Barretes Restaurant

Pep Lluís Mayol, known as «Barretes», was born in Sóller, grew up shadowing his mother in the family kitchen and was working in restaurants by 16. He opened his own place in town in 2019 and now runs it at Ca's Xorc, a four-star rural hotel on the hillside above the Deià road: you drive up a narrow lane through the olive groves and, at the top, the terrace looks across the Sóller valley to the sea. The house talks about the chef's «mysterious, exotic touch», and the plates make it clear what that means: Mallorcan produce — Sóller red prawns, the estate's own olive oil and lemons — run through ponzu, miso, kimchi or hoisin. The dishes people come back for are few and well defined: Iberian pork rib gyozas with torreznos and foie cream, the creamy roast-chicken croquette, Sóller red prawn carpaccio with burrata and roasted-tomato ice cream, and fresh pasta with lobster. For two, the rice «a la llauna» with Simmental beef chop is what the regulars order. The aperitifs are local (house vermouth, Cabraboc gin, Sullerica beer brewed in Sóller) and the wine list runs from Champagne to Mallorcan bottles. This is an occasion restaurant, with starters around €25 and mains close to €40: it suits a long dinner watching the light go over the Tramuntana rather than a quick lunch. The hotel serves breakfast in the mornings, and in April the kitchen usually puts on a menu built around oranges.

Reviewed in November 2026