La Casa De Las Flores

La Casa de las Flores sits on Avinguda de Bèlgica in the middle of Cala d'Or, and the name misleads you reliably. Read "house of flowers" and you think of many things — a kitchen that starts in Mexico and then travels on to Peru, Chile and Asia is rarely one of them. That, though, is exactly what is on the menu here. The house draws the line itself, and draws it clearly: it emphatically does not want to be a traditional Mexican restaurant, let alone Tex-Mex. The starting point is Mexican, the rest is its own interpretation, and what comes of it the kitchen simply calls creative fusion. Everything is built for sharing. The plates are designed so that several of them land in the middle of the table and everyone takes from them. There is no fixed order — starter and main course lose their meaning at this table. You order a few things, taste, and order again. What comes out of the kitchen at La Casa de las Flores The small plates show the range best. Churrascas are handmade flatbread cooked over fire, with mellow alioli and olives. Corn ribs arrive golden with cowboy butter, ají mayo and grated parmesan. In the Katsu Padrón, flash-fried padrón peppers meet white miso lemon mayonnaise and katsuobushi — a Japanese ingredient on a Spanish classic, and a rather good picture of the whole concept. It continues with langoustine croquettes served with raw tuna, with Patatas Ruda made from potatoes smashed and crisped in the pan, and with grilled little gem lettuce that gets a house plum sauce, fresh cheese and a garlic crunch. The seafood side is strong: a tiradito in passion fruit leche de tigre with avocado and jalapeños; a scallop with mango agua chile; zarandeado prawns, marinated in citrus and spices and grilled under an umami glaze — those you eat with your hands. Alongside them, mestizo nachos with cochinita pibil, a quesadilla with pibil pork stewed for six hours, guacamole with pibil prawns and crisp plantain, and a tostada with tuna in black agua chile. Things get larger among the main dishes: pibil ribs for the whole table, a hand-sliced rib-eye with chimichurri miso cowboy butter, and sea bass roasted in a banana leaf and served with white rice and teriyaki pico de gallo. The desserts are made in house as well — among them a black sesame ice cream you will not easily find again on Mallorca. Tacos on nixtamal corn The tacos are built on nixtamal corn tortillas with onion and coriander, and the kitchen says itself that they are not traditional but its own. They come with achiote-stewed chicken, a cheese crust, sour cream, tomatillo salsa and pineapple; with crisp battered fish, slaw and chipotle cream; with breaded prawns and pineapple pico de gallo; and with slow-cooked pork belly, char siu barbecue and house-pickled cucumbers. Vegetarians get a meat-free birria taco, with melted cheese in a wheat tortilla and hot consommé for dipping. For children there are simple, freshly made plates. The kitchen states plainly that it does not work gluten-free and cannot rule out cross-contact — so with serious allergies it is better to ask before you order. Who runs the house Two owners stand behind La Casa de las Flores. Náyade Reyes is the chef and is responsible for the kitchen and its culinary direction. Jeny Stuardo runs the service and everything that happens at the table. The two direct the house together and describe it themselves as a small family restaurant — something you can feel in the handwriting of the menu. Cala d'Or, the terrace and the surroundings You eat indoors in the dining room or outside on the terrace. Cala d'Or is a holiday town with a great many addresses that resemble one another closely; a house that commits this clearly to a handwriting of its own stands out in that setting. If you are looking for something after a day at the coves that does not taste like a standard menu, this is the right place.