Ensaïmada
The spiral pastry that defines Mallorcan baking, coiled from a dough enriched with saïm pork lard, proved slowly, baked flat and buried under icing sugar.
Where: Forn Fondo, Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo, Fornet de la Soca
Palma eats like an island capital rather than a Spanish one. The vocabulary is Mallorcan before it is Castilian: ensaïmada rather than churro, llonguet rather than bocadillo, variat rather than a tapas crawl, arròs brut rather than paella. Sobrassada, the soft paprika-cured pork you spread with a knife, turns up on bread at breakfast, melted into rice at lunch and grilled over street bonfires in January. The city's oldest rooms hold the line on that cooking. Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo has poured hot chocolate since the 1700s, Forn Fondo has baked on Carrer de la Unió since 1911, and the barrel-lined cellers still serve sopes mallorquines to a local lunch crowd at 13:30. Above them sits a newer layer: three Michelin stars, a cluster of Repsol Soles, and a Santa Catalina grid where Chilean, Peruvian and Japanese kitchens work Mallorcan produce. Drink Binissalem and Pla i Llevant, finish with hierbas, and eat on Spanish hours.
Eat your way through Palma
Browse by price
Map of Palma
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Palma, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
Where to eat in Palma: editor-picked starting points
5 institutional venues to anchor a Palma food trip
- DINS Santi Taura - Mediterranean, chef Santi Taura
- Marc Fosh - Mediterranean, chef Marc Fosh
- Zaranda - Mediterranean, chef Fernando P. Arellano
- Fera - Asian fusion
- Adrián Quetglas - Modern European, chef Adrián Quetglas
Signature Palma dishes
- Ensaïmada - The spiral pastry that defines Mallorcan baking, coiled from a dough enriched with saïm pork lard, proved slowly, baked flat and buried under icing sugar
- Pa amb oli - Dense Mallorcan brown bread rubbed with ramallet tomato and olive oil, salted, then loaded with cheese, cured meat or olives
- Sobrassada - Mallorca's soft cured sausage: ground pork worked with paprika and salt, then matured in island air until it can be spread with a knife rather than sliced
- Tumbet - The Mallorcan vegetable bake: aubergine, potato and red pepper fried separately in olive oil, layered in a dish and covered with a slow tomato sauce
- Frit mallorquí - Offal, potato and vegetables fried hard together in olive oil with fennel and paprika, a Mallorcan use-everything dish that turns up in the island's best kitchens
Best Palma neighborhoods for food
- Casco Antiguo - Palma's walled old town, where starred dining rooms, 1911 bakeries and barrel-lined cellers sit within four streets of each other
- Santa Catalina - A former fishermen's quarter turned Palma's busiest eating district, built around a market hall and a grid of small international kitchens
- La Lonja - The old merchant quarter between the cathedral and the port, with garden dining rooms, marina kitchens and vegan cooking in stone mansions
- Sa Gerreria - Palma's former potters' quarter, long neglected and now the place to find llonguet counters and terraces that locals still outnumber visitors on
Signature dishes in Palma
The plates that define eating in Palma.
Pa amb oli
Dense Mallorcan brown bread rubbed with ramallet tomato and olive oil, salted, then loaded with cheese, cured meat or olives. The island's default plate at any hour.
Sobrassada
Mallorca's soft cured sausage: ground pork worked with paprika and salt, then matured in island air until it can be spread with a knife rather than sliced.
Where: Bar Espanya, Bodega La Rambla
Tumbet
The Mallorcan vegetable bake: aubergine, potato and red pepper fried separately in olive oil, layered in a dish and covered with a slow tomato sauce.
Frit mallorquí
Offal, potato and vegetables fried hard together in olive oil with fennel and paprika, a Mallorcan use-everything dish that turns up in the island's best kitchens.
Arròs brut
Mallorca's loose, soupy rice, cooked with game, pork, sobrassada and a warm spice mix that stains the broth the dirty brown the name refers.
Where: Celler Sa Premsa
Coca de trampó
A thin, yeasted Mallorcan flatbread with no cheese, covered in diced tomato, green pepper and onion dressed in olive oil and baked until the edges crisp.
