Restaurant El Baul de Portopetro

El Baúl sits in Portopetro on Carrer d'es Far, right at the harbour. The village on Mallorca's south-east coast belongs to the municipality of Santanyí, its natural harbour reaches long and narrow into the land, and the restaurant sits on its edge — close enough to the water for the boats to be part of the picture. The house is small, and that goes for the dining room as much as for the terrace. From outside, the view runs across the harbour basin, which is exactly why so many guests try for a seat in the open air. If you want to be sure of a table outside, book ahead; guests who have tried their luck report sometimes getting one and sometimes ending up indoors. The menu is deliberately short. Guests describe it as traditional Spanish cooking with an Asian streak, and that is the size of it: the house sorts its offer into four areas — meat, woks, fish and salads — and so covers two directions that rarely stand side by side at a Mallorcan harbour. What comes out of the kitchen at El Baúl Porto Petro The meat side rests on the grill: chuletón and steaks are at the centre, joined by burgers — one of them with pulled pork — and ribs. On the fish side guests name salmon and sea bass above all, and calamares and chipirones are on the menu as well. What stands out is how often the feedback praises not just the meat itself but the sauce that comes with it. That fits a house which keeps its card short: few dishes, but ones that are worked on. The house espadas Espadas — swords — is the name of the speciality the restaurant itself puts forward: the espadas de pulpo, a dish its chef worked out himself. It does not stop at the octopus version. Guests order the espadas with chicken just as readily, and a meat version turns up in their accounts too. If you cannot decide, the easiest guide is the neighbouring tables. The espadas are what catches the eye there first and gets ordered afterwards — in a place this small, a more reliable pointer than any recommendation from outside. Woks, salads and homemade desserts The wok section is no sideline. The salmon, for one, comes out of the wok, covered in sesame and served with teriyaki vegetables — the combination that shows the house's Asian streak most clearly. Vegetarian dishes are explicitly part of the offer. With the salads it is worth looking at the detail: one of them is dressed with an aquafaba-based dressing, and the black beans that go with it arrive separately, so you decide yourself whether they end up on the plate. The desserts are made in-house; brownie and blondie come up most often, along with tiramisú. The spot on Portopetro's harbour Portopetro has stayed a small harbour village, and guests describe the spot in front of El Baúl accordingly: quiet, close to the water, with the harbour basin as the backdrop. A few kilometres north lies Cala d'Or, which is larger and busier; to the south-west the Parc Natural de Mondragó begins. That makes El Baúl an address for an evening that is not meant to get loud. Families are well looked after here — even with children at the table, guests report a relaxed evening.