CRU – Cuina i Vins, Manacor

CRU – Cuina i Vins in Manacor is a restaurant with a point of difference: it specializes in offering natural wines made from organic grapes and without additives. It’s the only establishment in Manacor listed in the 2024 edition of the international natural wine and food lovers’ digital guide known as Raisin.

Juan and his wife, María del Mar, opened CRU a couple of years ago and it’s a real hit with local foodies. Booking a table is recommended because this charming, small restaurant has only around 30 covers between the dining room and the pavement terrace at the front – which is opposite the parish church entrance.

Juan looks after front of house and María del Mar is in the kitchen – on her own – producing the delicious food. The printed menu (also in English) offers ten savoury dishes and four desserts. The savoury dishes are priced from 7€-23€, with nine dishes costing less than 20€.

There’s no distinction between starters and mains, just order what you want to eat. In addition, a blackboard offers the day’s extra suggestions – these are written in Catalan, but Juan explains them in English, if needed.

We’ve not eaten on CRU’s terrace, preferring the ambience of the dining room. It’s a neat space, with contemporary black-and-white floor tiles, marble-top tables, and a mix of banquette seating and wooden, bistro-style chairs. Pretty plates, reminiscent of an English tableware design, are from Portugal.

The food is perfect for sharing. We went feeling hungry last week and started by sharing two types of well-filled home-made gyozas: pork with a spicy oil (four for 8€) and prawn with Japanese BBQ sauce (4 for 10€). Alongside these, we had a generous portion of their must-try home-made fries (7€) with a bowl of Béarnaise sauce for dipping. Next, we shared a portion of prawns, artichokes, and guanciale, with home-made bread (18€) and a Mediterranean beef tataki (17€) marinated with dried tomato, lime, Parmesan, and basil, and served with tiny triangles of fried bread.

The four desserts at CRU range in price from 4,50€ for yuzu sorbet to 8€ for the rich chocolate ganache – my go-to dessert here. The apple crumble with vanilla ice cream (6€) is also popular. After everything we’d eaten, we could manage only to share a portion of the ganache.

Our bottle of French rosé called Le Bijou de Sophie Valrose (24€), had an interesting story behind its name and was one we’d order again.

If you enjoy a cosy restaurant with food made lovingly on the premises and a good choice of natural wines, head for CRU – Cuina i Vins in Manacor.

Photos: Jan Edwards

Prices correct at time of writing.