Ca's Patro March

We are back!

Yesterday we were still swimming in clear waters and today we went back to work... talk about culture shock (and thermal shock waking up to rainy, cool weather). But this way is best, no time to think about or to acknowledge the sadness you feel when leaving those you love.

Mallorca never ceases to surprise us with its beauty, variety, traditions and breathtaking scenery. Every time we leave its sunny shores, family and good friends, old and new, we cannot help but feel that we are leaving our second home. There are so many stories to tell, so many images to show, it is hard to decide where to start.

So I will start with food of course. I will tell you about a restaurant I highly recommend you visit if you are ever on the island. It is exactly the place you dream of when you set off in your rented car to find that small, quaint seafood restaurant you know is hidden somewhere among the rocks. A place that is relaxed, where the fish is as fresh and as uncomplicated as can be. A place with a view, with the sound of waves lapping up onto the shore, a place to have a late, lazy Spanish lunch, drinking chilled white wine and enjoying a breeze. The locals' best kept secret apparently, because every time I looked for a place like that on my travels, I rarely managed to find it.

You always seem to end up sitting in a crowded tourist trap, with overpriced fish and warm wine. There is never a breeze and as much as you try to smile and make the best of your vacation, rivulets of sweat are running down your cleavage and your thighs are sticking together under your napkin.

I thus present to you Ca's Patro March, so that you will no longer have to revisit that nightmare.

The restaurant is located in the Deìa Municipality, in a little hidden cala you reach driving or walking down a winding road through olive groves. After parking you will have to walk in the scorching sun for a little under five minutes but it will be worth it once you get there. You can go for a swim from the little beach and sit in the sun first or head directly to lunch. The restaurant is perched up on a cliff (yes, you will also have to climb up some stairs to get there) like an eagle's nest and offers the most spectacular of views. It looks like it was built by the Flintstones, lots of stone, straw and wood.  It is a simple and very child friendly place (I was surprised at the amount of strollers and children given the arduous climb up) so don't go there if you are looking for white linens, flowers in silver vases and monastic silence. It is bustling with people and laughter, waiters zigzagging through the tables with large trays laden with the day's catch.

The food was exquisite, the wine was served ice cold and kept chilled and the service was extremely friendly if a little frazzled by the afternoon crowd.

We enjoyed a few dishes of a local treat, our beloved chipirones, baby squid, not much larger than a thumbnail. They were served hot and crunchy, fried  to perfection and seasoned with just enough salt. A drizzle of lemon that grows everywhere you look and we were in heaven. One of our party ordered a gazpacho and claimed it was superb. As our main course we ordered a parillada de pescado y mariscos, a grilled mixture of fish and seafood.

In other words, when you can't make up your mind, go all the way. The platters included calamari, lobster, swordfish, monkfish, shrimp and more (yes, even the grilled head of a rock fish with the its enormous tender cheek, the most prized morsel).

After, large chilled slabs of fresh honeydew melon to cleansen the palate and ice cream for the kids.

If you zoom in on this picture you can see the guy standing up there on the cliff

We even got a show worthy of Acapulco while enjoying our coffee. A group of kids entertained us by diving, frontwards and back, from various heights off of the cliffs right in front of us. Quite an exciting experience, followed by gasps from the lunching crowd and rounds of applause.

Ca's Patro March

Cala Deia +34971639137