As the tourist season starts drawing to a close, I start looking for food inspiration a little bit further away from central Palma or tourist resorts… Last Saturday, for example, I was invited to a street food café in Rafal Vell, a neighbourhood you would not typically venture out to unless you lived there or went to buy furniture at the nearby Conforama.
I was pleasantly surprised by Makarra’s interior, dominated by black walls full of neon coloured inscriptions, signatures, compliments and good luck messages. One that stuck out higher than any others was a good luck message from the owner’s eldest brother. That warmed up my heart!
Omar, the owner, told me that he came from Venezuela as a child, thanks to the bad political situation there – first to Madrid and then, via London, to Mallorca. He studied various things, including psychology, but “hosteleria” was somehow always calling him. So, a year ago (almost to a day), he opened Makarra, with the idea of merging his Venezuelan roots with premium street dining. What does he mean by that? Can street food be premium? Let’s see…
I came with a friend and we decided to share two starters and two main dishes. So, first up, we had a plate of Tequeños, sticks of mild Venezuelan cheese enrobed in a thin layer of pastry dough, baked and served with sweet blueberry sauce. This reminded me a bit of mozzarella sticks, but the cheese tasted better and I preferred blueberry sauce to cranberry, which is typically served with mozzarella. Great start!
Next up we shared Makkara nachos, made in the Venezuelan way, with “Omar’s special touch”. Corn tortilla chips were topped with cheddar, yogurt, pico de gallo, jalapeño peppers and, in our case, pulled beef. Omar explained that he marinades his beef in a mixture of herbs and spices for 48 hours before cooking it. The result is melt in your mouth meat, full of flavour, absolutely delicious.
For the main dish, we both selected “not kebab” in focaccia bread, or, as Omar calls it Foccatta. Omar told us that he makes his own bread, and this was evident from the first bite. Aside from all the fillings, the bread itself was excellent and I think I would have happily snacked on it alone.
In any case, I chose Makkara, made with beef, Creole chorizo, lettuce, salted onion and chimichurri sauce. The resulting “snack” was huge, and at fewer than 10 euros a brilliant value for money. I loved this novel take on kebab, mixing Italian flavours with a familiar street food format. This was definitely not your typical kebab; it was a “premium snack” indeed!
My friend opted for Napoles, made with rocket salad, tomato, salted onion, parmesan shavings, herbal sauce and pesto Genovese. She opted to top it up with beef again, and this time it came in small strips, rather than pulled. Each choice was as good as the other and we really enjoyed this surprisingly good meal way out of central Palma.
Omar told us that he was always going to open a street food type place, but he was not keen on the standard kebab meat, revolving around the metal stick. He gambled by putting his own stamp on the street favourite, merging his Venezuelan heritage with the best possible ingredients – and the gamble seems to have paid off!
The Verdict: Delicious street food made with high quality ingredients including home-made bread, served with a smile in a funky set up. Makarra is miles better than your typical “kebab place down the road”. My friend decided to return the next day with her teenage kids and I will definitely be back to try more of Omar’s innovative menu.
The restaurant: Makarra – C/ Aragon 202, Palma – Tel: 634 48 77 45 – Instagram: @makarra202
Opening times: 1pm to 4pm and 7.30pm to 11.30pm Tuesday to Sunday
The Bill: Tequeños 7.90 euros / Nachos Makarra 10.90 euros / Not Kebab (Foccata) Napoles 8.90 euros / Brutal Foccata Makarra 9.90 euros / Water 1.50 euros
