Celler la Parra

[TheFussies]

Miss Fussie had headed for home FusieFriends were eating a deux so where could the Fussies go? After hearing from a good source in the port that Celler la Parra served the best paella we decided it was time for a special paella. Not visited this restaurant for many a year and on last visit only MrFussie opted for Majorcan food, others in party choose chicken and chips so not a good comparison.

Started with vegetable soup of the day for Mrs Fussie and gazpacho for me. Mrs Fussie not overly impressed with her soup and left a large portion – too heavy! As for the gazpacho thoroughly enjoyed it possible best of this years visit. Special paella did not disappoint either. All wshed down with sangria (not as good/strong as Maureens!) and a half bottle of Randemar total bill was 50.15 euros. Considering the paella was only 18 euros for the 2 of us the extras sure inflate the cost. However still consider it money well spent. Next time we will stick with paella and sangria!!

 

[Alcanada]

Thanks for this Mr Fussie - and thanks for all your other reviews as well. I am intrigued by this place and am wondering whether to give it a go next time I'm out. I notice it didn't get a rating from you (and you are not alone) on the "top 5" thread so I'm assuming it falls a bit short compared to what else is on offer in the port?

 

[TheFussies]

Alcanada,
Thanks for your comments. I think its well worth visiting. Yes I was impressed and I had to choose 5 but based on this visit maybe a Fussie top 5 next year. A much underated establishment no doubt in part due to its location well back from the front.

 

[car77]

Thanks for this Mr Fussie - and thanks for all your other reviews as well. I am intrigued by this place and am wondering whether to give it a go next time I'm out. I notice it didn't get a rating from you (and you are not alone) on the "top 5" thread so I'm assuming it falls a bit short compared to what else is on offer in the port?

Alcanada,

I have to say I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. I have been in winter when it is very cosy inside and the food has been excellent. However, come winter or summer I always seem to have the same problem - They never have whatever I choose first off the menu and often don't have my second choice. Our last visit we took some friends with us and it ended up with us asking what they actually did have available that night as we had tried most of the menu to no avail!!! This annoys me slightly, as it would be better if they just slimmed the menu down and ensured it was always available. Have not been back now for a couple of years since that episode but will probably try it again some time.

Car 77

 

[Harters]

Not only seemingly good food and a good experience but TripAdvisor even provides a link for online reservations. Blimey, a Spanish restaurant getting into the 21st century, innit.

Anyway, that's me dinner sorted for Saturday. And the price of an international phone call saved.

 

[pops]

We had great meal there out of season earlier this year so decided to recommend and took some friends this summer. We won't again. I had raved about their lomo con col so much that 2 of us ordered it to find it is 'not the season for cabbage' so was not available. Mussels were not available and my daughters favourite of frito mallorcan not possible!! Even though these were all on the menu. After a very average second choice meal, one of my friends ordered banana and almonds for dessert, and this is exactly what she got, an unripe green banana still in its skin and a handful of almonds still in their shell. No nut cracker or anything.
Don't think we'll be going back in a hurry!
Cheers
Pops

 

[Harters]

"Not available" is a problem with certain types of restaurants the world over. Whether a Harvester in the UK, or a tourist restaurant in Spain, they print up long, long, menus. And, you know that a place can't really cook all that from fresh - so you're going to get "not availables" from time to time or, if they can deliver it all the time, you know its fresh from the freezer and microwave. Give me a place with a short menu every time for preference.

 

[pollensafan]

We had great meal there out of season earlier this year so decided to recommend and took some friends this summer. We won't again. I had raved about their lomo con col so much that 2 of us ordered it to find it is 'not the season for cabbage' so was not available. Mussels were not available and my daughters favourite of frito mallorcan not possible!! Even though these were all on the menu. After a very average second choice meal, one of my friends ordered banana and almonds for dessert, and this is exactly what she got, an unripe green banana still in its skin and a handful of almonds still in their shell. No nut cracker or anything.
Don't think we'll be going back in a hurry!
Cheers
Pops

Hi Pops, Tell me if i'm missing something here. You saw almonds & a bannana on the dessert menu and seemed shocked when thats what turned up As regards the "not in season comment" it's a shame other places in pp don't work on that basis instead of telling people that certain items on the menu are fresh local produce when its obvious depending on the time of year that it is not the case.

