We were very excited to revisit Can Costa at the weekend as it used to be one of our favourites. It certainly looks the part - the bar in particular is really impressive and it was lovely to be curled up on a big sofa next to the fireplace again (though slightly less lovely when I looked down to see what I think was an offcut from that vile, black Latitude carpet underneath the coffee table - was hoping I'd seen the last of that). I think it's fair to say that the refurb hasn't been quite as extensive as you might assume from the Facebook photos - the loos, for example, whilst very pleasant, haven't had much more than a lick of paint, and I did wonder if some of the furniture round the bar area also dated from Latitude days - it had a slightly makeshift, 'Changing Rooms' feel. But on the whole it's great - a huge improvement.
We were tempted by the five-course tasting menu, particularly as I don't think another restaurant in the Old Town offers this. It came accompanied by a 'chef's offering' of melon and mint soup - quite refreshing, but served at room temperature - it might have been better chilled. The first 'proper' course was a poached egg on a bed of mash, with a choice of garnishes - butifarron, jamon Serrano etc. This was very tasty, but to be honest in terms of execution didn't look any more elegant than a similar dish I'd had earlier in the week as part of a MDD costing 10 euros. The butifarron, for example, consisted of a couple of chunks with no attempt at finesse - as part of a chef's tasting menu I'd expect something a bit more - well - cheffy. The next course was by far the most successful - tagliatelle prepared inside a giant Parmesan at your table and finished with truffle oil. I'd happily have eaten nothing but this. Next came a scallop with citrus salad - very nice, but again lacking the finesse I'm used to seeing on tasting menus. The 'main course' was crispy iberico pork loin with sobrasada - delicious, but a tiny portion. At this point we wished we'd gone for the seven-course option as OH was still starving! Finally we finished off with chocolate brownie and my thoughts on this echo my thoughts on the other courses - obviously prepared by a competent chef, but lacking the creativity and flair you usually see with this sort of food.
Would I go back? Yes -if only to have the tagliatelle - I'm also aware that these are very early days and that they are still finding their way. If I was running this restaurant I would either drop the pretension of the tasting menu or make it a more rustic 'banquet', a celebration of the best of Mallorcan cuisine - I suspect this may be more suited to the chef's style. I'd also present more dishes cooked at the table - really high-quality fillet steak, for example - this would be a USP for Can Costa and worked really well for the Parmesan pasta dish. There are other very good restaurants in Pollensa - at Spiro last week I had the most amazing meal - so I think Can Costa may have to raise its game just a bit.