Restaurant Vista Mar

Back when Sant Elm was still a fishing village with a handful of summer houses, Vista Mar was already serving meals on Avinguda de Jaume I: the house says it’s more than 50 years old and was the village’s first restaurant. It’s still on the front line, with its terrace over the water, and the menu is that of a coastal rice-and-fish restaurant with no pretensions to chef’s cooking. What makes sense here is rice, served for a minimum of two: paella ciega, with the fish and shellfish already peeled so you can eat without getting your hands dirty, black rice with fried salt cod, or fideuà. For fish, sea bream a la mallorquina, baked with potatoes and vegetables, or sea bream baked in salt, and for a celebration, lobster or spiny lobster caldereta, ordered in advance. The salad is named after Es Pantaleu, the islet in front of the village. The wine list puts Albariños alongside whites from Mallorca’s Pla i Llevant. In the afternoon it doubles as an ice-cream spot, with its own ice-cream menu. It’s classic Mallorcan harbour food for everyone, with the menu in four languages.

Reviewed in November 2026