Bar Joan Frau

A corner of Mercat de Santa Catalina where the pots are already on the go first thing: you can have fried squid for breakfast, and by mid-morning the counter is full of locals, port and market workers and visitors who've come for a variat. That's the dish to order: a selection of whatever is in the trays on the counter that day (cuttlefish or lamb frit, tripe, meatballs in tomato sauce, croquettes, spicy pica pica, ensaladilla rusa), Mallorcan home cooking made on the spot and topped up while it lasts. The tripe, which wins over even people who don't eat tripe, may be the most celebrated thing here. There are also spoon dishes such as chickpea stew, oven-baked ribs that fall off the bone, salt cod, tumbet, aubergines and black rice, and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, rice dishes. If you're in a hurry, a llonguet roll, above all the squid one; to finish, the cocas – vegetable, or the sweet apricot one – which have a reputation. You eat at the counter or on a few stools with the noise of the market all around, and service is quick. Coffee isn't their strong point.

Reviewed in November 2026