Mallorca Gastronomy Awards 2026: Where to Find the Island's Best Variat, Llonguet and Pa amb Oli

The Mallorca gastronomy awards 2026 name Bar Casa Miss in Sa Pobla for the best variat, Bar Plata in Palma for the best llonguet and Sa Ximbomba in Génova for the best pa amb oli. Bodega Morey, in Palma's old town, takes the award for bar culture.

These are the Premis Gastronòmics Mallorca, now in their fourth edition and organised by the small business federation PIMEM together with the newspaper Ultima Hora and SER Foodie Mallorca, the food programme of Radio Mallorca Cadena SER. The winners were announced at PIMEM's headquarters in Palma on 9 October. The gala itself was due to take place at the Auditòrium de Palma on 19 October, but the organisers postponed it because of Storm Adam, and it now takes place on Monday 26 October.

What we like about this list is that it does not only reward tasting menus. Half the attention goes to the places where Mallorcans actually start the day or stop for lunch: the corner bar, the bakery, the old bodega with six tables. Here is who won, where to find them and how to turn the list into a very good weekend of eating.

The Bar Winners

Bodega Morey (bar culture). This tiny place on Carrer d'en Morei, a few minutes' walk from the cathedral, opened in 1955 as a wine shop and is one of the last of Palma's old bodegas still working as a bar. There are only a handful of tables, the kitchen sits behind the counter and lunchtime fills up with people from the neighbourhood. The menu is short and traditional: tortilla, meatballs, artichokes, Russian salad and a Mallorcan variat, with house vermouth on tap.

Bar Casa Miss, Sa Pobla (best variat). In Sa Pobla, in the north of the island, Casa Miss gives the variat a whole section of its menu. You can choose the components yourself or leave it to the owners, who have been behind the bar for decades. The bar's house vermouth was also recognised at a competition in London in 2025, so order one while you wait.

Bar Plata, Palma (best llonguet). Bar Plata has been at Carrer de l'Argenteria 1 for around seventy years. The llonguets, the soft Mallorcan bread rolls, are filled to order in front of you, hot or cold, with ham cut on the spot among the favourites, and the coffee still comes in a glass. According to Diario de Mallorca, the family that runs it plans to close at the end of 2026, which makes this award a fitting farewell and a good reason to go soon.

Sa Ximbomba Génova (best pa amb oli). On Camí dels Reis in Génova, the village-like neighbourhood on the hill above Palma, Sa Ximbomba is known for its garden terrace under trees and lights, its Neapolitan pizzas and a pa amb oli that has now been officially judged the best on the island. It is an evening place and it fills quickly, so book ahead if you want a table outside.

The bar category is completed by Bacan for speciality coffee and Coquetier Cocktail Club / Arlequín for cocktails.

Variat, Llonguet and Pa amb Oli: What You Are Ordering

If you are new to the island, these three dishes are worth knowing by name. A variat is a plate of several small portions served together, typically things like meatballs, potato salad, frit or a little stew, and it is the classic Mallorcan bar lunch. A llonguet is a small, soft white roll with a split top, Palma's everyday sandwich bread, eaten at breakfast or mid-morning with ham, sobrasada, cheese or something hot from the plancha.

Pa amb oli is the simplest and most Mallorcan of all: dense brown bread rubbed with ramallet tomato, dressed with local olive oil and salt, then topped with cheese, cured ham or other toppings. We wrote about it at length in our guide to pa amb oli and Mallorcan food culture, and about the oil itself in our article on Mallorcan olive oil and its DOP.

The Chefs and Restaurants

In the kitchen and gastronomy category, Zaranda is named best restaurant and its chef Fernando Pérez Arellano best chef. Zaranda occupies part of the Es Princep hotel on Carrer de Bala Roja in Palma's old town, built over the remains of a former tannery that you can partly see through a glass floor, and it holds a Michelin star.

Marga Coll receives the career award. She cooks at Miceli in Selva, in the 19th-century village house where she grew up, with a menu that changes daily according to what she finds at the market. Jordi Cantó is named emerging chef, Rodolfo Antonelli of Voro receives the award for best front-of-house manager, and Ultima Hora lists Ca's Patró March in Deià as the winner for traditional Mallorcan cooking.

Voro, at the Cap Vermell Grand Hotel in Canyamel, is currently the only restaurant in the Balearic Islands with two Michelin stars, so the front-of-house award goes to a dining room that already works at the highest level.

The Local Produce Winners

The third category recognises the people who make and promote Mallorcan food. The D.O. Binissalem wine designation receives the patronage award, Gelateria Ca'n Miquel is recognised for artisan ice cream, and Galletes d'oli Artàsanes, the olive oil biscuits from Artà, win the award for local produce.

The chef Koldo Royo is honoured for promoting Mallorcan gastronomy, Forn Fondo is named best bakery and Pastisseria Ca'n Roca best pastry shop. An honorary award is revealed on the night of the gala.

Two Winners Close to Southwest Mallorca

For readers in Santa Ponsa, Bendinat or Portals, two of this year's names have strong links to the southwest. Marga Coll also runs Arrels by Marga Coll at the Gran Meliá de Mar hotel in Illetas, within the municipality of Calvià, where the same market-driven approach meets a view of the sea.

Jordi Cantó, the emerging chef of the year, leads the kitchen at Sa Clastra, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the Castell Son Claret hotel near Es Capdellà, also in Calvià. Fernando Pérez Arellano's Zaranda was based at the same estate before moving to Palma, which says something about how much good cooking has come out of this quiet corner of the island.

How to Turn the List into a Tasting Route

The easiest plan is a morning in Palma's old town. Start with a llonguet and a coffee at Bar Plata, walk the few streets to Bodega Morey for an early lunch of tapas and vermouth, and finish with a stroll back through the centre. Both are small and busy, so go early and keep your group small.

For an evening, book a table on Sa Ximbomba's terrace in Génova and order the pa amb oli. And for a day out, drive north to Sa Pobla for a variat at Casa Miss, ideally combined with a walk around the town or a visit to the coast at Alcúdia afterwards.

Lists like this change every year, but the bars on it tend to stay. That continuity is part of what makes everyday life on Mallorca so pleasant: the same coffee, the same counter and the same faces, year after year.

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