Blue Tamarindo

Blue Tamarindo sits right on the water in Son Serra de Marina, at the seaward end of Carrer Joan Frontera Riera. It is one of the few houses on the island whose name is not decoration: tamarind appears twice on the menu, once in the wok and once as the sauce for the pad thai. The village around it is one of the quietest stretches of coast on the Bay of Alcúdia. A handful of houses, a long sandy beach, no row of hotels, and in front of them the tamarisks that line this whole shore. You notice quickly that Son Serra de Marina was never built up for mass tourism, and that is exactly where an evening here gets its appeal. The kitchen at Blue Tamarindo The base is Mediterranean, the accent comes from Southeast Asia. The menu is printed in three languages and clearly divided: starters, salads, pasta, a section of its own for Asia, then fish, meat and desserts. The cooking happens in an open kitchen. Among the starters, gyoza filled with vegetables or duck and served with yakiniku sauce sit directly beside croquettes from the Basque Country, offered with Iberian ham, with baby squid in its own ink, or with boletus. Between them stands the dish that shows the house's hand most clearly: homemade Thai-style calamari, breaded with coconut flakes and lime. The burrata arrives with roasted tomatoes, avocado cream, pistachio pesto and rocket. The salads keep the same register. Lettuce hearts come with roasted chicken, mango chutney and Mallorcan trampó, or with goat cheese, honey and pine nuts. The salad that carries the house name brings together prawns, mango, Greek yoghurt, mint, lime peel, pumpkin seeds and sesame. Between the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia The pasta section stays European: orecchiette with gorgonzola sauce, walnuts, crisp onion and caramelised pear; fresh spaghetti in the manner of the three seas, with clams, squid and prawns flambéed with sherry brandy and garlic-parsley butter; tagliatelle with beef tenderloin, mushrooms and truffle sauce. The Asian side stands next to it as a section in its own right, not as an afterthought. The Thai curry with chicken and prawns comes with seasonal vegetables, coriander and basmati rice. The wok brings chicken together with cashew nuts, coconut milk, tamarind and basil. The pad thai with prawns carries rice noodles, bean sprouts, egg, peanuts and tamarind again. All three are also available in a vegan version, and two of the salads can be adapted the same way. Fish, meat and the hot stone The kitchen carries fresh fish beyond the printed menu, according to what the market gives; the waiters will tell you what there is. It is served with Mallorcan roast potatoes in fine herbs and seasonal vegetables. Fixed on the menu are John Dory with clams in a seafood sauce, and cod loin gratinated with aioli on mashed potato. The meat comes down to two entries: Black Angus picaña with roast potatoes and pickled piquillo pepper, and beef tenderloin sliced as tataki with mushrooms and truffle-potato purée. As the speciality of the house, the meat is brought to the table with a hot stone. To finish there is homemade tiramisu, Mallorcan gató with ice cream, and a Nutella and banana crêpe. Son Serra de Marina around the restaurant Where Blue Tamarindo stands today there was once Can Frontera; the street in front still carries the name Joan Frontera Riera. The room is small, the tables close to the water are in demand, and booking ahead is worth it. Son Serra de Marina lies between Ca'n Picafort and the Colònia de Sant Pere, far enough from both to keep its quiet. If you want to see the Bay of Alcúdia without ending up on a promenade, this is the place.