Palma's walled old town, where starred dining rooms, 1911 bakeries and barrel-lined cellers sit within four streets of each other.
El Camino is a marble counter on Carrer de Can Brondo in Palma, a wine bar in the Barcelona tapas mould pouring Mallorcan bottles with plates to order.
Signature: Iberian ham, Manchego cheese
Order: Iberian ham and manchego from the counter, with a glass of Mallorcan Callet red.
Tip: Counter stools only, and it books out most nights. Come at 13:00 or accept a wait.
Casa Maruka has cooked market-led Mallorcan food in Palma since 2007, run by María José Calabria and Alberto Serrano and carrying a Repsol Sol.
Signature: Suckling pig, Oxtail stew
Order: The suckling pig, or the oxtail stew if the kitchen is running it that day.
Tip: Monday is lunch only. Tuesday to Saturday the kitchen also runs an evening service from 20:00 to 23:30.
La Bodeguilla has poured Spanish regional wine on Carrer de Sant Jaume in Palma since 1986, serving regional plates and a long list without a break.
Signature: Spanish regional plates
Order: A spread of regional plates, ordered against a Mallorcan bottle from the list.
Tip: The kitchen runs 13:00 to 23:00 with no closure, which is rare in central Palma.
La Malvasia is a red-fronted room on Plaça del Mercat in Palma pouring Ca'n Pico Malvasia alongside Mediterranean plates and a long celiac menu.
Signature: Tapas, Fresh fish
Order: A glass of the house Malvasia with whatever fish is on the board that day.
Tip: One of the few central Palma kitchens with a properly worked-out gluten-free menu.
Arume Sushi Bar has worked Carrer de Sant Miquel in Palma for years, with chef Tomeu Martí cutting Japanese plates against Mediterranean produce.
Signature: Sushi
Order: The sushi selection, cut against Mediterranean fish rather than imported stock.
Tip: The kitchen shuts for the whole of August. Check before planning a late-summer dinner.
Celler Sa Premsa has poured from wine barrels near Palma's Mercat de l'Olivar since 1958, serving arròs brut, sopes mallorquines and gató almond cake.
Signature: Arròs brut, Sopes mallorquines
Order: Arròs brut, then gató almond cake with almond ice cream.
Tip: It is the most tourist-facing of Palma's cellers, but the Mallorcan menu is the real thing.
Toque de Queda works a converted bakery on Carrer de Can Cavalleria in Palma, plating charcuterie, coques and small Italian-Mallorcan dishes.
Signature: Coca de queso Taleggio
Order: Coca with Taleggio, escalivada aubergine and walnuts, plus a plate of the Tuscan ham.
Tip: Summer service starts at 18:00 and the kitchen closes at 22:30. Winter adds Thursday to Saturday lunch.
Can Frasquet is an all-day bar and kitchen on Carrer d'Orfila in Palma's old town, running Mediterranean plates and burgers from 11:30 to 23:30.
Signature: Burgers, Tapas
Order: A burger at the bar, or a spread of tapas if you are two or more.
Tip: Straight-through service makes this one of the few old-town kitchens open at 17:00.
Marc Fosh holds one Michelin star in a 17th-century convent off Carrer de la Missió, cooking contemporary Mediterranean menus from Mallorcan produce.
Order: The €69 ADN lunch menu, the cheapest way into a starred Palma dining room.
Tip: Lunch is the value play. The ADN menu runs €69 against €159 for the evening Aromas del Mediterráneo.
DINS Santi Taura is Palma's one-star Mallorcan kitchen inside Hotel El Llorenç, running a single tasting menu drawn from island recipe archives.
Order: The set Mallorcan tasting menu, which changes with the island growing season.
Tip: Seatings are fixed at 19:30 and 20:30, and the chef's counter runs later. Book well ahead.
Zaranda is Fernando P. Arellano's Michelin-starred dining room at Hotel Es Princep in Palma, holding one star and a Repsol Sol for its Balearic tasting menus.
Order: The Balearic tasting menu, built around island produce and Mediterranean fish.
Tip: Opening months shift with the season, so confirm the calendar before booking a winter trip.
Adrián Quetglas cooks Michelin-recommended modern European menus on Passeig de Mallorca in Palma, running a five-step and an eight-step tasting format.
