Max Garden

Max Garden sits in Palma Nova only a few minutes' walk from the beach, on Carrer de París, and it is one of those places you do not simply walk past. Inside, everything is tropical: floral patterns, neon, brightly coloured sofas, patterned table arrangements. The interior was designed by Cristina Egurolla of Lala Home, and it is the reason many guests come through the door the first time. The second reason is the tone of the house. Behind it stand the restaurateur Juan Benito and his wife Sylvia Ennis, who works as a life coach; the place is named after their son Max. Sylvia's experience as a mentor is noticeable in how guests are treated — a warmth that is not a given in the island's holiday resorts. Juan Benito answers guest feedback himself. The cooking is Mediterranean and international, and it starts once you have ordered. That sounds banal, but in a resort town it is not: finding an honest burger and a proper Buddha bowl under one roof is the exception here rather than the rule. The menu at Max Garden The menu runs from breakfast to dessert and is broader than the small room suggests. At breakfast there is a full English, eggs in every preparation, pancakes with fresh fruit and Mallorcan honey, granola bowls and bread with smashed avocado. Among the tapas the house makes a great deal itself: grandmother-style croquettes with Ibérico ham, vegetarian gyoza, fried avocado nuggets in a corn crust that the house counts as its best seller, calamari in a polenta crust, sweet potato chips with thyme. From the grill come sirloin and beef fillet, a burger, salmon, sea bass — and a chicken breast glazed with honey, scattered with sesame and finished in the oven. The lighter side stands alongside it as an equal: the Super Buddha Bowl with quinoa, sweet potato, avocado, kale, broccoli, green asparagus, pomegranate and mango; a Caesar salad with grilled chicken; wok dishes with basmati rice or noodles, sesame vegetables and teriyaki; and four wraps, from the California Club with chicken to a cold one with smoked salmon. Almost the entire menu can be prepared gluten-free, gluten-free bread included, and vegetarian and vegan dishes are not an afterthought but entries in their own right. Bar, beach boxes, neighbourhood Max Garden is as much a bar as a restaurant. What the house is known for beyond its own street are the frozen cocktails: frozen daiquiris, mojitos in several versions and the house's own Max Garden Sunset of mango, passion fruit and orange. If you are staying off the alcohol, there are smoothies, freshly pressed juices, matcha and an unusually long coffee and tea list. Takeaway is expressly part of the plan. The kitchen packs food for the beach and supplies the offices in the neighbourhood with quick lunches — a role a restaurant in a holiday resort rarely takes on, and one that says a good deal about who actually eats here. Who the place is for Children are not merely tolerated here but planned for: there is a small menu of their own, from the mini cheeseburger to grilled fish with rice. Families sit next to couples who have dropped in for a cocktail, and next to people who want breakfast after the beach. The room is small and reservations run through the venue's own booking system — if you want to be sure, book ahead. And if you are looking for an address in Palma Nova that is neither a tourist menu nor a white tablecloth, Max Garden is the obvious answer. The island magazine abcMallorca has given the house a write-up of its own — not the rule in this corner of the island.