Llonja, Ca'n Curassa & Stay

[TheFussies]

Three very similar restaurants two owned by same people other maitre'd used to work at Ca'n Curassa. Ca'n Curassa has long been the favourite of the Fussies getting one visit per week of our two week stays. Llonja has produced the goods in the past to an excellent standard. Stay I've felt lost something during the renovation and not really liked it since. So what was the impression this year?
Normally Fussies in all three establishments opt for the set menu as its generally good value and that was the case this year in Ca'n Curassa & Llonja, Stay a mixture of set menus and a la carte.

Conclusions - This year Llonja food was poor, the salmon fillets were schrivelled dried up affairs that looked asif they had been left under a heat lamp. Service so, so

Ca'n Curassa - very quiet on a Saturday night, even with a party of 10 Fussies place appeared 'empty'. Staff indicated that due to low numbers usual additional staff not taken on. Menu that night included kidneys. Not everyone favourite so choice was limited to fish or pork. Food was acceptable but not memorable. Service as always good but we did not venture back for a second visit, Ca'n Curassa didn't appear to have the usual sparkle & atmosphere.

Stay, surprise, surprise was very good, service though was too rushed. We had a waterside table (not booked just walked in off street) and were in no hurry, but food was arriving almost as soon as previous course cleared. Biggest shock though was that some of the waitresses including ours were Polish. Nothing against Polish people and our waitresses were very efficient, polite and talkative but with unemployment in Spain at 20% and upto 40% amongst young people it was a surprise to say the least on an island dependent on tourism. Is this a sign of things to come with Puerto Pollensa full of foriegn (i.e. non Spanish tourists) served by non Spanish people?

MrFussie

 

[BonysLad]

Mr Fussie,

Shock, horror do you mean you were actually served by a non Spanish person !!!!!.

You're right about the unemployment levels but 25 % of the unemployed here in Mallorca are non indigeneous people .

Have you eaten in London lately, was it a cor blimey Cockney that served you ???

Jose Maria runs one of the best serviced places in town and prides himself on the standard of his staff and he retains them because has recruited the best and he looks after them.

Sorry to tell you but that is the future wherever you are and long may it be so !!!

BonysLad

 

[Belladonna]

What throws me is when you assume they are Spanish ( yes, we all know what happens when you ass u me!), then you try out your Spanish phrases only to be looked at very strangely! The first time I did this I was horrified that nothing seemed to click, then I realised that the waiter was even worse at speaking Spanish than I was!! I really don't think I can learn Polish!

 

[mearsy]

That always happens to me Bella! At the other hotel I made my way over to the hunk of a lifeguard to grab a couple of towels....Did my best offering of asking if I could get one from his fresh batch he was wheeling over, and the response was...'yeah, sure' in a full on english accent That kind of ruined my enjoyment of his presence a little!

I suppose having all nationalities just highlights the fact we are in europe. It's the same in many places in the hospitality trade. I know I'd have done it if I had my time again.

I love reading your reviews Fussies!

 

[Sparky]

It's the same in my my home city, there are very few English people in the hospitality trade and 90% of taxi drivers are Czech or Polish. As Mearsy says, we are in Europe.

 

[sws97sdg]

Same here, in my local Spanish restaurant 25% Spanish, 25% English and 50%Polish, we have the 3rd Polish community here in theUK and I have Polish in my family, as you say its Europe, we are free to travel and work anywhere in the EC, can only be a good thing, btw trying to learn some Polish from the guys in the pub, if you though Spanish was hard you should try Polish pożegnanie

 

[Little Miss Sunshine]

Just going back to The Fussies original comment about the restaurants and have to agree about La Llonja.

This has been our favourite restaurant over the past few years, but this year was very quiet and the food was no where near as good as it was previously. We visited twice, and ordered off the main menu, which is not cheap! Was always willing to pay the price as the food was always excellent. Giving it two chances, it now seems over-priced in terms of the quality offered. That said, the service from all the waiting staff was excellent, (only exception being the slightly grumpy maitre de!)

Also agree that Stay was far better, offering a great, buzzy atmosphere, great service, and a wider menu catering to different sized purses.

 

[Alcanada]

Stay has always been my favourite restaurant in the Port not only for the food but also the service and the location. I have never had a bad experience there and until I do it will remain at number 1! It isn't cheap plus it has its own style and ambience which isn't to everyone's taste and some find it a bit like a cafe at times, but its a free world and all opinions are valid!