Order: The five-step tasting menu, the shorter of the two formats on offer.
Tip: Weekday lunch seatings run 13:00 to 15:00 and are easier to get than the single evening service.
Fera sits in a restored Palma mansion on Carrer de la Concepció, folding Asian technique into Mediterranean produce across tasting and carte menus.
Order: The lunch tasting menu, which is the best-value route into the kitchen.
Tip: The garden courtyard seats fill first. Ask for it when you book rather than on arrival.
Emilio Innobar works a small Palma room on Carrer de la Concepció, building raw fish plates that cross Asian technique with Mexican seasoning.
Order: Let the counter decide. The kitchen builds around whatever came off the boat that morning.
Tip: There is no fixed carte on some nights. Say what you dislike and let the kitchen work around it.
Bodega La Rambla has poured vermouth and served variats on Via Roma in Palma since 1940, plating the island's combination dish across small portions.
Signature: Variat, Ensaladilla rusa
Order: The variat, Mallorca's combination plate, with the ensaladilla rusa on the side.
Tip: Evenings run Thursday to Saturday only. Sunday and Monday are lunch alone, and it shuts for a summer break in August.
La Rosa Vermutería & Colmado pours house vermouth on Carrer de la Rosa in Palma, running as a tavern, a grocery counter and a dining room at once.
Signature: House vermouth, Tortilla
Order: House vermouth with the thick tortilla pintxo cut from the counter.
Tip: Open noon to midnight every day, which makes it the easiest fallback in the old town.
Bar Espanya stacks pintxos along the counter on Carrer de Can Escursac in Palma, with patatas bravas under sobrassada and croquettes filled with bullit.
Signature: Patatas bravas with sobrassada, Croquettes
Order: Patatas bravas topped with sobrassada, then a bullit croquette.
Tip: The counter pintxos go fast. Arrive at opening, 13:00 or 18:30, for the full spread.
Celler Sa Premsa has poured from wine barrels near Palma's Mercat de l'Olivar since 1958, serving arròs brut, sopes mallorquines and gató almond cake.
Signature: Arròs brut, Sopes mallorquines
Order: Arròs brut, then gató almond cake with almond ice cream.
Tip: It is the most tourist-facing of Palma's cellers, but the Mallorcan menu is the real thing.
La Malvasia is a red-fronted room on Plaça del Mercat in Palma pouring Ca'n Pico Malvasia alongside Mediterranean plates and a long celiac menu.
Signature: Tapas, Fresh fish
Order: A glass of the house Malvasia with whatever fish is on the board that day.
Tip: One of the few central Palma kitchens with a properly worked-out gluten-free menu.
Can Frasquet is an all-day bar and kitchen on Carrer d'Orfila in Palma's old town, running Mediterranean plates and burgers from 11:30 to 23:30.
Signature: Burgers, Tapas
Order: A burger at the bar, or a spread of tapas if you are two or more.
Tip: Straight-through service makes this one of the few old-town kitchens open at 17:00.
Mistral Coffee House pours the roastery's own beans on Plaça de Weyler in Palma, with a sunny terrace facing the Modernista front of the Gran Hotel.
Signature drink: Filter coffee from Mistral's own roast
Tip: The terrace catches morning sun. Doors close at 16:30, so this is not an evening room.
La Molienda Bisbe has roasted its own coffee in Palma since 2013, with a corner terrace on Carrer del Bisbe Campins under a flame tree and a fountain.
Signature drink: Filter coffee from the house Palma roast
Tip: Order a llonguet with the coffee. It is the Mallorcan roll, and they do a proper one.
La Molienda Arxiduc is the second Palma coffee room of the island's specialty roaster, serving house coffee, daily lunch plates and homemade cakes.
Signature drink: House-roasted espresso
Tip: Weekday lunch specials sell out by 14:00. Weekends run shorter hours, 09:00 to 14:00.
Bacan is a family-run specialty counter on Carrer del Baró de Santa Maria del Sepulcre in Palma, pouring single-origin filter in an air-conditioned room.
Signature drink: Single-origin pour-over
Tip: There is a courtyard behind the room that most first-timers miss. Ask when you order.
Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo has served hot chocolate, ensaïmada and almond ice cream on Carrer de Can Sanç in Palma since the original shop opened in the 1700s.
Signature drink: Thick hot chocolate
Tip: Order the hot chocolate with an ensaïmada to dunk. That pairing is the whole point of the room.
Forn Fondo has baked on Carrer de la Unió in Palma since 1911, now run by the fourth generation of the Llull family behind a Modernista shopfront.
Tip: More than twenty ensaïmada varieties sit behind the glass. The plain one is the benchmark.
Worth the queue: Ensaïmada with cabell d'àngel pumpkin jam
Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo has served hot chocolate, ensaïmada and almond ice cream on Carrer de Can Sanç in Palma since the original shop opened in the 1700s.
Tip: Order the hot chocolate with an ensaïmada to dunk. That pairing is the whole point of the room.
Worth the queue: Ensaïmada with hot chocolate
Fornet de la Soca occupies the old Forn des Teatre on Plaça de Weyler in Palma, where Tomeu Arbona rebuilds Mallorcan recipes from convent archives.
Tip: Stock is baked in small runs and sells out. Go in the morning if you want the coques.
Worth the queue: Coca with peppers
Mistral Coffee House pours the roastery's own beans on Plaça de Weyler in Palma, with a sunny terrace facing the Modernista front of the Gran Hotel.
Tip: Beans are roasted on Mallorca and sold by the bag at the counter alongside the drinks.
Sources from: Ethiopia, Colombia, Brazil
How they serve: Espresso, Filter, Whole bean retail
La Molienda Bisbe has roasted its own coffee in Palma since 2013, with a corner terrace on Carrer del Bisbe Campins under a flame tree and a fountain.
Tip: The roast is done in Palma and the beans come from small farms. Ask what landed that month.
Sources from: Ethiopia, Colombia, Peru
How they serve: Espresso, Filter, Whole bean retail
La Molienda Arxiduc is the second Palma coffee room of the island's specialty roaster, serving house coffee, daily lunch plates and homemade cakes.
Tip: La Molienda has roasted in Palma since 2013, and this room pours the same beans as the Bisbe original.
Sources from: Ethiopia, Colombia, Peru
How they serve: Espresso, Filter, Whole bean retail
La Bodeguilla on Carrer de Sant Jaume in Palma keeps one of the city's deepest Spanish lists, poured beside regional plates from 13:00 to 23:00.
Signature pour: A Binissalem red by the glass
Wine focus: Spanish regional wines with Mallorcan DO bottles
Food: Spanish regional plates and tapas
Tip: It is a restaurant that drinks like a wine bar. Sit at the bar if you only want bottles.
La Rosa Vermutería & Colmado pours house vermouth on Carrer de la Rosa in Palma, running as a tavern, a grocery counter and a dining room at once.
Signature pour: The house vermouth on tap
Wine focus: House vermouth and Spanish table wines
Food: Tavern plates and counter pintxos
Tip: Vermouth hour in Palma runs before lunch. Come at 12:30 and order it with an olive plate.
Bodega La Rambla has poured vermouth and served variats on Via Roma in Palma since 1940, plating the island's combination dish across small portions.
Signature pour: Vermouth with a plate of the variat
Wine focus: Mallorcan table wine and vermouth
Food: Variats, tapas and raciones
Tip: Evenings run Thursday to Saturday only. Sunday and Monday are lunch alone, and it shuts for a summer break in August.
La Malvasia is a red-fronted room on Plaça del Mercat in Palma pouring Ca'n Pico Malvasia alongside Mediterranean plates and a long celiac menu.
Signature pour: Ca'n Pico Malvasia by the glass
Wine focus: Malvasia from Ca'n Pico plus Mallorcan bottles
Food: Mediterranean tapas and fresh fish
Tip: Malvasia is a Mallorcan white grape worth trying here before you buy a bottle elsewhere.
Can Frasquet is an all-day bar and kitchen on Carrer d'Orfila in Palma's old town, running Mediterranean plates and burgers from 11:30 to 23:30.
Signature pour: A Mallorcan red by the glass at the bar
Wine focus: Spanish and Mallorcan wines by the glass
Food: Mediterranean plates and burgers
Tip: Straight-through service makes this one of the few old-town kitchens open at 17:00.
