I figured I’d put my food reccos for both islands in one post…

Nonna Bazaar, Menorca – I literally said, ‘wow’ when we drove up to this restaurant. You head up a long drive to an imposing, grand farmhouse, lit from below with farmland surrounding it – it’s truly a stunning setting. The staff are super friendly and the outside seating is perfect for a sunny lunch or to watch the sunset. On season, there seems to be a super lively vibe with napkin swings and everything! We visited end of September, (and on a Thursday night), and there was definitely less of a party vibe, although there was still a dj providing that classic, background European house music.

The food is locally produced & sourced and I feel like you can tell – it was delicious! We ordered a plethora of starters & sides to begin then our mains. I got the tagine and seabass, (unreal!), to share with my friend. Others around the table got the chicken, pasta alle Vongole and all got good reviews. In between our main and dessert, we got a palette cleanser which was unexpected and just another point to Nonna’s attention to detail. If you go to Nonna’s you absolutely have to have the tiramisu – it was 10 10! Starters and desserts to share, a main each and cocktails came to approx. £52 each per person. I would 100% recommend and I’m so glad I had my birthday dinner here. Defo. book as far in advance as you can. Find them here.

Bambú, Menorca – I umm’ed and ahh’ed about writing this as I usually only mention the positives, but for a restaurant that is SO highly recommended, I feel I need to give my honest opinion of it.

Firstly, the service is pretty good. Everyone was friendly and attentive. The setting of Bambu is beautiful! The zen garden would be such a pretty place during golden hour and the restaurant the perfect place to watch the sunset.

The food however was very disappointing. The menu that you see online, and even outside the restaurant, isn’t the one you’re presented with once you sit down. The starters were decidedly average but the mains were the real issue. One of my friends ordered a medium-well burger without bacon, (the bacon element isn’t on the menu, the server told us at the table which we appreciated as my friend doesn’t eat bacon). The burger arrived at the table, with bacon. They took it back and brought out another. This time, the burger was straight up rare. They took it back again, (and apologised again), and this time my friend asked for them to just cook it well-done as we thought maybe the scale was different in Spain. The burger came back out but once again, it was pretty rare. Our shared starters, mains and drinks came to £41 each.

I just felt like there were too many mistakes for me to really recommend this restaurant added to the fact everyone else’s mains were also very, meh. I would say to definitely go to Bambú for drinks. It’s super convenient if you’re staying in Binibeca, the cocktails are good and it’s a lovely setting, I would just swerve the food.

The Merchants, Mallorca – it’s advertised as a ‘steak & grill’ but the menu features meat, fish and some veg, (although, if I were still a vegetarian, I wouldn’t choose this restaurant). There were a good number of bigger groups inside, that seemed to be families, but I definitely think this restaurant has a very date night vibe to it. There’s low lighting and music that’s quiet enough to hear one another but loud enough to facilitate a private convo., even in a busy restaurant. In terms of the food itself, this restaurant finally gave me the prawns I stopped being a vegetarian for! My Mum also could not stop talking about the goats cheese salad which was delicious. We had: a bottle of still, a bottle of sparkling, a cocktail, 2 starters, 1 salad, 1 side of fries and shared a dessert. The total came to approx. £40 per person.

La Paloma, Mallorca – the perf. place for your tapas fix. It seemed a very swanky from the outside, but once you’re in, it’s not pretentious or stuffy in the slightest. The waiters were incredibly friendly and attentive and the restaurant itself had a beautiful interior. Some sangria, bottles of water, 4 tapas dishes and a dessert each came to £47.50 each.