Restaurante Barlovento, Port d’Andratx

Port d’Andratx has a waterfront lined with restaurants, bars, and cafes, but if you want to be even closer to the sea and somewhere a little quieter in terms of traffic, take the road around to the other side of the harbour. Here, you’ll find a Mediterranean restaurant that’s been making diners happy for almost fifty years.

Barlovento’s owner, Pep, is well-known in the port, having grown up close to the restaurant his father founded. (Pep also owns Rocamar on the busier side of the harbour). Barlovento is between the Club de Vela (sailing club) and a tiny beach. It’s a picture-postcard location with a fisherman’s village vibe.

Lunch here was my first visit to this side of Port d’Andratx and a chance to experience the different views of the harbour.

There’s a subtle nautical theme to the restaurant, which is open-sided and blessed with blissful, cooling breezes on a hot day – hence its name Barlovento, the Spanish word for windward. On the upper floor, accessed by an elevator, there’s a small terrace that’s available for private dining with memorable views.

Rice dishes are a speciality here and cooked over a wood-fire, which adds flavour nuances. We ordered the rice dish known as Arroz de Notary, a tempting concoction of lobster, prawns, squid, and cuttlefish (34€ a head). While our main course was cooking, we shared crispy baby squid (19€) and pink tomato salad with mozzarella and pesto (19€). Our rice dish arrived still bubbling from its encounter with the wood-fired grill, and we took a few moments to enjoy the aroma of the brothy rice until the bubbling subsided. This dish was delicious – a real taste of the sea.

Paellas, other rice dishes, and fresh fish are also on the menu but for meat lovers there are three treats: a T-bone steak from 45-day matured beef (kept in a special cabinet), a Chateaubriand, and suckling kid roasted in the charcoal oven – goat is not as common on menus in Mallorca as you might expect.

Barlovento’s desserts include a famous one invented some sixty years ago in the bakery Forn de Baix in the small, inland town of Lloseta. Cardenal de Lloseta is as Mallorquin as ensaimada or gató but not found as often on restaurant menus. In all my years of living in Mallorca, I’d never tried this confection of baked sponge and meringue, filled with whipped cream and topped with caramelised sugar. If you’re a pud lover, this is one to try. Although I’m more of a savoury girl, I’d eat it again on a future visit to Barlovento in Port d’Andratx.

Photos: Jan Edwards

Prices correct at time of writing.