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The Harbour Club –Palma de Mallorca
Club de Mar, Muelles Pelaires s/n, tel: +34 971 40 40 91
Open: Tues-Sun midday-4pm and 8pm-midnight
This metropolitan temple of cool attracted 1,000 people at its launch and some months on it continues to exude an aura of chic bohemia to its elite clientele. In the fist of Palma’s vibrant harbour, it is just a stiletto hop to the nearest yacht. Designed by Tony Fernandez, the Harbour Club is a spacious and contemporary electric blue and white hangout for aspiring lounge lizards, with big white day beds, spectacular views of the sea and refined chill-out music. Various dining zones have been created to suit all palettes; there are traditional candle-lit tables and small discreet areas by the pool for alfresco feasts.
Dining here is an understated and relaxed experience with dishes served up by a Swedish chef who offers a Mediterranean menu with an Asian twist. Signature dishes include tom kha gai (Thai chicken and coconut soup), seafood casserole with crostini and fresh grilled prawns with Vietnamese spring rolls. Must-have desserts include chocolate and raspberry pannacotta and Nordic blueberry pie. The wine list combines local Mallorcan wines such as the excellent Macia Batle with French stalwarts such as Pouilly Fume.
Palm trees and aquamarine loungers flank the terrace and pool while inside, a vast, luminous and feathery bar serves up all manner of cocktails, including mojitos and caipirinhas that’ll make your eyes smart. If you want to be spotted in Palma’s most exotic oasis, look no further than the Harbour Club.
Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €100. Words Anna Nicholas
Restaurante São Gabriel – The Algarve
Estrada Vale do Lobo, Quinta do Lago, 8135 Almancil, tel: +351 289 39 45 21,
www.sao-gabriel.com
São Gabriel is one of those rare restaurants that manages to be unpretentious, relaxed and stylish. It’s been satisfying the well-heeled locals of the “golden triangle” with Michelin-starred food for more than a decade. German-born chef Jens Rittmeyer has spent the past five years gradually evolving the menu and today it features an array of locally produced fresh ingredients that are transformed into light but intensely flavoured dishes.
Traditional Algarvean cuisine is given a modern twist; cataplana – a fish and potato stew – zings with the addition of goose barnacles and sweet potato, while oven-roast saddle of Algarve lamb is tenderly pink and accompanied by aubergine gnocchi and root vegetables. The menu de degustation is a delight – six courses in all for €59 – each offering a scaled-down sample of the chef’s artistry. On our visit the crowning moment was the dessert – a sumptuous chocolate and banana tart served with roasted pineapple sorbet. The menu may be progressive but the décor remains reassuringly familiar, with comfortable, well-spaced tables inside and an elegant shaded outdoor terrace – ideal for a lingering summer dinner.
The friendly staff includes sommelier Vitor Lourenço Filipe d’Avo Escancao, who is eager to share his passion for Portugal’s finest wines, and an array of waiters – each quietly dedicated to making your evening special. You can’t help but emerge agreeing that the São Gabriel has successfully achieved the elusive art of combining old-fashioned dining out with a refreshingly modern menu.
Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €160. Words and pictures Sarah Morris
Tasso – Brussels
86 Avenue du Port, tel: +32(0)2 427 7427 www.tassobxl.be
Open: every day 10am-midnight
The stately Tour & Taxis complex along Brussels’ fair port, a renovated early 19th-century warehouse that hosts numerous exhibitions, conferences and a handful of shops, is impressive in its own right. Named for the Thurn and Taxis family that founded and ran Europe’s postal service for nearly 400 years, the place is home to one of Brussels’ newest restaurants. The name Tasso pays homage to Francesco Tasso, appointed master of the post in 1501. With seating for nearly 300, including an 80-cover outdoor terrace, this restaurant-bar is ideal for groups.
IInside, the cavernous space is furnished with 40,000 wooden pears on the ceiling, lacquered walls and long columns created by Karim Osmani, an Antwerp architect with North African roots. The brown-and-white interior has a very monastic feel, further borne out by the dark uniforms worn by the sometimes overly efficient wait staff.
The menu is a vegetarian’s delight, featuring sushi and salads without flopping into fusion, with plenty for carnivores as well. Start with the house cocktail, a tart blend of Cava wine and kir. Among the starters, we recommend the carpaccio of razor-thin Portobello mushroom slices accented with a splash of truffle oil, olive tapenade and parmesan. Among the mains, the macadamia-nut-crusted cod fillet on a bed of morel mushrooms is sheer comfort food. Cava makes a reappearance on the dessert menu, in a refreshing sorbet served with melon and passionfruit salad. Unusually for Brussels, Tasso also offers a full breakfast menu. Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €120. Words Renée Cordes
Paris-Moskau – Berlin
Alt-Moabit 141, tel: +49 30 394 2081 www.paris-moskau.de
Open: every day from 6pm; Mon-Fri 1-3pm
Paris-Moskau is one of those “special” addresses that people in the know like to frequent and conceal from the novice. And you really have to be in the know to be able to find the small two-storey former coachmen’s pub-turned-culinary oasis, tucked away next to a former railway yard in central Berlin.
Quaint and aloof, this vestige of foregone times in this intriguing no-man’s-land near where the Berlin Wall once stood, is a stone’s throw from the new state-of-the-art government quarter and the sparkling new Central Station. Owner Wolfram Ritschl took it upon himself to pay tribute to the New Europe – somewhere between Paris and Moscow – with the restaurant’s name, and he’s created a carefully crafted menu also at an intersection between hearty brasserie classics and haute cuisine.
Chef Sven Hollwitt confidently combines classical and new cuisines, German (black pudding, beetroot, asparagus) and French produce and savoir faire (large variety of seafood, French lamb, garlic soup). Following a complimentary glass of champagne and amuse bouche (slender slices of marinated beef with pesto), the pike perch on a bed of beetroot and fried black pudding was excellent, as were the oysters served with German pumpernickel bread and the fried sea bass with asparagus. But the big hit was the Limousin lamb with fennel and wild garlic ravioli – simply out of this world. The wine list is an oenologist’s bible (300 wines) and includes 27 by the glass. The chocolate soufflé with marinated berries and crème brûlée is a top finale. Reservations recommended.
Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €120. Words Beril Xener
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