There are several places in Palma that I love going back too, and one such place is definitely Dmenu, in the area of Sindicat. It is a lunchtime venue by Adrian Quetglas, a Michelin star chef also known for a restaurant on Paseo Mallorca bearing his own name. Adrian was born in Argentina to Mallorcan parents and has moved through London, Paris, Moscow and Palma throughout his life. The menus at both of those restaurants reflect influences of all those places on Adrian's cooking.
Each meal at Dmenu starts with a brown paper bag full of crusty bread and a jar of deep green mayonnaise, made of various herbs, depending on the season, and flavoured with honey and sriracha. To me, this green mayonnaise is as much of a signature of the place as any of the dishes that come out of Adrian's kitchen.
The shorter version of their weekly changing menu includes a choice between two starters, two mains and two deserts plus water, while the longer menu is made up of two starters, two mains and one desert. They serve Aqua Bluewater Deiax-Aquous water, purified on site, eliminating wastage of single use plastic.
Today I chose to start with creamy saffron rice and mussels with seaweed alioli and lemon air. I guess I was intrigued by the last component of the dish!? I could smell this plate even before the waiter placed it in front of me. The smell of seaweed was slightly overpowering, although it did not distract me from enjoying the perfectly creamy rice, with just the right bite to it. I might have preferred my mussels served in their shells, but they were very tasty nevertheless. The lemon air consisted of three spoonfuls of foam with a hint of lemon. Gimmick or not – I liked it!
For my main dish I went with pork tenderloin with sundry tomato polenta, arugula pesto and truffle juice. Two beautiful, tender chunks of pork were served on a bed of polenta, laid on top of an artfully smudged green pesto. They were garnished with sautéed mushrooms in a thick, molasses-like truffle juice. The pork was nicely done; crisp on the outside and with a hint of pink inside. Now, polenta brings back memories of my childhood. Served with something like a mixture of sour cream and yogurt, it was my staple breakfast on cold winter weekends back home.
Here, in this classy restaurant, combined with sundried tomatoes and some green herbs, polenta made an excellent company to the aforementioned pork. Arugula pesto added freshness to the dish, both in terms of the colour and the taste, while mushrooms and truffle sauce reminded me that we were deep into autumn months, despite the temperature outside still being in the mid 20s.
Talking about autumn, I noticed the seasonal decoration going on at Dmenu. Several of the restaurant's windows were adorned with plaster ornaments depicting life size seasonal vegetables – peppers, mini pumpkins, red cabbage etc. In general, the decoration here is simple yet classy, in tons of brown, cream and gold. The diners came in pairs or solo, no big parties in sight. I liked the background music too, pop ballads from the 60s and 70s.
Back to the food and my favourite part of any menu – the dessert! Today I fought with myself not to go for a chocolaty option and chose a lemon and hazelnut pie instead. Presentation is a huge part of what makes Dmenu my restaurant of choice again and again, so I knew better than to expect a classical mini pie or a slice of a bigger one. What came out was super exciting! This “pie” was made up of four components: light, crunchy meringue fingers, several cubes of Victoria-like sponge, a couple of blobs of lemon cream and a spoonful of hazelnut ice cream.
All together it was very tasty and I was surprised how well lemon went with hazelnut. There were also a few crushed roasted hazelnuts here and there, while the whole plate was sprinkled with their signature red and green dust, giving it a kind of a fairy- tale look. I would love you to try the Dmenu, enjoy their great dishes, and see if you can figure out what this magical dust is made from. Let me know…
PRICES
3 course meal: 25 euros
5 course meal: 32 euros
THE PLACE
Dmenu
Plaça de Sant Antoni, Palma
971 46 04 55
Instagram: @dmenu1
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