in it ???.

 

[mallorcaboy]

Re: Re balaixa

Hi Snowy, I understand it's going to have birds, dogs, cats, cows, sheep and all manner of farm yard animals. Can't wait!!

 

[Snowy]

Re: Re balaixa

Not going to be called Old MacDonolds is it "M"

By the way I was refering to birds as in girls.

 

[Belladonna]

Re: Re balaixa

I have to admit we must have missed out on something when we visited Balaixa. Although we found if quite acceptable for lunch I cant say I would be rushing back - perhaps if you are in a group it may be different. We found the portions a little small for the price they charge - and no, we are not big eaters at all, especiallyat lucnch time. The service was very friendly and when we were there the dog was wandering around with a collar on it having just had an operation - poor thing! This is the second time we have tried it because it had such good reviews - but I cant agree with all of them! maybe one more go!! >D