 

[debz1]

Hi Pops, Tell me if i'm missing something here. You saw almonds & a bannana on the dessert menu and seemed shocked when thats what turned up As regards the "not in season comment" it's a shame other places in pp don't work on that basis instead of telling people that certain items on the menu are fresh local produce when its obvious depending on the time of year that it is not the case.

A banana in it's skin and a few almonds on the side?! Yes I think you might be missing something!

 

[pollensafan]

A banana in it's skin and a few almonds on the side?! Yes I think you might be missing something!

I was there in july and i ordered that and believe it or not i was not suprised when thats what turned up. The almonds had been roasted in their shells, which just fell away hence no need for a nutcracker.

 

[cumberland8]

Pesky things thse nits? were they roasted as well?

 

[pops]

lol@ nit cracker. Maybe I'm missing something too, but I honestly would not expect to go into a restaurant and be given an unripe green banana still in skin (unless I picked it up myself in a cafe).

I felt disappointed with choice available on the menu seeing as we had chosen a typical Mallorcan restaurant with friends who are thinking of buying an apartment near us in PP and we wanted them to experience local food. We wern't ordering anything unusual or anything you needed 24 hours to pre order, just typical Mallorcan food from a typical Mallorcan restaurant.

And as for the banana and almonds, I actually apoligised to them if we had offended them in any way by not eating the dessert seeing as it is a traditional Mallorcan dessert but my friend really did not fancy a hard bright green banana!


Cheers
Pops

 

[lollipop]

We ordered this at another restaurant not in PP and got exactly what it said, a banana and almonds.

 

[marilyn]

I remember getting a banana (yellow one) and a handfull almonds (out of their shells) at the Bristol Bar many years ago. I was surprised having expected some exotic dessert that I could recreate at some future dinner party. The expression on my face when it arrived gave my husband a good laugh though.

 

[alcanadakid]

For what it is worth, we go there most weeks and it is one of our favourite restaurants. It also serves the best coffee around. So much so, that we now buy our coffee there.

 

[Lorenzo]

Yes, it's one of our favourite restaurants too.

The atmosphere and service changes depending on the time of year - but it is always good IMHO. We love their suckling pig and often pre-order when we book a table there so we are not disappointed. The house wine is delicious and very reasonable too.

It's obviously popular with Mallorcans in general as we were not able to book a table on a couple of occasions out of season as they were fully booked!

 

[pops]

I remember getting a banana (yellow one) and a handfull almonds (out of their shells) at the Bristol Bar many years ago. I was surprised having expected some exotic dessert that I could recreate at some future dinner party. The expression on my face when it arrived gave my husband a good laugh though.

I can relate to that too. My friend's face was a picture and I could not stop laughing. Not so much at the plate but at my friend.

Like I said we had a great meal there out of season and would go back again in the winter but won't rush back in high season and definately not recommending certain dishes again.

Cheers
Pops

 

[Alcanada]

I was out last week and, having read the reports on here, went to Celler La Parra. As I said earlier in this thread I've never been before despite being a PP regular for many years. I was on a golf trip with 3 mates and we all really liked the restaurant, its decor and its ambience.

Starters: a vegetable soup for me which looked like a load of vegetables stuffed into some hot water but was, in fact delicious. 2 of the party were in an offal mood and went for liver and kidneys, massive thumbs up for both dishes. Our fourth went for a conservative Parma ham and melon and he too was quite happy.

Main courses: Suckling pig, pork loin and a paella for two (with no rabbit) were ordered and enthusiastically consumed. This was very good food.

Deserts: Memory is a little hazy (for some reason) but at least two of us had a very good almond cake and ice cream, we also ordered a plate of local cheese. I know we all thought it was excellent.

Drinks: There was some gin to start with, which was fine. We had a jug of red house wine which the offal eaters said worked well with their dishes. Something told us that a further visit to the house wine might not end well and we switched to some local Jose Ferrer, which was, as always, a very decent option.

All of this came out at (we thought) a very reasonable price of about 30 Euros a head.

 

[cumberland8]

We were out a few weeks ago & it was fully booked on 2 nights, so worth booking ahead out of season as it is a locals favourite.