Restaurante Jardín Bistró | Alcúdia Palma de Mallorca — Restaurant in Alcúdia

My husband and two children went here on a recommendation from a colleague. It’s the little brother of the Michelin-starred Jardín, so we were optimistic as we love eating out and trying local fare. This was incredibly disappointing.

Firstly, I get it that’s its Spain, but the service was way too slow from the outset. Then the children’s hake and our starters arrived. The kids’ dishes were so salty that even they complained, and the portion size was tiny.

My husband’s octopus was good, very tender, but my goat’s cheese arrived in what could only be described as a pool of jam, all of which was so searingly hot that I burnt my tongue at the first tasting. When I told the waiter that it’d be good to let diners know that the dish was so hot, he just shrugged. The cheese itself was fine, but overwhelmed by the sweet sea around it. We’re Irish and we know decent cheese and good service from a lot of international travel and corporate-level eating out - this was pedestrian at best and I was frankly a bit shocked at the laissez-faire attitude of the waiter.

The main courses were just awful (the children had long since abandoned their tiny, salty plates). Both dishes were so loaded with salt they were inedible. The waiter didn’t seem to believe us, saying that no one has ever complained of excessive use of salt. It was beyond belief. We couldn’t finish the dishes. We weren’t charged for the main courses, but the staff clearly made out that we hadn’t a clue what we were talking about with regard to what decent food looks and tastes like.

A massive no-no. We got away with e100 for a really bad...

This restaurant is not easy to judge from our experience. First the atmosphere is nice, and very welcoming. We were a party of 8 and they were able to seat us with no prior reservation. Some of the food was quite nice, and it’s obvious a restaurant that wants to be at a higher level than the competition in the area. Unfortunately they were not able to accomplish that in our visit. Some of the dishes were quite nice, like the black pork I had was quite good, the fish my wife had was nice, the ravioli my daughter had was also nice. The wines we tried were also decent. But our food came scattered at different intervals, sometime up to 20 minutes between the main courses. The language barrier seems quite big, as we had to remind the staff 3 times of the sauces for the Chateaubriand. And the kitchen was not able to serve it at a decent temperature. I’m not sure what steak they cut the Chateaubriand from, but the one served at our table was definitely not filet mignon, tenderloin or sirloin. Silver skin had not been trimmed off and there still a lot of fat rind om the meat. The meat fibers were also not cut accordingly, which is almost impossible on the above mentioned meat cuts. The restaurant tried to correct some of our complaints but unfortunately not successfully. The initial bill was not correct either and had a few overcharges, probably Duo the language barrier. We ended up with an apology and a...

A masterpiece in food! We started with the mussels and the sauce was so good we had to take the spoon and finish eating the sauce. We also had the sliced Corvina in the escabeche which was so delicate and delicious you could taste each ingredient without any one overpowering the other. Then we moved on to the red prawn ravioli, which was absolutely delicious! Again, a wonderful blend of flavors that allows you to enjoy the fresh ingredients. The masterpiece of the night, however, was the Cochinillo. This dish alone is a true work of art and mastery of cooking techniques. The outer skin is perfectly cooked to a crisp without one burn or crack. Once you cut through that delicate crispy layer, the pork inside is so tender. It falls apart. When it enters your mouth, it melts like butter. Yes it melts! Who in the world ever says that pork can melt in your mouth. Well this one does! My husband and I are going to be talking about this pork until the day we die. This is one of the best dishes that we have ever had. I cannot believe that someone was able to cook pork to this level of flavor and tenderness. Perfect is not a good enough word. Wow! The chef understands that when you have good ingredients and a masterful technique, you create magic in the mouth. The restaurant is beautiful and all the staff are excellent. Thank you, Chef.Maca and the entire team for an...