Santanyí is a sandstone market town in Mallorca's quiet south-east, busiest on Wednesday and Saturday mornings and very good for eating the rest of the week. Here are the ten places we'd book, from Michelin-listed farm-to-table cooking beside the church to a no-menu lunch counter and octopus skewers on the harbour at Porto Petro.
Santanyí is a small market town in Mallorca's south-east corner, not a beach resort. Everything is built from the same honey-coloured marès sandstone, quarried here for centuries, so the old town has a warm, even look. Narrow lanes run between the 18th-century church of Sant Andreu, the old town gate and Plaça Major, with galleries and small design shops in between. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings the market fills the square, and the town is at its busiest. The rest of the week it is quiet, and the eating is very good for a town this size.
1. Ocre: The restaurant at Hotel Can Ferrereta, cooking from the farm and the market. Listed in the Michelin Guide, with chefs Àlvar Albaladejo and Tamara Lumbreras. The Saturday lunch menu is built on produce from the Santanyí market, and in summer you eat in the hotel's Mallorcan patio.
2. Laudat: Seasonal Mediterranean cooking in an old Mallorcan house beside the church. Michelin-listed. You eat on a patio under a lemon tree, and the guide singles out the veal tongue carpaccio. Lunch on Wednesday and Saturday, dinner Tuesday to Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.
3. Manique: Seafood and meat over an open-fire grill, with a Brazilian accent. Run by Brazilian chef Marcos Lee on Carrer Portell. Dinner only, Wednesday to Sunday, so book ahead.
4. Es Cantonet: Seasonal Mallorcan cooking with an Asian edge, in an old townhouse. A village favourite for more than 20 years, with a courtyard for summer evenings, on Plaça d'en F. Bernareggi. Dinner Monday to Saturday from 6.30pm, and open all year.
5. Anoa: Tapas and Mediterranean plates in a rustic house with a courtyard. Regulars come back for the duck breast and the truffle tagliatelle. Dinner, Wednesday to Sunday.
6. Can Gelat: A lunch counter for Mallorcan home cooking, and the local's pick. There is no menu. You choose from the counter in small or large portions: beef tongue with capers, cod-stuffed piquillo peppers, whatever was cooked that morning. On Carrer del Centre, near Plaça Major. Closed Sundays.
7. Mallorquino: The breakfast and coffee stop. Açaí bowls, pa amb oli, waffles and good coffee, with a courtyard terrace out the back. Open from 8am until mid-afternoon, on Carrer Sebastiana Clar.
8. Grá: A fully plant-based Irish gastropub, which is more fun than it sounds. Andrea cooks and Donal runs the bar. Guinness on tap, a vegan Sunday roast, and brunch in the courtyard on market days. In winter it opens Thursday to Saturday evenings and for Sunday lunch.
9. Sa Cova: A bar on the main square, for a drink while the town goes by. On Plaça Major, with live music on Saturdays. Come for a vermut and a few tapas rather than a full dinner. Closed Sundays.
10. El Baúl, Porto Petro: Grills, fish and wok dishes on the harbour, ten minutes' drive from town. The house speciality is octopus skewers, served on a terrace facing the boats. Closed Tuesdays.
Neuendorf House, Santanyí. Designed by John Pawson and Claudio Silvestrin and finished in 1989, this is one of the founding houses of architectural minimalism. Earth-coloured walls, Santanyí sandstone floors and a long lap pool running out into an almond grove. It sleeps eleven across five bedrooms, still run by the Neuendorf family.
Can Morera, Porto Petro. Two stone houses by Alberto Lievore on a five-hectare headland, with direct sea access, views over Porto Petro harbour and a 25-metre heated pool along the coast. El Baúl is a short walk round the harbour.
Santanyí is about 45 km from Palma airport, roughly 40 to 45 minutes on the Ma-19. The TIB 515 bus links the town with Palma, but you will want a car to reach the coves, Porto Petro and Cala Figuera, and to get home from dinner.
On market days, arrive before 9.30am or park on the edge of town and walk in.
Wednesday and Saturday mornings, from about 9am to 2pm, on Plaça Major and the streets around it. Saturday is bigger. Wednesday is calmer.
Yes, especially if you like small towns more than resorts. Come for the market, the sandstone streets and the galleries, then head to the coast for a swim in the afternoon.
Not in the town itself. The nearest coves, Cala Santanyí and Caló des Moro, are a 10 to 15 minute drive. Cala Figuera and Porto Petro are fishing harbours close by.
It suits people who want quiet evenings, good restaurants within walking distance and the south-east coves nearby. It is a long way from the Tramuntana mountains, so pick somewhere else if hiking is the plan.
