Botanic Restobar

Botànic Restobar sits on Avinguda Cala Agulla in Cala Ratjada, on the road that runs from the centre of town up towards the beach. In a corner of the island built largely around passing trade, the house stands out because it deliberately feels different: a lot of greenery, music kept low, a room guests keep comparing to a garden. The name is not a promise about the décor — a good part of what appears on the menu is grown by the house itself. Behind Botànic are Walter and Renzo. They describe their idea plainly: to create the kind of restaurant they would want to come back to themselves. The cooking is rooted in the Mediterranean but looks beyond the island; techniques and ingredients from elsewhere are allowed a say. Cocina de autor is what they call it, a kitchen without fixed borders — here less a slogan than a straightforward description of a menu that runs from open fire to an entirely plant-based section. The farm behind the menu at Botànic Restobar A large share of the vegetables and fruit comes from the house's own growing. They describe it as the route from their own garden straight to the plate, and you notice it in two places above all: in the freshly pressed juices that travel from the farm to the glass, and in the recommendations. When the spinach is ready, dishes appear that are nowhere on the printed menu — a canelón, for instance, available only while the garden keeps delivering. Take the advice of the house and you will often eat something different from the next table. What the farm does not grow, the kitchen says it sources deliberately from regional producers. From the open fire The meat comes off a wood-fired grill, cooked over an open flame. The menu carries Galician beef in several cuts — entraña, entrecôte, rib eye — alongside Balearic lamb chops, bellota Iberian pork with goat cheese and caramelised onions, free-range chicken breast and duck magret with a house teriyaki. You choose the side yourself: homemade chips with garlic and Padrón peppers, grilled vegetables or a seasonal salad. A row of homemade sauces goes with them, from chimichurri through mango chutney to chilli jam. A green menu that stands on its own What is unusual for this corner of the island is how self-contained the plant-based part is. Under Gourmet Garden the house lists proper main courses: a homemade burger of legumes with avocado and pickled cabbage, a lasagne of aubergine, carrot and spinach, grilled aubergine with curry yoghurt, pomegranate and pistachios, plus aubergine and sweet potato off the charcoal grill with tahini, dates and walnuts. The salad section is called From the Orchard, and the Bowl-tanic — spinach, watercress, bulgur, beetroot hummus, cracked walnuts — carries the name of the house. Classic Mediterranean plates are there all the same: burrata with pistachios and pesto, baked camembert, a cheese board with Manchego and cured Mahón, fried halloumi with honey and chilli flakes, scallops off the charcoal. Bar, sweets and practical matters Drinking is not an afterthought here: the drinks are mixed by hand, from the house's own signature cocktails to the classics, and the fresh juices come from the same garden as the vegetables. There is a small separate menu for children, whose dishes are prepared without salt or seasoning. You can reserve through the restaurant's own booking system — in a town that fills up noticeably in summer, not a bad idea. And the sweet end is worth staying for: a homemade mousse of cocoa, avocado and fresh strawberries, an ice lolly of vanilla cream in a chocolate coat, lemon sorbet, or vanilla ice cream with flake salt, olive oil and caramelised almonds.