Brassclub has mixed cocktails on Passeig de Mallorca in Palma since 2013, under a ceiling built from more than three thousand suspended bottles.
Signature drink: Signature cocktails from the house list
Food: Snacks, pintxos and Mallorcan charcuterie
Tip: Signature cocktails run roughly €13 to €16.50. Book at weekends, the room is small.
Toutatis Bar Craft Beer pours a Belgian-leaning draught list on Plaça de Santa Magdalena in Palma, opened by a Belgian architect who settled on Mallorca.
Signature drink: Belgian-style craft beer
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Open every evening from 17:00 to midnight, which is later than most Palma beer bars.
La Rosa Vermutería & Colmado pours house vermouth on Carrer de la Rosa in Palma, running as a tavern, a grocery counter and a dining room at once.
Signature drink: House vermouth on tap
Food: Tavern plates and counter pintxos
Tip: Open noon to midnight every day, which makes it the easiest fallback in the old town.
Bodega La Rambla has poured vermouth and served variats on Via Roma in Palma since 1940, plating the island's combination dish across small portions.
Signature drink: Vermouth
Food: Variats, tapas and raciones
Tip: Evenings run Thursday to Saturday only. Sunday and Monday are lunch alone, and it shuts for a summer break in August.
Bar Espanya stacks pintxos along the counter on Carrer de Can Escursac in Palma, with patatas bravas under sobrassada and croquettes filled with bullit.
Signature drink: Island-brewed craft beer
Food: Pintxos and tapas, with vegan options marked
Tip: The counter pintxos go fast. Arrive at opening, 13:00 or 18:30, for the full spread.
Can Frasquet is an all-day bar and kitchen on Carrer d'Orfila in Palma's old town, running Mediterranean plates and burgers from 11:30 to 23:30.
Signature drink: Wine by the glass
Food: Mediterranean plates and burgers
Tip: Straight-through service makes this one of the few old-town kitchens open at 17:00.
Bar Espanya stacks pintxos along the counter on Carrer de Can Escursac in Palma, with patatas bravas under sobrassada and croquettes filled with bullit.
Try: Pintxos
Tip: The counter pintxos go fast. Arrive at opening, 13:00 or 18:30, for the full spread.
Forn Fondo has baked on Carrer de la Unió in Palma since 1911, now run by the fourth generation of the Llull family behind a Modernista shopfront.
Try: Ensaïmada
Tip: Buy an ensaïmada and eat it on the street. The plain one travels better than the filled ones.
Fornet de la Soca occupies the old Forn des Teatre on Plaça de Weyler in Palma, where Tomeu Arbona rebuilds Mallorcan recipes from convent archives.
Try: Coca de trampó
Tip: Coques are sold by the slice and eaten standing. Stock is baked in small runs, so go early.
Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo has served hot chocolate, ensaïmada and almond ice cream on Carrer de Can Sanç in Palma since the original shop opened in the 1700s.
Try: Almond ice cream
Tip: The almond ice cream is made in-house and travels about as far as the next street corner.
Adalt Brewing brews in small batches on Carrer de l'Arxiduc Lluís Salvador in Palma, pouring from the tank in a tasting room with a patio taproom.
Tip: The line-up changes with the season and cans are sold to take away during taproom hours.
Toutatis Bar Craft Beer pours a Belgian-leaning draught list on Plaça de Santa Magdalena in Palma, opened by a Belgian architect who settled on Mallorca.
Tip: Founded by a Belgian architect, so the pour list leans Belgian rather than Spanish.
Mercat de l'Olivar is Palma's main covered market off Plaça d'Espanya, with fish, meat and produce below and a gastronomic floor of bars above.
Tip: The gastronomic floor upstairs runs bars, restaurants and ready meals until 16:00, after the fish counters have wound down.
The Mercat Agroecològic sets up on Plaça del Bisbe Berenguer de Palou in Palma twice a week, selling certified organic produce from island growers.
Tip: Tuesday and Saturday mornings only. This is where Palma's organic growers sell direct.
Celler Sa Premsa has poured from wine barrels near Palma's Mercat de l'Olivar since 1958, serving arròs brut, sopes mallorquines and gató almond cake.
