Alaro: Es Verge - Sunday lunch with lots of sheep

One of the team of chefs in the kitchen at Es Verge

About ten years ago, almost to the very day, I was interrupted by friends while doing a little work on a beautiful boat in Palma. I had just finished painting and was intermittently looking at the paint job and gazing up at the clouds forming on the mountains behind Palma. My friends said that if it was going to rain there was nothing I could do about it, and I was merely watching paint dry and perhaps waiting for the inevitable.

They attempted to rescue me from my gloom by suggesting that we go to a restaurant in the mountains to the north of Palma. Last weekend I made the same pilgrimage taking a circuitous route to the quaint Mallorquin town of Alaro, slotting our way through the narrow back streets eventually emerging onto a little used farmers' road. I had promised Moritz, the driver (of the hire car) and skipper of Fenix some off-road mountain stage driving so rough and dangerous it would never make it onto a WRC event - this was to make up for a frustrating week and he was not disappointed. We made a sudden turn left hand turn and immediately began to ascend the mountain track to restaurant Es Verge which, if your car makes it, you eventually arrive at after about 10 minutes.

It is quite difficult for me to describe Es Verge purely because I love the place. The restaurant was still run but the same old folk, who take everything in their stride and have a happy go lucky manner of looking after you. The restaurant itself has the appearance of an old farmhouse, because it probably is an old farmhouse. On a sunny warm day you leave behind the glare of the bright sunshine entering the building and the cool dim world inside.

We pleaded with the sheep not to go skateboarding but...

Olive trees growing on the slopes close to Es Verge

Slow roasted shoulder of lamb is the speciality of the house. There are sheep all around and the relatively new addition of a gate prevents them from joining you for dinner. The plan is that the sheep are normally kept at bay during lunch but shortly after the invasion begins and they slowly converge from all directions, jumping over and through gaps in the walls. Suckling pig and grilled prawns are also on the menu but you do not see them and frankly they would not be as entertaining to watch. The lamb arrives quicker than you might think and an unmarked anonymous bottle of house wine is always a good option to accompany this fine rustic fare.

Dinner time at the kitchen door?

Once you have finished you meal a flan or pudding among other deserts is offered but a personal favourite of mine at Es Verge is a flaming drink which is made from a mixture of rum, brandy, chopped lemon, coffee beans and sugar. I am guessing there is likely to be a secret undisclosed ingredient, however this concoction, which is served in a glazed terracotta bowl, may have the ability to burn forever if you allowed it to. This acts as a mild sedative prior to your ascent to Castell d'Alaro following the meal. The pathway to the Castell passes the entrance to the retaurant, and winds its way up to a ridge just over 200 meters above the restaurant. The ridge is quite narrow and there are great panoramic views of Mallorca to be experienced all around this mountaintop. If you remain thirsty or wish to have another mild sedative before you descend there is a small taverna among the buildings on the ridge, and a small church should you wish to pray for your safe arrival, or return as the case may be.

A view from the ridge above Es Verge