La Vieja de Jonay Hernández, Palma

Authentic Canary Islands’ cuisine – with contemporary touches and creative presentation – is on the menu at the Palma tapas bar and restaurant, La Vieja de Jonay Hernández. Owner and chef Jonay is from Tenerife, and his New Canarian cuisine pays homage to the archipelago of his birth.

Jonay opened La Vieja in May 2018 in Plaça de Raimundo Clar – a square that’s since become a hotspot for locals who come for its several popular eateries and bars.

On entering La Vieja, your eyes are drawn to a colourful, street-art-style mural of an octopus. Then the bar and kitchen area behind a counter. When I went with two girlfriends for lunch, the delicious aroma of paprika and food cooking on the Kamado grill, whetted our appetites.

Although an informal place to eat, there’s a high degree of professionalism going on in the kitchen, overseen by Jonay who was at the pass during our visit.

Sit at tables indoors or on the front terrace in the square, but a seat at the bar means a view of the culinary action. Eating at La Vieja is a chance to discover the unique culinary elements of the Canaries – including mojos, gofio, la ropa vieja, and papas arrugadas (the delicious wrinkled new potatoes I couldn’t eat enough of on a holiday in Tenerife).

 
The menu comprises hot and cold savoury dishes and desserts (and a mini dessert for anyone who overindulges in the papas arrugadas). From Tuesday to Friday, La Vieja also offers a midday menu for 24,50€, including bread and one bottle of water. The menu appears each week on its Instagram page.

For our lunch, we ate à la carte, sharing Canarian wrinkly potatoes (12€), asparagus ‘chips’ (10€) – quite salty for my taste, fried fish with green mojo aioli (22€), and Ibérico pork cooked in the Kamado grill with smoked Hollandaise sauce, sweet red mojo and sweet potato purée (23€). All delicious, flavourful, and creatively presented.

 
A lot of Canarian cuisine is free from gluten and coeliacs will find plenty of choice on the menu at La Vieja (including gluten-free bread, 2,90€). Each gluten-free dish on the menu is marked as such, and there are also indications of dishes containing lactose. 
To finish, two of us shared the dessert named Eat Tenerife! (10€). Made from milk chocolate, Venezuelan ocumare chocolate, and gofio cookie, presented in the shape of Tenerife, it was surrounded by a ‘sea’ of coconut milk turned blue by butterfly pea flower.

If you’re into cocktails, check out the eight signature drinks in addition to the classic and virgin cocktails.

Eating at La Vieja de Jonay Hernández is a unique, fun, and tasty experience. The place deserves its popularity, which means you should book in advance to eat here. If a visit to the Canary Islands isn’t on the cards, possible, visit La Vieja for the next best thing.

La Vieja is mentioned in both the Guía Michelin and the Guía Repsol for 2024.

Photos: Jan Edwards

Prices correct at time of writing.