Menorca Restaurants

The Spanish love their food and Menorcans are no exception to the rule, with a large selection of restaurants spread across the island. Visitors wanting to try authentic Spanish/Menorcan cuisine should shy away from the popular tourist joints and instead try to find venues where the majority of the clientele are locals. If you’re not so adventurous then you’ll find plenty of European restaurants serving some Spanish dishes, but also plenty of English, German and Italian fare.

Local cuisine

The local cuisine is based heavily on meat and seafood, and the most famous dish on the island is a seafood stew made with lobster and known as caldereta de langosta. Paletilla de cordero is the dish to order if you are a fan of lamb, while for chicken lovers, there’s pollo al ajillo, a dish with plenty of garlic. Gambas al ajillo is a similar dish, but with prawns instead of chicken. Tapas are a common feature of the local cuisine and are comprised of popular dishes such as higado (liver and garlic); albondigas (meatballs); calamares a la romana (fried squid rings in batter); and riñones al jerez (kidneys in sherry). Typically, Spanish dishes are cheap or at least reasonably priced, although fresh, locally-caught fish dishes can be on the pricey side.

Where and when to eat

Eating times are invariably late in Menorca and you’ll rarely sit down to lunch before 13:00 or to dinner before 20:00 and in the latter case, you won’t find restaurants busy until after 21:00. At lunch times, you can take advantage of the menu of the day (menú del día), which generally includes three courses for a quite reasonable fixed price.