Son Bascos, Montuïri

This week’s featured restaurant is not where you’d go on a first date or to celebrate a special occasion, but it has a welcome simplicity that’s missing from so much in life. Son Bascos, near Montuïri, is also very affordable, which makes it a popular choice for those in the know.

My first visit to Son Bascos was, I think, around seventeen years ago. Known to locals as the ‘quail restaurant’, it was unique in Mallorca: quail was pretty much the only choice on the menu, as far as I recall, because the small game birds were bred on the farm where the restaurant is located.

For many years, I didn’t go back to Son Bascos, being on a quest for a wider knowledge of Mallorca’s gastronomic offerings. I’d assumed it had closed until I found the restaurant’s posts on Instagram recently. It was time for a return visit.

Not much has changed inside the simple restaurant, which first opened in 1985: there are still paper tablecloths and serviettes, framed old photos on one wall, and a feeling that time has passed this place by in its rural location.

What has changed is the food offering. Quail farming at Son Bascos ended with the pandemic, so now the quail are bought in. People still come here for the barbecued quail but it’s no longer the only meat option.

The paper menu offers starters, salads, children’s dishes, main plates, and chips (in three portion sizes).

If you want to follow the tradition of Son Bascos, there’s a choice of one, two, or three grilled quail, with an option to add an extra quail, if wanted. Pork, chicken, beef, and lamb are also on the menu. Main dishes include salad or chips.

Starters are limited: a choice of chicken or spinach croquettes (8 for 9€), although one of the four salads could be a starter. If you want bread, it comes with aioli and quail’s eggs.

We began with croquetas and then, on our nostalgia trip, opted for two quail each with both salad and chips (a not-so-small portion of the latter costs 3€). The salad was fresh, the chips hot, and the quail were tasty – a generous plate of comfort food on a dull autumn day.

Four of the desserts on the menu are home-made but we were quite full so opted for a Bombón Mallorquín (3,50€), which turned out to be a choc ice, delivered in its wrapper and eaten by hand. Simple, but not a bad end to our lunch. Gluten-free desserts are available on request.

We opted for wine by the glass (limited choice but generous measures) and had Pomal Rosat at 4€ a glass.

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly, rustic restaurant with a history of almost forty years, you’ll find it at Son Bascos near Montuïri.

Photos: Jan Edwards

Prices were correct at time of writing