Yesterday saw the start of Vegan Week in Mallorca and some interesting things are happening in this period (June 27th to July 1st, 2016). Not connected to this in any way is the fact that I am preparing my first vegan lunch for friends this week …

A green oasis in a popular Mallorcan resort

On Sunday we were in Puerto Pollensa for a walk and decided to have lunch at Restaurante Bellaverde, a welcoming place offering vegetarian and vegan cuisine in this north Mallorcan resort. Having read that its owner Svenja Gallé – an instructor at the Vegan Gastronomy Culinary Academy – is hosting a vegan wine tasting and food pairing event  (June 30th from 20h-23h at the restaurant) as part of this Vegan Week in Mallorca’s programme of activities, it seemed a good opportunity to share a bit more information about her restaurant.

Come into the garden …

Restaurante Bellaverde is just a few steps away from the seafront but, once you’re through the gates into the tranquil garden, you feel a world away from a popular family resort. Svenja uses a variety of spices and herbs, and cooking techniques to create her delicious (and generously portioned) vegetarian and vegan cuisine, based on organic vegetables.

The setting is relaxing, and on alternate Sunday lunchtimes live handpan music from Jordi Cantos and Sergio Huerta enhances the ambience. We weren’t familiar with this music and it felt like a great discovery, so we bought two CDs of their sounds.

Live – relaxing – music on alternate Sunday lunchtimes

There are lovely shaded areas of the garden where you can sit and relax over a drink or coffee, as well as the tables and chairs for eating. At the heart of the garden is an enormous spreading fig tree, providing shade and the delicate scent of fig leaves. You can also eat indoors in the attractive dining room.

Chilled-out cats in one corner!

Food and drink

We each had a salad and dessert, with a half-litre jug of home-made lemonade (deliciously refreshing on a hot day).

A delicious almond dressing was drizzled over this salad with caramelized goat’s cheese

Greek salad

As well as lunch, Bellaverde offers breakfast (it adjoins the Bellaverde Hostal) and dinner; at night the menu includes a few additional main course dishes. We still haven’t been for dinner (it’s about an hour’s drive home for us in season), but we intend to before the summer is out.

 Text & images ©Jan Edwards 2016