Es Fum, Mallorca

Reviewed by Justine Murphy, CEO of mymuybueno – March 2017

The Restaurant Es Fum was awarded a Michelin star in November 2011. The recently appointed head chef Jose Miguel Navarro has experience in Three Michelin star restaurants in Spain, including Restaurante Martín Berasategui in San Sebastián and El Celler de Can Roca in Girona.

The absolutely beautiful grounds of the St Regis Mardaval hotel in Mallorca are the location for Es Fum and the dining room features elegant design and artworks of Nils Burwitz. Chef Jose Miguel was on dinner service upon my visit.

The Amuse Bouche was a black garlic rock served with a parmesan cream and grated Parmesan, and it was delicious. If also featured a selection of grissini, sobrassada (a raw cured sausage from here in Mallorca, made with pork and paprika) and curry. The crunchy amaranth with smoked eel and caviar was light and tasty.

A beautiful selection of freshly baked breads, including a truffle and a tomato bread, was then brought to the table with a selection of flavoured butters – beetroot, spinach, tomato, mushroom and natural unsalted – along with salt from Es Trenc. This all brought a very colourful look to the table and my favourite butter was most definitely the tomato.

Next came another Amuse Bouche, Royal Foam Foie Gras. This featured coffee jelly, lemon jelly and hazelnut powder and underneath the jellies lay a smooth mousse of foie gras, which worked well with the crunchy hazelnut texture and the the sharp but sweet caramelised lemon. Surprisingly, this dish was not too sickly.

Cantabrian Lobster, Pickled Vegetables, Ajo Blanco. A sweet succulent claw of lobster was accompanied by pickled radish and an almond and coconut sauce. This was light and fresh – the almond worked especially well with the lobster and the coconut was very subtle. The pickled vegetable provided some needed acidity, which also brought out the flavour of the lobster.

Sautéed Scallop, Truffled Cauliflower, Iberian Bellota Ham. This was an exceedingly good dish. Scallop from Galicia, cauliflower and truffle foam, parsnip purée, sautéed and fried artichoke with cauliflower and jamón Ibérico crumbs. These are combinations that always work well and here each ingredient was respectfully handled, ensuring that they continued to do so.

Truffled Egg Yolk, Bacon, Green Bean Juice. This was egg yolk slow cooked with a parmesan and truffle Cream, topped with Jerusalem artichokes and flecks of crispy sobrassada. This was the weakest dish for me.

Fillet of Sea Bass, Beurre Noisette, Yuzu, Capers. This dish featured local sea bass with a beurre noisette, tapenade of capers, yuzu, scallop tartare and capers. This was a very well cooked piece of fish. Again it was clean and balanced and the yuzu has a nice vein of citrus running through it.

Roasted Pigeon, Iberian Ham Duxelle Gravy with Balsamic, Pluck Pâté. This was a perfectly cooked pigeon with a sharp sauce, which worked well to cut through the richness of the dish. The gnocchi polenta was smooth, and a green mushroom duxelle with spinach was perfect. The pâté added a game-like chord to my palate.

Thai Pineapple. This was a palate cleanser, which did its job after the strong, full flavours of the previous dish. The pineapple was marinated in rum and served with a spicy coconut sauce, mint ice cream, rum sorbet and a cookie crumble. It was good.

Chocolate, Pistachios and Walnuts. This featured three textures of chocolate, a dark chocolate paper, ganache, and a white chocolate ice cream, as well as a pistachio sponge, macadamia crumble and popping candy. This was a lovely finish and the chocolate paper was really special.

The Petit Fours consisted of a coffee bonbon, apple jelly, almond bonbon and passion fruit jelly.

Wine:

  • Champagne Krug Gran Cuvee
  • Collita, Muscat, Miquel Oliver, Mallorca 2016
  • Vins Miquel Gelabert, Golos, Mallorca, 2014
  • Vins Toni Gelabert, Torre des Canonge, Mallorca, 2015
  • Atlan & Artisan 8 Vents Mallorca, 2014
  • Vino Dulce de Frio, Riesling, 2011
  • Sauternes, Reserve Mouton Cadet, 2013

Favourite dish:  Foie Gras Ravioli, Duck Consommé, Spring Vegetables.

Napkin Fold: Yes

Menu to take home: Yes

Meal for two, including with drinks and service: £400.

Final Thought: This was a delightful experience from start to finish. Every ingredient used was beautiful and handled with care. The service was excellent, however product knowledge could be improved upon. Many of the dishes used ingredients which should have been rich, such as the foie, but they were brilliantly balanced and didn’t overwhelm the plate, ensuring I walked away with a clean and fresh finish. Wonderful, I would return again.

Es Fum
Address: Carretera Palma-Andratx 19, Costa d’en Blanes, 07181, Palma De Mallorca

Telephone: +34 971 629 629
Hours: Thursday to Monday 7.30pm – 10.30pm
Websitewww.restaurant-esfum.com

mymuybueno Team
mymuybueno Team
http://mymuybueno.com