Sibling Dinesty

Last weekend my sister Kerri visited Palma, where I’m based for the most part, and since we
hadn’t seen one another for quite some time we decided to make a bit of an evening of it. But
then again, ‘We’d celebrate the opening of a bottle’, as the saying goes.

Izizi Nunnak is a frontline Restaurant and cocktail bar located in the ever popular Portixol
Harbour.  The decision of what sundowner to have was made easy by an illustrated spectrum
of our favourite Italian sharpener. Enter Negroni O’ Clock.

Aperitíf:

David: “The ‘Straight out of Italy’, porfa’”

Kerri: “Feeling footloose and fancy-free, I had the French fleur. It wiped the Italians off the
floor, but more importantly, it was better than Dave’s heady number

D: ..Mine was better.

The negronis were about €10.50 a piece which was good value considering the quality.

If you’re on a tight schedule here, I’d suggest asking them to call a cab well in advance
of when you need to go as ours took some time. Luckily for us, we weren’t in a rush and
perched ourselves on the cherry red PVC bar stools and whiled away the time with
albarino in hand.

Our second port of call required a quick 7 euro taxi to the beautiful Calatrava, in
Palma’s old town, home to the hole-in-the-wall wine cave, Sa Vinya Santa Clara.
After a very warm welcome from Marcos, the head honcho here, a sign caught my eye,
‘Best Jamón Ibérico in Palma’ under which sat a leg of the the delicious cured meat in all
of it’s glory... I accept your challenge, señor.

D: Un tabla de queso y jamón por favor, Marcos.

Before you ask, No, we didn’t order a table of cheese and ham - It just means a plate. He
set about this with gusto and I could see Kerri wrestling with the urge to have an input into
the cheese selection, but she thought better of it and decided to go with the flow.

Queso y Jamón Ibérico (and bonus bread and tomato)

K: A classic ‘Off-Menu-McGuinness’ order. Marcos chucked everything at it. Love the rustic
chunks of cheese which look like a bit of an accident at first sight but we soon fall in love
with his choice selection.

D: Jamon was an 8.25/10. Extra marks for the bread and tomato we were comped! I was
getting into some hefty Rioja by this point too.

Four glasses of wine and food for €33.

There are worse places to lose your way than the charming backstreets of Palma’s Old
town, but hunger had now honed my sense of direction and we made a bee-line for El Camino
- 2018’s gift to Palma’s culinary scene. You can’t reserve space, with the exception of the
private dining option, ‘La Mesa’, but that said, the wait is an enjoyable one in their gallery at
the back complete with high tables and drinks service.

K: Albarino and I go together like fresh bread and salt-flecked butter. That said, in Camino’s
London outpost, the celebrated Barrafina, I’ve never met a wine I haven’t liked, so I’m trying
to keep the options open. Tonight, Ribeiro vibes are flowing and I pick a minerally steely
white from the Treixadura grape. David was staring down the barrel of something a bit more
serious with some of the indigenous Mallorcan grapes. Our chat was getting progressing
smoothly into nonsense.

D: Red for me. Las gravas, my old friend, may be called spendy at €9 when there’s a solid
house red at €3.50, but the Monastrell, Garnacha, Syrah grape trio was talking to me and I
couldn’t resist.

Bruschetta y tomate

D: 1. What a  bloody steal at €3
2. How are mediterranean tomatoes just so much tastier?
3. Garlic.

K: PAN CON TOMATE: Day old toasted spelt rubbed generously with roasted garlic and then
drenched in juice tomato goodness. And if all this isn’t enough, lashed with a smattering of
Maldon. Job done.

D: (Pause, searching) Maldon: syn. Salt

Tortilla Setas

D: We need tortilla.

K: Bro I’m not some chip off the old block. If you fancy tortilla, we need one with all the
mushrooms.

D: (Joke warning) Not mush-room to negotiate there, eh?

Tip of the cap to El Camino: I have huge time for anyone who pays this kind of homage
to potatoes. It gives reason to the french word potato, pomme de terre (apple of the land),  
because the gooey divinity experienced at the core of this tortilla is almost apple tart-esque.

Bacalao (Cod)

K: Too much sweet Provencal style pepper for me, but I am your Codfather

D: While the cod certainly wasn’t oversized, it certainly made up the ground when it came to
taste. ‘Uno mas ’Las Gravas’ por favor, John!’

All in €60.

We both left with one thing on our minds… Ok maybe two things - 1. Cheese, 2. Nightcap/s.

A 5 minute ramble around the corner took us to Restaurante Boveda, a timeless haunt set
in the neighbourhood of La Llonja. This place is full of character. This time Kerri was ready
with the cheese order.

Cheese and Hot Peppers

K: A Kilner  jar of Manchegers in seasoned oil winks at me. Now, though, I am actively
changing beverage options. With this enthusiastic level of fat-on-fat, Cava is key to cut
through all of the naughtiness. It’s served in a tumbler. We feel like locals

D: Man-say-go (spanish accent) = Manchego. (I laughed)

We had only to meander circa 15 meters to the last stop saloon: The ‘Black Marlin’ cocktail
bar. Apparently lugging a bit of a Mexican penchant; Tommy’s margaritas, and Palomas
where the order of the day. At 8 euro each these are good value given

1. The quality (And quantity) of the tequila and;

2. Filipo, the Italian dynamo behind the bar who combines them perfectly.

After enduring a rather lengthy story from Kerri set 9 years ago in Bologna, we realised the
array of drinks may now in fact be going to our heads. The answer, of course, being:

D: Jameson x2

K: Agua con gas. And a cab to Ca na Bel.

And..

Chips

D: Nothing beats a well timed plate of chips in the depths of night. In fairness they were
excellent. Just halfway between a wedge and a chipper chip but with all of the qualities of a
browned roastie complete with fluffy interior to boot! Hats off.

K: There were chips? I love chips. They’re my favourite vegetable

We both got a Hierbas, which is a local liquer made from aniseed, before saying our goodbyes
to the charming nightlife of Palma once more. Thanks for the waters Filipo!

Hasta pronto!