What to eat Balearic Islands? culinary specialties and gastronomy

In the Balearic Islands, as in the rest of Spain, mealtimes are spread throughout the day. In the evenings, restaurants fill up around 10pm, and customers will often have had a drink and tapas beforehand, and start their meal in the restaurant later. Dining out is common, as Spaniards like to eat out. You'll find plenty of small, inexpensive establishments frequented by locals. When they choose to dine at home, they sit down at the table around 9pm and enjoy a drink to finish the evening with friends. Generally speaking, the Balearic Islands follow Spanish mealtimes, with service generally provided from 1pm to 4pm and from 8pm to midnight. Some seasonal establishments, however, adapt to people from more northerly regions who are used to eating earlier. However, restaurants open from midday are not commonplace!

You can eat very well for very little money in the Balearics. Local produce is good and restaurants are plentiful. By opting for a few tapas to share or a lunchtime menu, you can get by for around 15 euros. However, good restaurants are also plentiful and the bill can easily rise. Nevertheless, there are a few restaurants in town serving a dish of the day for around €15. Give preference to local products and dishes: frit mallorquí (made with meat or fish, peppers and potatoes fried in olive oil) and Majorca's famous ensaimada (a sweet spiral pastry eaten at breakfast time), caldereta de llagosta (a kind of bouillabaisse cooked in a small pot with lobster) and Mahón cheese on Menorca, burrida de ratjada (boiled skate with crushed almond coulis), sofrit pagès (a dish made with lamb, chicken, sobrassada and potatoes) on Ibiza and Formentera.

Bread and water have to be paid for! As for tips, as in France, do what you feel is best according to your level of satisfaction.

Start the day with a hearty breakfast of bread, cheese and cold cuts.

Pour your café-noisette(cortado) into a glass filled with ice cubes.

Head to the market to pick up a few local products at a good price.

End the meal with a homemade Hierba Ibicenca.

Children are generally welcome in Balearic restaurants. Some hotels, however, specialize in an adult-only clientele, notably on Ibiza.

While smoking is forbidden in restaurants (the same rules apply here as in mainland France), smoking was generally tolerated on the terrace as long as you didn't get in anyone's way. However, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the rules have changed, and you will no doubt be asked to stand back from smoking, even on the terrace. Special areas are usually set aside for smokers. The easiest way to find out is to ask the staff.

Generally speaking, restaurants in seaside resorts whose menus are displayed in the front row of the terrace (with photos of the dishes and translations in 5 languages) are to be avoided. They have been designed with tourists in mind, and are often expensive for the quality of the food on offer. The presence of a "rabatteur" is another sign that a restaurant should be avoided.

Bakeries, cafeterias and ice-cream parlors are generally open all day long, until around 8pm in season (6pm in winter), or even a little later for ice-cream parlors (a good ice-cream is always a good dessert idea in this heat!). However, there are no hard and fast rules here, and to avoid wasting your time, it's best to make a quick phone call. Bars generally open around 7-8pm and close around 2am, or even 4am in some cases.

Prices for gourmet breaks and alcoholic beverages are generally lower than in France (with the exception of discotheques and similar establishments). Balearic pastries are highly recommendable (especially the delicious ensaïmadas ), as are liquores de hierbas, the most famous of which is Ibiza's famous hierbas ibicencas.

It's very common to drink your coffee, and even more so your café au lait, on the rocks: it's the famous cortado con hielo or tallat amb gel in Catalan.

Children are generally accepted wherever a bar permit is not in force. However, they may sometimes be accepted on a bar terrace until early evening.

While smoking is prohibited in gourmet shops, cafés and bars, until recently smokers were welcome on the terraces of these same establishments. However, pandemic-related restrictions changed all that, and in 2022, smokers were invited to take a step back and smoke.