Christmas in Mallorca

[JH02JLH]

Having written a fairly long post regarding the restaurants we visited while in Mallorca over Christmas, I managed to lose the lot as the forum said I wasn't logged in! I don't have the time to write it again, but if anyone is interested, you can visit my blog for a full, in-depth (warts and all) account of our ten-night stay over the festive period.

https://janiesjottings.blogspot.com/

 

[bobley]

Thats really nice to read! You were about 100m from our house, we're just down the hill from you in the area where driving is still just about viable! We nearly bought a house on that road! We stayed from 20th to 30th and went to a lot of the same places. I've been home 4 days and I've booked to go back in 10 days to be there for San Antoni and El Pi!

Eateries open were...
Can Moixet
U Placa
Om (Curry)
Font de Gall
Respira
Cantonet
Calvari Corner
La Scalineta
Cafe Can Bach
Sadanar
Club Pollenca
Fuente de Ora (Chinese)
Portofino (great pizza)
Hotel San Sont Jordi
.... plenty of the more local cafes too

Bars - U Gallet (thursday to sunday)

Sorry to hear you were cold in the house. They can be drafty. I spent a bit of time working on our place earlier in the year but when I left in October I made sure we had a bog stack of wood by the stove in the living room to keep us toasty. Upstairs we keep the AC units ticking over on heat mode and we opened the shutters as much as poss in the day to get light in. We did fit a few double glazed windows too. Maybe not the prettiest (fake wood look) but very effective but you do need to ventilate these old houses too to prevent damp...

 

[JH02JLH]

Let’s try again!

We were surprised by the number of places open and how busy they were! We visited:

Pollensa:

Ca’n Moixet – only one visit this time, on the first day. We arrived too late to eat (after 3pm), but sitting right outside, and gazing at the Puig de Maria was wonderful.

U Placa – we visited a lot, and we were lucky to grab a table on Market Day. Great for drinks, coffee, breakfast and meals. Service was friendly and attentive.

Om – wonderful restaurant with very friendly and hospitable staff, who couldn’t do enough for us. The food was great!

La Font del Gall – friendly owner who made us feel welcome. The food was delicious and a good choice of local wines.

Cantonet – we were delighted to find this restaurant, a long-time favourite of ours, open! Beautiful interior, lovely staff who made us feel welcome and great food, especially the ravioli dishes. Popular, so I would book!

La Scalinata – restaurant of the gorgeous Calvario Plaza Hotel. We were made to feel so welcome here, and only ever had drinks. Inside it is beautiful (check out the wonderful mural) and it was lovely and warm! Whoever makes the cocktails here knows what they’re doing!

Club Pollenca – we visited for the first time and just had drinks. Service was a little slow, but we didn’t care! It was warm and cosy and the prices so reasonable!

Tarambana – in the main square. The best Sangria I’ve ever tasted! Friendly and attentive staff. Great for people-watching.

La Placeta (Son Sant Jordi Hotel) – our last visit in 2008 was a disaster and I suspect it has changed hands since then. Again, a popular place, so worth booking. Great staff and a good choice of wines. Some of the dishes didn’t have prices (fish especially) so worth checking before you order. Starters were expensive.


Puerto Pollensa:

Stay – we hadn’t visited for ages, and I’d forgotten how large and popular this restaurant is! Attentive staff, freebie amuse bouches and liqueurs at the end of the meal. Was very popular so book. Views are stunning.

Bucca – visited on Christmas Day which really made it special for us. Lovely drinks and the food was delicious. Wonderful location with views across the bay.

Gran Café 1919 – we had coffee and an ice-cream. Great for people-watching and soaking up the sun!

We had a wonderful time and the weather far exceeded our expectations! Next time we visit I want to drive there!

 

[icampbell15]

Thank you for taking the time to write it all again!
I really enjoy reading about everyone's trips when we can't manage to get over.

 

[mike_dublin]

Thank you for rewriting every again and for the link to the blog.
Thoroughly enjoyable read.

Craving a dinner in the Stay now or suckling pig in the Celler after reading it all...

 

[Kingsley]

Great to see a review! Thank you for taking the time. Sounds like a great time to be in Pollensa and the Port

 

[Rockape]

We got back from an 8 night stay in the Port on Saturday. We managed to get a meal at Can Josep, before they closed until March. Not much else was open, but had a nice meal in Himalaya, which never disappoints and a couple at Stay.

Its a great time to explore the island, so we drove to Palma one day, another over to Capdepera and walked around the castle at the top, which was interesting and amazing views across the whole island. A short drive to Agulla beach with the lovely woodland around it ....all helped by bright sunshine and blue skies.

Finally we went west to Port Andratx, via Son Vida, which is rightly described as the Beverley Hills of Mallorca and returned via Camp de Mar where we walked down a rocky peninsula.

These trips were interspersed with me doing the flooring on our ground floor that caused my back to go into spasm for a couple of days....

Anyway, now back to the wind and rain in Blighty!

 

[bobley]

You're worrying me Rockape! A - there wont be anywhere open next week, B - I'll do my back in trying to fix the shower door.

I hope you're on the mend! The physios in Pollenca aren't bad. I can recommend a couple!

 

[Gommar Goffer]

There are plenty of places open. Just move away from the tourist areas. You can check the list in the restaurant and bar section.

 

[debz1]

Great trip report Jane! I can highly recommend driving over. We’ve done it every June for the past 8 years and absolutely love it. We’ve discovered some truly beautiful places for stop overs, and I’m about to start planning this year’s trip, which I love to do in January when the post Christmas gloom kicks in! I remember telling you about Pals in Spain when we used to do the Portsmouth-Santander to Barcelona route. We do the Calais-Toulon- Alcudia route now, which we prefer, as we find Corsica ferries much nicer than Balearia, and much better value as you get a cabin.

If you have any questions fire away!

 

[bobley]

We

Great trip report Jane! I can highly recommend driving over. We’ve done it every June for the past 8 years and absolutely love it. We’ve discovered some truly beautiful places for stop overs, and I’m about to start planning this year’s trip, which I love to do in January when the post Christmas gloom kicks in! I remember telling you about Pals in Spain when we used to do the Portsmouth-Santander to Barcelona route. We do the Calais-Toulon- Alcudia route now, which we prefer, as we find Corsica ferries much nicer than Balearia, and much better value as you get a cabin.

If you have any questions fire away!

We were thinking of driving again in April.. we have a couple more dining chairs to bring and wanted to bring the dog too...

Only mild annoyance is that as of 1st Jan my 2008 camper van isn't allowed to drive through Lyon. Its Critair 3. Many towns and cities in France are now banning CritAir 5, 4 and now 3 but all the ones I need to go through dont include the Autoroute... apart from Lyon so we'll need to take a swing around there. Toulon is okay because they're still on CritAir 5

 

[Gommar Goffer]

We

We were thinking of driving again in April.. we have a couple more dining chairs to bring and wanted to bring the dog too...

Only mild annoyance is that as of 1st Jan my 2008 camper van isn't allowed to drive through Lyon. Its Critair 3. Many towns and cities in France are now banning CritAir 5, 4 and now 3 but all the ones I need to go through dont include the Autoroute... apart from Lyon so we'll need to take a swing around there. Toulon is okay because they're still on CritAir 5

It won't be long before we are back to a horse and cart!