Zaranda

About Zaranda

Fernando Arellano is one of the more compelling figures in Spanish fine dining. His original Zaranda in the Tramuntana mountains earned two Michelin stars before he closed it and relocated to Hotel Es Príncep in Palma's historic quarter — a decision that puzzled observers and proved entirely correct. The new Zaranda earned a star, found a wider audience, and gave Arellano a platform from which his food reaches the people it was designed to impress.

The restaurant sits in the basement of Es Príncep, entered through a separate entrance beside the hotel's medieval walls. Downstairs, Arellano has created a series of atmospheric rooms that use the original stonework as their framework: arches and alcoves, candlelight filtered through old walls, a sense of ceremony that begins before the food arrives. The restaurant is divided into different named spaces, each with its own character.

The menu structure at Zaranda is notably ambitious. The Patrones format (6, 7, or 8 courses) is the entry point; A flor de piel runs to 12 courses; Plena flor to 18. Each level introduces new compositions and greater complexity. Arellano's cooking combines Mallorcan ingredients — local pork, island cheeses, Balearic fish — with technique rooted in classical Spanish cuisine and a willingness to borrow from wherever the flavour logic demands. The results are food that is serious without being solemn and technically demanding without drawing attention to its own difficulty.

The wine list at Zaranda is one of the island's strongest — particularly for Spanish reds and Balearic naturals — and the sommelier pairing is worth considering for the longer menus. Service has occasionally received mixed notes from reviewers; the experience is best when the formal front-of-house is allowed to warm slightly into genuine hospitality, which it does for most tables most evenings.

For clients and dinner companions who respond to culinary theatre with real substance behind it, Zaranda is the right choice in Palma.

Best for Impressing Clients

Zaranda has the architecture of a power restaurant without the self-consciousness that usually goes with it. Entering through a side door beside medieval walls, descending into candlelit stone rooms, being presented with a menu that runs to 18 courses — these are not accidental choices. They are the grammar of a restaurant that understands how a setting shapes a negotiation.

For client entertainment on the island, the Patrones menu at 7 or 8 courses is the correct format: substantial enough to demonstrate intent, contained enough to allow the evening to flow. The longer formats are better reserved for guests you already know well, where the shared duration of 18 courses becomes a bond rather than a test of endurance.

The private dining room — book specifically — seats up to ten and provides the complete seclusion that serious business entertaining requires. For smaller parties, the arched alcove tables are Zaranda's most impressive seats: intimate and monumental simultaneously, the kind of space that makes whatever is said inside it feel consequential.