Donna Vegana

The kitchen at Donna Vegana

The day starts with breakfast that people drive in for from half the west of the island: porridge with mango, banana and blueberries, oat and banana pancakes with cacao cream, toast with caramelised banana and house-made peanut butter, plus smoothie bowls on an acai, mango, strawberry or blueberry base with their own granola. The savoury counterweight is a scramble of marinated silken tofu with avocado, rocket and pickled vegetables.

Later the menu shifts towards Asia and the Middle East. Sushi comes in three versions — one with blue spirulina in the rice, one with mango and vegan feta, one as a tempura roll with marinated tofu. Alongside it are summer rolls in rice paper, crisp tacos made of seaweed with sushi rice and mango, tempura of broccoli and cauliflower, pad thai, a panang curry and a Tokyo-style ramen. From the Middle East the menu carries hummus and baba ganoush with tahini, tabbouleh with quinoa and pomegranate, and a salad plate with falafel. In between sit a jackfruit and pea burger, fajitas with red mojo, a Korean rice cake with avocado cream, and a bolognese that is simply the house classic. At the end come cakes on a cookie base, among them chocolate, blueberry, and mango with passion fruit.

There is a reason this breadth holds up, and the house names it itself: new dishes are developed slowly, sometimes over years, first run as a dish of the day, measured against how guests take to them, and only then moved permanently onto the menu.

Who is behind it

The place goes back to a couple who put two very different hospitality biographies together. Donna has Persian roots and grew up in Denmark, Alejandro comes from Tenerife; he came out of fine dining, she out of street food. Both are still legible on the menu: Persian flatbread and pickled vegetables on one side, red Canarian mojo on the other.

By their own account the house has never advertised; the custom came by word of mouth, from Andratx to Alcúdia. The couple became a team, a handful of tables became a terrace that takes up a good part of the square, and the café became a restaurant with a second floor. Donna Vegana has been running since 2019.

The house and its surroundings

People eat both indoors and outdoors, there are two terraces and a dedicated play area for children — the reason children's birthday parties happen here so noticeably often and families are willing to travel. Nova Santa Ponsa itself is a quiet residential quarter on the rise above the Port Adriano marina, separated from the beach resort of Santa Ponsa by a belt of pine forest and the golf courses.

Beyond the restaurant, the house takes on catering and private celebrations, at a location of your choosing if you prefer, and puts out orders to take away. Reservations run through an online booking system — on busy days the better option than standing at the door.