 

[Belladonna]

We were finally persuaded to try Stay again - Stay as in sty not play as I was corrected by our mentor for the evening, BL!
We went as a group of 8 and had a long outside table as the evening was a very comfortable temperature - helped along by the fact we had had a couple of pre dinner drinks at a lovely venue.

The company was obviously the best part of the evening, even though you could only hear half of the conversation due to the high volume of fun and laughter in the restaurant! We had the set menu at 33 euros which included wine and water, an amuse bouche and a digestive after the meal. Very good value for money. Food is wonderful, and the service quick,efficient and to the point, although I did have to ask a couple of times for some water - they were obviously shocked at the request!

The decor is very modern and sharp european style and obviously has many fans. (- as well as heaters and a/c!) It works well as a group restaurant where the chatter and noise is all part of the evening, or for couples who just want to let the world happen around them. Not one for intimate or cosy chats though I feel. Although lunch time is brilliant for that as long as the diving boats are not making too much noise unloading!
As we left, a lovely elderly lady half way down the restaurant commented that it was lovely to hear us all enjoying ourselves!

 

[ray]

Three very similar restaurants two owned by same people other maitre'd used to work at Ca'n Curassa. Ca'n Curassa has long been the favourite of the Fussies getting one visit per week of our two week stays. Llonja has produced the goods in the past to an excellent standard. Stay I've felt lost something during the renovation and not really liked it since. So what was the impression this year?
Normally Fussies in all three establishments opt for the set menu as its generally good value and that was the case this year in Ca'n Curassa & Llonja, Stay a mixture of set menus and a la carte.

Conclusions - This year Llonja food was poor, the salmon fillets were schrivelled dried up affairs that looked asif they had been left under a heat lamp. Service so, so

Ca'n Curassa - very quiet on a Saturday night, even with a party of 10 Fussies place appeared 'empty'. Staff indicated that due to low numbers usual additional staff not taken on. Menu that night included kidneys. Not everyone favourite so choice was limited to fish or pork. Food was acceptable but not memorable. Service as always good but we did not venture back for a second visit, Ca'n Curassa didn't appear to have the usual sparkle & atmosphere.

Stay, surprise, surprise was very good, service though was too rushed. We had a waterside table (not booked just walked in off street) and were in no hurry, but food was arriving almost as soon as previous course cleared. Biggest shock though was that some of the waitresses including ours were Polish. Nothing against Polish people and our waitresses were very efficient, polite and talkative but with unemployment in Spain at 20% and upto 40% amongst young people it was a surprise to say the least on an island dependent on tourism. Is this a sign of things to come with Puerto Pollensa full of foriegn (i.e. non Spanish tourists) served by non Spanish people?

MrFussie

Lots of people come to mallorca looking for British food and spend the wholw holiday in ex pat bars where seldom is heard a word of Spanish. I think Stay restaurant and indeed can curassa are both well run and managed whoever the boss has to employ

 

[Belladonna]

Strangely enough, even though both Stay and CC have the same owner, I feel they are completely different. A sure sign that the owner has great versatility in his visions. I absolutely love CC as I have said before, and am still holding out for a wedding reception there if I hint hard enough to my daughter - or her boyfriend!

 

[BonysLad]

We were finally persuaded to try Stay again - Stay as in sty not play as I was corrected by our mentor for the evening, BL!

The company was obviously the best part of the evening, even though you could only hear half of the conversation due to the high volume of fun and laughter in the restaurant!

Bella,

How kind, realise that sitting next to moi for three hours is pretty overwhelming for most people but you just laughed it off

Seriously

Great craic , wasn't it ???

BonysLad

 

[eleanor]

Strangely enough, even though both Stay and CC have the same owner, I feel they are completely different. A sure sign that the owner has great versatility in his visions. I absolutely love CC as I have said before, and am still holding out for a wedding reception there if I hint hard enough to my daughter - or her boyfriend!

LOL - I gave up hinting to my daughter Bella - think she now needs to meet a nice Mallorcan guy then we may have a chance lol
Totally agree though - what a wonderful place for any occasion.

 

[Disorderly]

Conducted all my orders at Zazarles a couple of years ago in my (im)perfect Spanish only to find, at the end of the evening, that the waitress was Scottish.

Was in London recently and was served by someone English....you couldn't make it up!

Duncan

 

[Gommar Goffer]

Natural migration Duncan - when you get fed up with somewhere, you move on - to the benefit of many elsewhere