Try: Mallorcan celler cooking
Order: Arròs brut, then gató almond cake with almond ice cream.
Tip: The set lunch is the cheapest route into a proper Mallorcan celler meal in central Palma.
Bar Espanya stacks pintxos along the counter on Carrer de Can Escursac in Palma, with patatas bravas under sobrassada and croquettes filled with bullit.
Try: Pintxos by the piece
Order: Patatas bravas topped with sobrassada, then a bullit croquette.
Tip: Pintxos are priced by the stick, so a filling counter meal lands well under €15 with a beer.
Bodega La Rambla has poured vermouth and served variats on Via Roma in Palma since 1940, plating the island's combination dish across small portions.
Try: Variat
Order: The variat, Mallorca's combination plate, with the ensaladilla rusa on the side.
Tip: One variat and a vermouth is a full lunch. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and it shuts for a summer break in August.
Forn Fondo has baked on Carrer de la Unió in Palma since 1911, now run by the fourth generation of the Llull family behind a Modernista shopfront.
Try: Ensaïmades and coques
Order: A plain ensaïmada, the benchmark against which the filled ones are judged.
Tip: Breakfast here costs about €4 with a coffee, which undercuts every café on the Born.
Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo has served hot chocolate, ensaïmada and almond ice cream on Carrer de Can Sanç in Palma since the original shop opened in the 1700s.
Try: Hot chocolate with ensaïmada
Order: Order the hot chocolate with an ensaïmada to dunk.
Tip: Three centuries of trade and it still costs less than a hotel breakfast. Open until 21:00.
La Malvasia is a red-fronted room on Plaça del Mercat in Palma pouring Ca'n Pico Malvasia alongside Mediterranean plates and a long celiac menu.
Try: Tapas and mini burgers
Order: A glass of the house Malvasia with whatever fish is on the board that day.
Tip: Kitchen runs non-stop from 11:30, so you can eat cheaply outside Spanish meal hours.
Bacan is a family-run specialty counter on Carrer del Baró de Santa Maria del Sepulcre in Palma, pouring single-origin filter in an air-conditioned room.
Order: A single-origin pour-over with whatever toast the counter is running.
Tip: There is a courtyard behind the room that most first-timers miss. Ask when you order.
La Molienda Bisbe has roasted its own coffee in Palma since 2013, with a corner terrace on Carrer del Bisbe Campins under a flame tree and a fountain.
Order: A llonguet with the house filter coffee, eaten on the plaza terrace.
Tip: Order a llonguet with the coffee. It is the Mallorcan roll, and they do a proper one.
La Molienda Arxiduc is the second Palma coffee room of the island's specialty roaster, serving house coffee, daily lunch plates and homemade cakes.
Order: The daily lunch plate with a house-roasted espresso.
Tip: Weekday lunch specials sell out by 14:00. Weekends run shorter hours, 09:00 to 14:00.
Brassclub has mixed cocktails on Passeig de Mallorca in Palma since 2013, under a ceiling built from more than three thousand suspended bottles.
Try: Pintxos and Mallorcan charcuterie
Order: A signature cocktail with a plate of Mallorcan cured meats.
Tip: Signature cocktails run roughly €13 to €16.50. Book at weekends, the room is small.
La Rosa Vermutería & Colmado pours house vermouth on Carrer de la Rosa in Palma, running as a tavern, a grocery counter and a dining room at once.
Try: Tavern plates and pintxos
Order: House vermouth with the thick tortilla pintxo cut from the counter.
Tip: Open noon to midnight every day, which makes it the easiest fallback in the old town.
Bar Espanya stacks pintxos along the counter on Carrer de Can Escursac in Palma, with patatas bravas under sobrassada and croquettes filled with bullit.
Try: Pintxos
Order: Patatas bravas topped with sobrassada, then a bullit croquette.
Tip: Evening service starts at 18:30 and runs to midnight. Sundays it does not open at all.
Toutatis Bar Craft Beer pours a Belgian-leaning draught list on Plaça de Santa Magdalena in Palma, opened by a Belgian architect who settled on Mallorca.
Try: Bar snacks
Order: Whatever Belgian-style pour is on the board that evening.
Tip: Open every evening from 17:00 to midnight, which is later than most Palma beer bars.