Where: Fornet de la Soca
Sopes mallorquines
Not a soup at all: sliced dry Mallorcan bread soaked in a broth of cabbage, greens and garlic until the pan turns dense enough to eat with a fork.
Where: Celler Sa Premsa
Gató d'ametlla
The Mallorcan almond cake: ground almonds, eggs and sugar with no flour at all, baked flat and served with a scoop of almond ice cream on top.
Where: Celler Sa Premsa
Variat
Mallorca's combination plate: four or five leftover tapas served together on one dish, always with ensaladilla rusa and usually with croquettes and meatballs.
Where: Bodega La Rambla
Llonguet
The split Palma bread roll, small and oval with a scored ridge down the middle, filled with Mahón cheese, cured ham or sobrassada and grated tomato.
Where: Can Trispol, Forn Fondo
Hierbas de Mallorca
The island's herb liqueur, macerated with fennel, rosemary, lemon verbena and camomile, poured over ice as a digestif or straight into a coffee.
Restaurants to know in Palma
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Palma.
El Camino
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
Stagier Bar
Stagier Bar is a small Santa Catalina room in Palma where a Chilean-Peruvian couple plate Latin-leaning tapas learned in the kitchens that trained them.
Signature: Sourdough with chimichurri butter
Casa Maruka
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
Ola del Mar
Ola del Mar sits on the water at Portixol in Palma, cooking rice dishes and the day's catch from an elegant dining room with a sea-facing terrace.
Signature: Rice dishes, Grilled fish
Marui Sushi
Marui Sushi works a Japanese counter on Plaça del Progrés in Palma's Santa Catalina, cutting sushi and sashimi alongside small plated izakaya dishes.
Signature: Sushi, Sashimi
Sumaq
Sumaq cooks Peruvian food on Carrer de Cotoner in Palma's Santa Catalina, drawing on coastal, Amazonian and Andean cooking with Mallorcan produce.
Signature: Ceviche
Where to eat by neighborhood
Casco Antiguo
Palma's walled old town, where starred dining rooms, 1911 bakeries and barrel-lined cellers sit within four streets of each other.
Best for: Ensaïmada, Tasting menus, Vermouth, Celler cooking
Santa Catalina
A former fishermen's quarter turned Palma's busiest eating district, built around a market hall and a grid of small international kitchens.
Best for: Brunch, Small plates, Peruvian, Craft beer
La Lonja
The old merchant quarter between the cathedral and the port, with garden dining rooms, marina kitchens and vegan cooking in stone mansions.
Best for: Garden dining, Seafood, Plant-based, Specialty coffee
Sa Gerreria
Palma's former potters' quarter, long neglected and now the place to find llonguet counters and terraces that locals still outnumber visitors on.
Best for: Llonguet, Almond ice cream, Terrace drinking
Portixol
A fishing harbour twenty minutes east of Palma's centre, running into Es Molinar along a seafront promenade of rice kitchens and terraces.
Best for: Rice dishes, Grilled fish, Seafront terraces
When to come hungry in Palma
Peak food season: May to June and September to October. July and August are hot and booked out, and some kitchens close for part of August.
Local dining hours: Lunch 13:30-15:30, dinner 20:30-22:30. Many old-town kitchens close Sunday and Monday.
Tipping: Service is included. Rounding up, or leaving 5 to 10 percent after a long dinner, is generous rather than expected.
Palma food, FAQ
What food is Palma known for?
Palma's signature dishes include Ensaïmada, Pa amb oli, Sobrassada, Tumbet, Frit mallorquí. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.
What are the best food neighborhoods in Palma?
TableJourney editors map Palma by district. Casco Antiguo, Santa Catalina, La Lonja, Sa Gerreria are among the strongest for food, each with its own guide.
Where should I eat fine dining in Palma?
Editor picks in Palma include Marc Fosh, DINS Santi Taura, Zaranda, plus the full fine dining chapter on TableJourney.
Are there food tours in Palma?
TableJourney covers 3 editor-picked food tours in Palma, with what each shows you and how much to budget.
Does Palma have good vegetarian or vegan food?
TableJourney's Palma dietary chapter covers vegan, vegetarian, gluten_free venues, each editor-picked with what to order and how to ask.