Marc Fosh, Palma
Palma is home to no fewer than four Michelin-starred restaurants – each offering the gourmet diner a memorable but different culinary experience. In 2015, the eponymous Marc Fosh was the first restaurant in Mallorca’s capital to gain the coveted star – a distinction it’s held every year since. And Marc is still the only British chef in Spain at the helm of a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Although located within the 5-star boutique hotel, Convent de la Missió, Marc Fosh restaurant is open to the public. It’s an elegant, contemporary space, with an inner dining terrace and a water wall feature in the dining room. A stylish bar is ideal for drinks before or after your meal and, behind it, there’s a private space for up to ten diners.
Marc Fosh’s creative cuisine is modern Mediterranean and showcases fresh, seasonal, local produce – some of which is grown organically and sustainably on the Fosh Farm on Finca Son Mir, a few kilometres away.
The restaurant offers only tasting menus, of which there are three (one is available only for dinner). The lunchtime ‘Menú de la Semana’ costs 58,50€ for five plates plus appetizer snacks and petits fours. For Michelin-starred cuisine, this is a great price. For a supplement, you can add an organic caviar course (45€) and a cheese plate (24€).
We went with foodie friends from Wales, with whom we’d had an unforgettable lunch at Marc Fosh on their last holiday. They wanted a repeat visit, and we were happy with that.
Marc’s silky gazpachos have always impressed me, and, after the snacks, our server poured plum gazpacho over marinated mackerel and broad beans – a delicious start. ‘Bombeta’ rice from Sa Pobla, in north Mallorca, came with smoked eel, lovage chlorophyll, and fresh cherries. The fish course was stuffed Dover sole fillet with pea purée, bergamot gel, and verjus beurre blanc. The delicious, toasted cauliflower served with the tender, slow-cooked guinea fowl and Pedro Ximenez jus was a talking point at our table. Our ‘award’ for the prettiest dish went to the dessert: a passionfruit honeycomb with pineapple and anis sorbet and mango spheres. Macarons and two types of chocolates were our favourites from the petits fours.
As you’d expect, the choice of wines is excellent. We shared a bottle of from Ribas, Mallorca’s oldest winery, but a few wines by the glass are also available. Longstanding clients may be interested to know that Gabriel Lucas – previously head sommelier from 2016-2019 and named Best Spanish Sommelier in 2021 – is now working as wine ambassador for Marc Fosh.
Our charming servers explained each dish as they presented it, adding to the enjoyment of an excellent Michelin-starred lunch at Marc Fosh in Palma.
Marc Fosh also has one Sol in the 2024 Guiá Repsol.
Photos: JAN EDWARDS
Prices correct at time of writing.