TRAMUNTANA GRILL, Deia

Microwaves, high-speed electric ovens, and the Thermomix may have revolutionized restaurant cooking methods, but the Josper charcoal oven is the hottest – in both senses of the word – piece of commercial kitchen equipment right now.

Cooking over embers may be primeval but it’s growing in popularity because of the exceptional flavour it gives to food. One restaurant where you can discover this is the newly refurbished Tramuntana Grill, which opened this season at La Residencia, a Belmond Hotel, in Deià. Their Josper charcoal oven is used to cook fresh fish and seafood, meats, vegetables – and even a pineapple dessert that delivers two delicious surprises.

The Tramuntana Grill is by the hotel’s largest swimming pool, and a table here offers beautiful views – especially when the setting sun turns the mountains behind the hotel a deep shade of pink, or there’s a full moon. The poolside restaurant has been elegantly redesigned using local, natural materials – including iron, bamboo, Mallorcan oak, and Binissalem stone – in neutral colours that blend harmoniously with the surroundings. Exclusively for hotel guests during the day, it’s open to the public for dinner. Open-sided but covered over, it’s a place to linger over good food and wine on a balmy summer evening, enjoying the background live music.

The Instagram-worthy décor has an elegant but unpretentious vibe that’s perfect for enjoying the sharing plates on executive chef Guillermo Méndez’s new menu. The gastronomy is based on seasonal local products and makes good use of La Residencia’s extra virgin olive oil, produced from olives grown on the property.

We began our Tramuntana Grill dining experience with a flavourful carpaccio of red prawns, with cream of caramelized red onions, rocket, and pickled lemon peel. A salad of Josper-grilled watermelon with Mallorcan cottage cheese and confit cherry tomatoes followed.

We enjoyed a perfectly cooked sea bass with a selection of grilled vegetables, including artichokes and asparagus. Langoustines cooked over charcoal came with the surprising but delicious addition of black pork sobrasada. And when in the Tramuntana – the mountains or the Grill – it would be remiss not to try the succulent Sóller prawns.

Whatever you try from the menu, this is a place for family-style dining so you can experience the variety of flavours and the evident skill of the kitchen team. Any novice BBQ cook will know that cooking over embers is not as easy as it sounds.

Photos: Jan Edwards

Prices correct at time of writing.