05/04/2018 The Bürgel family restaurant, 1661 Cuina de Banyalbufar, has featured in every abcMallorca Top 101 Restaurants guide. So when news emerged that the family was also opening a bistro-style eatery in Palma, expectations were high.
It took around six months to renovate totally the corner property in the ‘street of restaurants’, Carrer de la Fábrica, where Amaya opened its doors in February 2016 – with Tobias Bürgel at the helm. He is the head chef here and fans of the Banyalbufar restaurant will certainly not be disappointed as he is maintaining the high level of cuisine in Palma.
Over the winter of 2016/2017 Tobias made further enhancements to Amaya’s interior décor, adding trendy palm-tree wallpaper to the existing appealing Mallorcan touches. The ceiling is covered with old ‘persiana’ shutters, in every hue imaginable and the floor is traditionally tiled. Bare exposed-filament vintage-style lightbulbs – the go-to lighting choice for hip urban establishments – are suspended over the tables, for flattering warm light at night. Seating is a mix of wooden chairs and benches (which were sadly not replaced by something more comfortable as part of the enhancements), with some tall tables and chairs near the bar. Amaya seats 65 people inside and 60 on the front terrace.
Although he employed a chef for the restaurant’s first season, Tobias is now firmly in the kitchen – where he is most at home and his talents are used to best effect.
Open for lunch and dinner, Amaya’s New World cuisine is based on fresh local produce.
The à la carte menu includes starters/tapas, main courses (fish, meat, and vegetarian), and desserts. A useful addition if you are dining with children is that they will prepare alternative dishes for them on request.
We started with Asian gazpacho (one of the several vegetarian dishes on the menu). Delicate, fragrant, and fresh-tasting, it was delicious. From the fish starters/tapas we had scallops with deep-fried capers and caramelised cauliflower, followed by foie gras pralines with macadamia nuts, spiced pineapple and bitter chocolate – a typical Amaya combination that surprised and delighted.
Our main course was hake with shiitake kombu tea with seasonal mushrooms and celeriac and maple syrup purée.
Desserts this year have significantly improved over last year – in flavour, texture, and visual appeal. Definitely worth saving space for! We tried the goat cheese cremeaux – sure to appeal to sweet-toothed diners – which looked like a piece of art on a plate. We also tried the dulce de leche panna cotta, accompanied by a delicious mandarin ice cream (a highlight).
Wines from Mallorca and the mainland (including organic), with a wide selection of reds, are on the list. We like the separate menu of Spanish wines (including champagne and cava) available by the glass.
As its sister restaurant did in Banyalbufar, Amaya has raised the bar for eateries in the locality and is the stand-out restaurant on C/ de la Fàbrica. If you don’t usually frequent this part of Palma when eating out, give Amaya a try. It’s highly recommended and, we are sure, destined to have a great 2017.
