Kingfisher Restaurant

Kingfisher sits on the harbour at Port de Sóller in the north-west of Mallorca, raised a little above street level, its terrace turned towards the harbour basin. If you come by car, you drive past the tram tracks down at the port and park in front of the yachts; from there it is a few steps up. That slight elevation is why things stay quieter here than further down along the promenade. The house calls its own menu a mixed bag of Mallorcan styles with a taste of the rest of the world. That is exactly how it reads: fish and seafood carry the greater part of it, but the preparations fetch their ideas from a long way off. A ceviche of raw red tuna with Asian seasoning sits beside zamburiñas on the half shell with wakame, ponzu and katsuobushi — and a few lines further on come English fish and chips with mushy peas. The menu is kept short. That is not a gap but a decision: the grilled fish of the day is not fixed, it follows whatever the buying brings in. The menu at Kingfisher: fish first, then the wider world Among the starters you find fried calamari rings in panko with a homemade tartare sauce, a beef carpaccio with radishes, parmesan chips, rocket and lemon jelly, grilled jumbo tiger prawns with citrus mayonnaise, and a burrata with pickled pear, confit cherry tomatoes, smoked sardines and a basil emulsion. The ensaladilla of octopus and prawns comes with potato, carrot, a smoked paprika mayonnaise and a black olive grissini. If all you want is something with an aperitif, there are olives, red alioli and warm bread. Among the main courses the same span between harbour and far away continues. The Mediterranean fish soup brings shrimp, fish, calamari, mussels and octopus in a tomato sauce with crostini. The black seafood spaghetti works with squid ink pasta, saffron cream and coriander. The grilled sea bass arrives with cauliflower and beetroot, slow-cooked leek and a seaweed chimichurri. And the Kingfisher Burger inverts the whole idea: instead of meat, a sea bass fillet breaded in panko sits in the bun, with Iberian pancetta, sweet potato fries and a blue cheese sauce. There is meat as well, and it is there of all places that the menu turns most Mallorcan: the slow-braised Iberian pork ribs are given a barbecue sauce made from Sóller oranges, along with confit apple, celeriac purée and coleslaw. The valley's oranges are not decoration on this menu, then, but an ingredient in a sauce. A terrace above the harbour basin From the table your eye travels across the harbour basin towards the Santa Catalina side and out over the yachts. Behind that stands the Tramuntana with the Sóller valley. It is the kind of view people come to Port de Sóller for in the first place — only without the crush down at the water. Booking is worth it. The house takes tables through its own reservation system, and because the room stays modest in size, a spontaneous table in the evening cannot be taken for granted. Desserts, gin and a word about the bill The desserts are short and headstrong. The passion fruit crème brûlée is described by the house itself as homemade and simple. The Brownana puts together brownie, caramelised banana and a forest fruit cream. And the Basque cheesecake comes either with pistachios or with a wild mushroom jam made from camagrocs. Alongside them are changing daily desserts and a selection of local ice creams. The drinks pages run longer than the food. There is a gin and tonic list of its own, carrying a mandarin gin from Sóller beside the familiar brands, plus a cocktail list, homemade organic lemonades in classic, mint and green apple, homemade sangria and a full wine and coffee list. One detail you rarely find printed this plainly stands at the foot of the menu: that the bill carries no service charge, and that the tip is left to the guest. Who welcomes you at Kingfisher On their own pages Gerda and Maurice greet guests and write that it was love at first sight for them when they saw Port de Sóller. The team describes itself as hospitality people who brought their experience with them to this spot.