Es Racó

Es Racó sits in the middle of Manacor, on the Passeig d'Antoni Maura and a few steps from the Plaça de sa Bassa. The name promises no particular kitchen, only a place: in Mallorquín, "es racó" simply means "the corner". What the house actually cooks is on its own menu — a bar with tapas, homemade and without ceremony. The way it describes itself is unusually concrete for a place this size: a tapas restaurant in the centre of Manacor, home cooking, and everything made on the premises, from the tapas through the salads to the meat dishes. Behind it, by its own account, is a young team. For the terrace on the paseo the house even sets out a small manifesto: the table is there for stopping, not for hurrying on. That suits Manacor: the town in the east of the island lives off furniture making, artificial pearls and its own working week, and the Passeig d'Antoni Maura is one of the axes of that everyday life. What comes to the table at Es Racó The menu stays manageable and still reaches further than the words tapas bar suggest. Among the tapas, patatas bravas stand beside pimientos de Padrón, asparagus with Parmesan, croquettes — including mushroom croquettes with truffle mayonnaise —, breaded camembert with jam, chicken wings in teriyaki or hot, calamares a la andaluza and gambas, with garlic or with lemon. Then there is octopus on pumpkin purée and three carpaccios: beef with olive paste and truffle oil, cod, and one of courgette with tahini, smoked cheese and peanuts. Confit artichoke hearts with an Ibérico ham crisp and Parmesan are sold by the piece, salmon tartare has its own line. The rest is clearly sorted: a cheese board and an Ibérico ham board as tablas, pa amb oli and the round of bread, olives and alioli, then meat — lagarto from bellota-fed Ibérico pork, entrecôte, duck breast with a Pedro Ximénez reduction. The salads are not a side but a section of their own: smoked salmon with apple and walnut; goat cheese from the plancha; warm cod with mushrooms; prawns with pineapple and avocado; crisp chicken with Ibérico belly bacon and dates; burrata with rocket pesto and hazelnuts. To finish, homemade cakes and sorbets. The kitchen takes no break between the midday and evening tables, and the house points out itself that dishes can change with the season and the day's produce. Huevos rotos, the dish of the house If one dish stands out at Es Racó, it is the huevos rotos. They have a section of their own on the menu with five versions, and the house puts the question to its guests directly — which one is your favourite: with truffle mayonnaise and an Ibérico ham crisp, with mushrooms and foie, with prawns, Ibérico belly bacon and hot sauce, with Ibérico ham and Padrón peppers, or with mushrooms and prawns. The principle behind it is unspectacular and reliable for exactly that reason: fried potatoes, eggs broken over them as they are plated so the yolk binds everything together. If you are here for the first time, order one version to share. Terrace, service and booking The inside is small; a good share of the seating is out on the terrace along the paseo. "Chairs that invite you to stay" is how the house puts it, and the tone of the service matches. Portions are generous — worth bearing in mind if you order several tapas. Booking is done by telephone. There is no online reservation system; on the house's own site every booking button leads straight to the phone. For larger groups the call is worth making. If you have an intolerance, raise it when you order: the menu carries the allergen markings and refers you expressly to the staff. Eating vegetarian works well here without being made into a separate menu — Padrón peppers, asparagus with Parmesan, breaded camembert, the courgette carpaccio and pa amb oli are all on the card anyway. Manacor around it The Passeig d'Antoni Maura runs straight into the Plaça de sa Bassa, the square where everything in Manacor has traditionally converged. From Palma it is a little under fifty kilometres east on the Ma-15, which crosses the island towards Artà; a railway line also runs to Manacor. Anyone exploring the east has short distances from here: the Coves del Drach at Porto Cristo and the coves between Cala Anguila and Cala Romàntica.