A Trip to s´Illot (Llevant)

Wikipedia says there was life in s´Illot around 1100 BC. Supposedly there were around 200 inhabitants. Not much has happened since then; today there are 249.

S´Illot lies on Mallorca’s east coast, just past Port de Alcudia. It’s one of the farthest-flung corners of Mallorca you can set off to from Palma. The advantage, in turn, is that it doesn’t actually take that long via the motorway—at any rate it feels shorter than, for example, a visit to Manacor, which is in fact closer.

I had asked the best wife of all to find excursion destinations. So far she had thankfully rarely managed it; this time, though, she found s´Illot. From Pollença it’s also “only” half an hour. From the point of view of native Mallorcans, that’s about a day’s journey. I was allowed to follow on and had two hours of peace and quiet. So I set off slightly late, and at first it was the usual route towards Alcudia. The stretch of coast between Port de Pollenca and Alcúdia, by the way, isn’t spectacular only for kite surfers—the panorama is pretty sensational!

From then on it became village-like and romantic; the small road winding through the town center along the sea felt like a little dreamy coastal town in the south of France. Me gusta!

That’s exactly what I love about Mallorca. You drive half an hour and you’re in another world! And you can repeat that quite often, which leads certain lazy husbands to find it pretty unnecessary to leave the island—except to buy cars. Friends of mine, that is …

Of course there were no parking spaces, but thanks to an off-road-capable car the problem was solved more or less legally. In the firm belief that a tow truck wouldn’t be able to get through here, I reached the little restaurant where we had arranged to meet.

By the way, you don’t have to go into the restaurant here—as is usually the case on Mallorca—you can simply have a picnic. Several tables and benches under shade-giving trees invite you to do just that!

The view is sensational. Unfortunately my photo only captures it imperfectly. You’re looking at the entire Tramuntana range; roughly in the middle lies Port de Pollenca, and the bay then closes again to the south.

If you want to swim, you head down the small slope (not literally …) into the pebbly cove with wonderfully clear water. And if you want to clamber over the rocks that look as if the child of a family of giants forgot to tidy up after playing, you can really let off steam too.

All in all—a great place for children. Under the trees, on the beach, in the restaurant. Everywhere—like most places on the island—children are welcome visitors. A huge difference compared to Germany!

Our waitress is delighted at how well the little rascals speak Spanish, and I’m off the clock for the time being. In general, the service is really nice. Please don’t expect any gastronomic high points otherwise; this is an excursion restaurant. And I think the owner has 7 more in similarly great locations. And they all fill up in a relaxed way even without any special highlights in the kitchen…

There are 6 of us. And we order our way up and down the menu, so I get to try a lot.

Gambas al ajillo are quite good. Above all, peeled incredibly neatly! The oil is obviously fresh and the cooking point nearly perfect. The garlic could have done with a bit more roasted aroma. But totally fine! However, you can only justify 16 euros for it with the view!

The Pimentos de Patron are also great—which they really aren’t always. Fish and chips for the children was okay; the fries are a bit soggy and the inherent flavor is virtually non-existent.

Boldly, I had ordered “Lechona”—that’s what suckling pig is called here. From “leche,” milk. I was positively surprised by this daily special! It may sound silly, but the potato was a poem. Truly! It tasted really good. It had the texture of a young potato. If only the fries had been cut from the same tuber!

The suckling pig was layered, a bit like a lasagna. Good flavor, nicely tender, slight intrinsic taste, impeccable. The fried vegetables could have been prepared with a bit more craft, but were okay. For 17 euros, that was absolutely good!

What I wouldn’t really recommend are the chicken wings—others do that better … The chipirones, as the little fried baby squid are called in Spanish, were actually quite good. But unfortunately watery inside. I suspect they came from frozen, were thawed, and not drained sufficiently.

Desserts—I’m sure you guessed—were several that I immediately sampled. Homemade were tiramisu and crema catalana. Really good was the tarta d´almendra with the wonderfully creamy hazelnut ice cream. Did you actually know that this Mallorcan almond cake is in fact made only of ground almonds? There’s no flour in it. And by the way, no butter either. So, incidentally, for people who can’t tolerate gluten, it’s also a delicacy without remorse.

The coulant was as expected; half the island seems to use the same supplier here. It always tastes the same and looks the same. A bit like the McDonald’s of desserts. But perfectly okay, and you know what to expect …

So: If you want to while away an afternoon in s´Illot with a fantastic view and a truly totally different atmosphere than in the south and southwest, you’ll manage that here. If there were also a playground, it would be amazing—maybe just as a suggestion.

To wear out the little exercise fanatics, you can also go on shorter hikes in the immediate surroundings. Just as an aside, and purely in theory…

The best wife of all had read somewhere that this is where you get the best sunsets on the island. So that I can honestly—or more correctly—credulously continue to claim they’re in Portixol, we simply set off earlier!