Duke Restaurant

What Duke Restaurant in Palma puts on the menu

Mediterranean is the label often pinned on this house — the menu does not stick to it. It travels: Peruvian chifles, crisp chips made from green banana, sit next to Greek flatbread with muhammara of roasted pepper and feta. There are Lebanese lamb kebabs with baba ganoush and tahini honey, Korean firecracker chicken in a gan-jang marinade with a sesame and cucumber salad, Korean prawn croquettes with kimchi, and tacos of pulled beef with smoked chipotle. Even the patatas bravas have been rebuilt: sweet and spicy, thought through in Moroccan terms, with parsnip purée and dukkah.

Ceviche as the house measure

The ceviches are what regulars come back for. The classic carries the house name and the founding year in its title: Mallorcan gilt-head bream with avocado, coriander, red onion, tomato and a gazpacho of green peas. Alongside it stands a Nikkei version in the Peruvian-Japanese line with sea bass, edamame, daikon, miso and yuzu, plus a Diablo Blanco in the Mexican manner with smoked chipotle, red onion and caramelised prawns in the leche de tigre. Anyone who cannot decide gets all three in miniature.

Main courses, meat-free options and the bar

The range stays wide among the main courses: an Indian tikka masala with island vegetables, lentils, yoghurt and papadum; a Japanese wok teriyaki with roasted aubergine, miso and honey on jasmine rice; a green Thai coconut curry with ginger and lime leaves. Next to that the more down-to-earth side — a burger with a house-baked brioche bun, tomato relish and rosemary allioli, a grilled rump steak with hand-cut chips and sautéed mushrooms, and the fish fillet of the day on black Venus rice with smoked corn and green asparagus.

Anyone eating without meat has an easier time here than at many tables in the neighbourhood: the curries and the wok dish are built around vegetables and topped with chicken, salmon or prawns on request, not the other way round. Guacamole, avocado nuggets and the patatas bravas manage without meat anyway. The menu carries a full allergen key, from gluten through crustaceans to celery.

The bar is part of the concept. Sit close enough and you watch the drinks being made, and the green banana chips that count as a house classic come with them. For occasions away from the restaurant, Duke also runs its own catering arm.

Santa Catalina — and why you should book

Duke is family-run and long since a fixture in the neighbourhood: it belongs to the places that turned Santa Catalina into the going-out quarter it is considered today. It has stayed small all the same. Put those two together and it means: without a table it gets tight. Bookings go through the house's own reservation system, and anyone turning up on spec should bring some patience.