REVIEW: Restaurant Iru

[Trout]

Restaurant Iru is a long established restaurant on the seafront opposite the Orange Bar, among the many anonymous eateries and bars.

You will be welcomed by Carlo or one of his team - Carlo is Spanish/French and I think this shows up in his menu! The menu itself is not extensive and this year was certainly less provocative than last.

Service can be a little bit mixed but the regular staff are very good.

Starters include home made calamari, foie gras terrine with fig chutney and honey bread, Caesar salad, Vegetables on puff pastry with a curried sauce, chicken croquettes, carpaccio of beef.

Mains included sea bass with ginger mashed potato, hake with thai curried sauce, suckling pig, lamb, fillet of beef, stuffed sea bream.

Personal choices over three visits in the last two weeks included my favourite the foie gras terrine (not something I normally eat but it was so good here). The calamari was OK but a choice pandering the to current economic times (last year he had lobster with citrus salad - fantastic!). The vegetables on puff pastry were excellent.

Main courses - the fish is stunning irrespective what choice you make. The first taste of the Hake had me sitting on the beach in Bongo's on Koh Samui as the gentle spicing was so right. The rice was a little incongruent as it was good but not the usual type and texture to go with Thai food.

The fillet steak is superb quality meat and cooked to perfection. It comes with an intense mushroom sauce.

The suckling pig is also excellent and is cleverly done so that you get the moist succulent meat and a crisp shell (many restaurants reheat chunks of pre-cooked pig).

Desserts are led by the signature chocolate souffle - perhaps best shared as it is rich and large. Intense chocolate, a warm liquid centre and a white chocolate sauce. The creme brullee is good and the Angel Cake with berries is also good. The brownie was a little dry, although the ice cream was top quality.

Overall a gem of a restaurant that we will visit again an again due to the attention paid to delivering top quality food. It really is one of the very best, if not the best restaurant we have eaten in in the Port. The trick is to ensure that what they do do is done with the best ingredients and cooked to perfection.

At this price point on an absolute scale - 8/10, by Pollensa standards a 9/10!

Oh, and the children's menu is excellent if a little pricey (who does sea bass for kids?!) and our son declared the spaghetti the best he had eaten on holiday - praise indeed (and he was right).

And finally - as reported elsewhere - Iru has done a Menu del Dia this year for 15 euros - a smaller choice of slightly simpler dishes cooked with the same attention. Three courses are included though. Can't complain!

 

[Belladonna]

We have eaten here once when it first opened, and totally agree with the your comments on what a first class restaurant this is. However, we did feel a little conspicious sitting outisde as there were not that many customers due to the high price. I cant remember if there is a good "inside" to this restaurant, which would be probably more acceptable for a special meal perhaps. Any update on this?

 

[Gommar Goffer]

I have always regarded this place as expensive for what it was, basically an old bar turned into a restaurant (I remember when all the establishments along the front where just bars!) - most of which in these situations are serving average food for above average prices.

It sounds as if my preconceptions are wrong and I need to try it out!! I agree with you Belladona - I feel it would feel like eating in a goldfish bowl!

GG

 

[Trout]

I travel all over the world and eat out probably three to four times a week. I have had fish in multiple michelin star restaurants that Iru can match in terms of quality and cooking, if not attention to the tiniest details.

It really does stand apart from the general dross along the sea-front. I think the Ivy Garden used to do food of this quality about 6-7 years ago but it too has lost it's way.

Iru is the only restaurant in Pollensa/Puerto Pollensa that I will return to again and again even allowing for a slight simplification of the menu this year to maintain business in tough times.

I would challenge anyone to eat fish at Stay (the supposed top restaurant) and Iru back to back and say that Stay is better quality food. A better location - sure - but not food.

 

[Trout]

We have eaten here once when it first opened, and totally agree with the your comments on what a first class restaurant this is. However, we did feel a little conspicious sitting outisde as there were not that many customers due to the high price. I cant remember if there is a good "inside" to this restaurant, which would be probably more acceptable for a special meal perhaps. Any update on this?

There is a large inside restuarant that is pretty classy compared to some. Personally I would prefer to eat outside and ignore any gawpers

 

[Belladonna]

But not in November!!

 

[Trout]

When I last spoke to Carlo he said they were thinking of closing in mid-October for the winter. Usually they are open to the end of November but hotel bookings fall off a cliff in mid-October this year so it is going to be quiet.

 

[liz d]

IRU is very rarely reviewed on the site, i posted about it after a week in early sept. The food is sublime, a real treat and the wine list takes some beating, with a good local choice included. I love the menu del dia for outstanding value. Some would say small portions (you don't get mounds of veggies) but i find that what you do get is three courses of really fresh, well cooked, taste sensation food. Three courses is more than enough and quite refreshing not to be over faced. I have never left hungry. In fact i'm thinking about the hake and peppers i had recently hmmmmmm.

Anyway, glad IRU is getting a bit of good press, just don't tell everyone!!

(2 x amuse, 2 x starter, 2 x main, 2 x desert, bottle of Mortix 2007, 2 x espresso. 55 euro and a very enjoyable night. It also has wifi for iphone addicts!)

 

[Trout]

My wife completely fell in love with Mortix - mind you Iru was around 4 euros more per bottle than most other restaurants!

 

[Trout]

Revisited Iru last night. I think they had a tough year last year and the menu reflects that. The core quality items are still there on the main a la carte, which now includes some pasta dishes as well. The fish is just as good and the suckling pig was lovely!

It would seem that they are now relying more on the menu del dia to maintain their turnover. I hope they don't dilute the menu further, it is much easier to go mass market than the other way around.

Still very good, still the same staff. Go and enjoy it.

Oh - and they are out of Mortix!!

 

[Cocoa07]

We have been going to IRU for a few years and always had the most delicious meals. Fillet Steak (as mentioned) is amazing, caesar salad is simple but delicious and the home made desserts are sublime.
Yes it is expensive but the food is lovely, service is perfect and the view is great. We have only ever been at lunchtime but it is a great restaurant.

 

[Pollpott]

We all have are favourites, and we all have are dislikes. But for Trout to say of IRU, It really does stand apart from the general dross along the sea-front. is totally ridiculous. Ok, so you like IRU, big deal, but that doesn't mean that all the others are rubbish.
There are plenty of excellent restaurants along the sea-front and in other places in PP. I've been to IRU. Its average, nothing special. Not in the same class as Zarzoles, Los Pescadores, Guru, Bar Coral or Brisa Marina. Not in the same class as dozen other places. I think you should broaden your horizons a bit. Try some other places, you might be surprised. Maybe you have tried other places and you still prefer IRU. That's fine. But there's no need to slag off the other places just because of your narrowmindedness. We all have different tastes. Thank goodness.

 

[Rosie34]

Well said Pollpott!!

PS What is 'incongruent rice'? (22/09) Always thought congruency had something to do with triangles? Ah well.