LA ROSA VERMUTERIA - DINNER

Address:        Carrer de la Rosa, 5, 07003 Palma, Illes Balears
Telephone:    00 34 971 77 89 29

I had walked passed this many times and it was always buzzing with people so I hoped that it would be good if so many people wanted to go there.

You cannot reserve a table and I ended up going here with my husband and 2 of his business colleagues as we had not made a reservation anywhere and our first choice of restaurant was full, so we took a chance on their being a table here.

When we arrived it was full of people, as always, but we were told that we could sit on the upper gallery which is situated above the downstairs eating area and overlooks the bar.  We were at a sharing table but we were the only people sitting at it.  The ambience is very upbeat with simple decor - including a nice collection of old soda syphons which sit above the bar area -  and we were quickly attended to by a waiter who worked like a whirlwind to take our drinks order and give us menus in the language of our choice.

The waiter explained that it is a vermouth bar and has about 50 different types of vermouth, but they also served the normal selection of drinks.  I had my usual G&T, which was acceptable, and the other 3 shared a bottle of Albarino white wine which they said was good.  We also ordered a bottle of still and a bottle of sparkling water.

The waiter helped us with our food choices and we decided to share both starters and main courses.

For starters we had, grilled octopus which was delicious but was served whole, rather than sliced, so may put people off if they don't like to see the whole "animal" that they are going to eat.  The ham croquettes were piping hot and crispy on the outside with a tasty cheesy potato filling with small pieces of jamon serrano - very tasty.  The "Patatas Bravas" were small chunks of potato with a spicy sauce and were very tasty too.  All this was accompanied by "p'amb oil" which was good but not special.

Mussels in the "chamberpot"

For main we shared a huge dish of steamed mussels cooked with small pieces of vegetable.  These were excellent and there were loads of them.  The only thing that might put people off was that they were served in what looked like a small chamberpot!  The other main was fillet steak with chips.  We asked for it to be cooked "medium" but it was probably more like "medium-rare".  However, the waiter did say he could take some or all of it back to be cooked more.

Fillet steak and chips

We ate the steak as it was and it was tender and delicious with excellent seasoning and the chips were excellent  too - hot and crispy on the outside and soft inside.

None of us felt the need for dessert or coffees so the bill was settled at a very reasonable €100.  

As we were leaving a smile was brought to our faces when we saw a bike in the window carrying a bottle of wine in a leather sling under the crossbar - that is my husband's idea of cycling!

Wine on the bike

I now understand why this restaurant is so popular and I will be happy to return there very soon.