I must have looked an absolute shambles as I bumbled towards the entrance of the restaurant.
One of the waiters took one look at me, and without me asking anything he handed me a cana of refreshingly cold Estella with a friendly smile. I think it was accompanied with a ‘you’ve earned this’, but my Spanish was not good enough to decipher it – the sentiment was clear though.
I had just reached Es Verger, a legendary restaurant situated in the hills that range above Alaro in central Mallorca. I had just finished a fairly epic hike that had taken me from Alaro village, through the quaint town of Orient, before ascending the mountain to reach the Castell d’Alaro that sits about 800m above sea level and gives you commanding views of the Mallorcan hinterland.
After about four hours I was very much ready for some food to refill the calories that I had expended on the hike. I had been promised that the experience of visiting Es Verger would be worth it, it is famous for serving weary travellers (and those lazy people who drive up to it, yes I judge them…) for decades.
I took a seat on my own table (I was very conscious that I probably didn’t smell wonderful although I had changed my T-shirt and sprayed some deodorant on myself liberally to offset the worst…) and ordered the house speciality, barbecued shoulder of lamb, along with a glass of local red. I then sat back and was able to appreciate the view from the table that I had down over Alaro in the distance.
The food arrived pretty promptly (they must be continually cooking these all day given the cook time on them) and I was immediately in heaven. The lamb itself was divine – it came as a shoulder, but the bone came out cleanly with the merest of coaxing. You could pull the meat apart so easily, yet it wasn’t mushy at all. It held its structure, and was flavoured wonderfully. The combination of herbs that had been liberally applied to the meat, alongside the flavours of the wood-fired smoke was just perfect.
The lamb came with some potatoes that had been cooked confit style in the fat from the lamb (*drool*), some roasted vegetables, and salad. In addition you got a little basket of bread, that was slightly on the stale side, along with some rather strong aioli. I discovered that mopping the bread into the lamb juice, then giving it a good smattering of aioli, before piling on some of the beautiful lamb made for an absolutely phenomenal mouthful.
The addition of a generous glass of the local red (nothing in itself that you’d write home about), with the views in the distance, plus the gentle breeze that was blowing in to take the edge of the early afternoon Mallorcan heat was *chefs’ kiss*.
I’ve been lucky to have eaten lamb in a lot of beautiful places around the world, and in some of the finest restaurants, but I must say that this experience was absolutely right up there. If you find yourself in Mallorca then definitely seek this out, preferably having hiked over the mountain beforehand so that you are in a state of maximum gratitude for your food – it just all heightens the experience.
timmilford.com 