El Peñón 1957

The date in the name is when it opened: since 1957 this family business has stood on a rocky promontory in Ciudad Jardín, and what you see from its terraces – the whole bay with Palma and the Cathedral in the distance – is why it’s still full. There’s an upper terrace and a side one right on the edge of the sea. The food is classic beach-bar cooking with the odd modern touch: mainly paellas and rice dishes (seafood, marinera, black rice with octopus), fried baby squid, croquetas, garlic prawns, queen scallops and mussels in vermouth, with homemade desserts such as torrija. In the late afternoon plenty of people come just for a sunset cocktail. The seafood rice is the most ordered and the most convincing, although it isn’t always equally good. Service has good days and rushed days, and some details show up on the bill: bread, olives and aioli are charged separately. It isn’t the place for the island’s best paella, but for eating one with one of the best views in Palma.

Reviewed in November 2026