Traditional Mallorcan food: what to try

Mallorcan cooking comes from the countryside and the sea. Don't leave without trying:

• Tumbet: layers of fried potato, aubergine and pepper with tomato sauce.
• Frit mallorquí: a sauté of lamb or pork with potato, peppers and fennel.
• Arròs brut: a soupy rice with meat, mushrooms and spices.
• Sopes mallorquines: thin bread with seasonal vegetables in broth.
• Porcella: roast suckling pig, for special occasions.
• Coca de trempó, cocarrois and, at Easter, panades and robiols.
• For dessert, gató d'ametlla (almond cake) with almond ice cream, and to finish, a glass of hierbas.

For the real thing, look for a celler (old wine cellars turned restaurants, like those in Inca or Sineu) or the dishes of the day in village bars.

Many of these dishes aren't on the menu all year. Frit and arròs brut are winter, pig-slaughter cooking, sopes appear mostly in the cold months, and tumbet is a summer dish, when there's aubergine and pepper. Porcella is often made to order. The most reliable bet is the weekday lunch menu at a village bar or a celler, which changes with what's in season.

For something lighter, order a pa amb oli: brown bread rubbed with ramellet tomato, olive oil and some cured meat, cheese or capers. A good local breakfast is an ensaimada with coffee or a llonguet with sobrasada. At weekly markets, such as Sineu's on Wednesdays, there are stalls of cocarrois and pies. And if you're offered snails, that's spring: a caracolada is a festive dish in many villages.

Frequently asked questions

What is pa amb oli?

Brown country bread rubbed with ramellet tomatoes (the small ones hung in strings), with olive oil and salt. It comes with cured meats, cheese, olives or capers. It's Mallorca's most typical light supper or afternoon snack.

Where can I eat authentic Mallorcan food?

In cellers, old wine cellars turned into restaurants, such as those in Inca or Sineu, and in village bars with a weekday lunch menu. Ask about the dish of the day: frit, sopes or arròs brut often turn up that way.

Updated in October 2026