We stopped by Canela for what felt like a late lunch yesterday, but even around 2:30 PM, the…read morerestaurant still had a reasonable amount of people dining in. The entrance can be hard to miss if you are looking for a storefront or awning to mark where you go in; just look for a glass door with a giant 'C' on it. Once inside, you'll be in a narrow but cozy shop that has a number of small seats in the front, as well as larger tables and additional seating further back. There's a stairway that is blocked off as you come in that leads to a bookshelf filled with wine bottles, adding to the homey feel of the restaurant. For lunch, the menu is simple: two appetizers to share, one main, and one dessert for 35 euros - more expensive than other spots in Palma, perhaps, but still a very reasonable price for what turned out to be a fantastic lunch. Service is leisurely but not overly so; given we appear to be on the quicker side when it comes to eating here, the servers did ask us if we wanted a break between our entrees and desserts. There is cava and wine to be had for drinks; I had a nice, lightly fruity glass of white to go with my meal.
The menu interestingly enough veers towards Asian influences, with 'soup dumplings' (labeled as xiao long bao on the menu), and some Cambodian and Southeast Asian flavors adorning the menu. That said, the thrust of the cuisine is still firmly Spanish, and every single bite we had delivered excellent flavors. We shared the aforementioned dumplings and the truffled croquettes as a starter, and both were really good. The croquettes were warm and creamy, with a healthy dosing of truffle oil and a lot of shredded cheese adorning the lightly fried outer skin. The dumplings weren't truly soup dumplings in the end, but rather duck and prawn dumplings (a very good and unusual pairing) served in a small cup of intensely rich broth. Although only a couple of bites, the amount of punch in each of the appetizers was more than enough to set the stage for the main course. We both went with tartares to stay on the lighter side, with my wife going for the tuna, while I did the steak. Both were really well-executed; I was particularly impressed with the quality of the tuna, which I felt was almost sushi-grade and definitely of better quality than I found in most tuna tartares I have had elsewhere. Served atop a decent amount of avocado, each bite was creamy and hit the spot. The steak tartare was quite tasty too, with a foam of sorts that vaguely reminded me of potato chips (which can't possibly be right - but we have both been scraping our brains for the right descriptor and haven't hit on it) that added a faint hint of saltiness that worked really well with the meat, which was also dressed with a bit of greens as well. We then closed out the meal with fun desserts - a panna cotta with blackberry ice cream and pistachios (light and a bit tart - great to cut through the cream), and a 'hot and cold' dessert - raspberry sorbet served beneath a warm pour of chocolate syrup (more like sauce - it was not as thick as the syrup in the U.S.), which was really fun to eat.
In all, the amount of food is very reasonable, and while you are paying a bit of a premium for it, I found the slightly higher price to definitely be worth it. I would highly recommend stopping in, either for lunch or for dinner, and make sure to take your time to enjoy a more modern take on Spanish cuisine in a restaurant that feels a bit like stepping back in time.
