801 Restaurant and Cafeteria

801 restaurant located in the centre of Palma serves gourmet Mediterranean cuisine in a modern atmosphere. The restaurant was previously the site of a bank, 801 being the number of the red safe deposit box that still remains in the dining room today. The restaurant is spread over two floors, the ground floor level is a social area, that is open throughout the day serving coffee in the mornings to tapas and drinks at lunch time; a popular venue for local professionals.

The main dining room is situated below ground and is decorated with clean, contemporary furniture. The cuisine specialises in fresh fish sourced locally at the Olivar market that is so close that if they run out then it´s simply a case of going over the road to buy some more. We dined on the suggestions of the owner Jose Guardiola whose passion for food, wine and especially cigars shone through in our evening with him.

We started with a couple of the chef’s specialties, red tuna marinated in soy sauce and cream of potato with truffle oil and bacon bits (which was a real gem!). We then shared a starter of fried fois gras with nut and dried apricot puree that came with a small glass of sweet wine to bring out the full flavour of the dish.

For mains we had a melt in your mouth soft red tuna on a bed of vegetables and a rare dish of Iberico pork on a layer of potatoes. The Iberico pork in particular that actually resembles a rich beef steak was exquisite. For dessert we had the toblerone and the gin and tonic dish, the toblerone providing the rich chocolate dessert and the gin and tonic the zesty lemon finish of a sorbet. The presentation of all the dishes was expert as were the staff who served them who proved to be multilingual, professional but most of all friendly!

Whilst we finished off the remainder of our Mallorcan Merlot we reflected on an evening of fine dining in this trendy restaurant and what shocked us most is the great value it reflected! We strongly recommend dropping in should you be looking for dinner in the city.