In September 2014 I went on holiday to Magaluf, Mallorca, and as we were self catering we visited various bars and cafes.
So here are my thoughts :)
Tom Browns
No trip to Maguluf would be complete without a visit to Tom Browns. This cafe is on the main street (where you also catch the bus) next to Mcdonalds. It is quite a large cafe with the majority of it being outside under cover. They tend to be on the cheap and cheerful side of the cafe scale, and have lots of very busy happy, friendly staff, TVs playing sports or music, mini golf and a snooker table. We mostly went for our breakfast, although we did have a couple of nice evening meals there, although the burgers were not very big :).
The Moon Bar
This bar is located down the street directly opposite McDonald's, and next to two of the larger hotels. We probably wouldn't have noticed it if we hadn't been staying in one of those hotels. That said once we did we kept going back. The food was really nice, I got to cuddle a lovely cat, and a bottle of wine was reasonable :). The waiter is also really friendly, and we had several conversations with him about the upcoming BH hotel and cats :).
El Salmon
This is a more up market for restaurant at Cala Blanca, between Torrenova and Palmanova. We went there once and had their special offer of nachos followed by steak. It was absolutely beautiful. The only problem was the restaurant was very empty, and while we were there a young spanish couple came in, and then changed their mind and left. Not traumatic in itself except the staff then started arguing about it, which meant the only other couple in the place finished their desert and left. When we got our bill we'd been overcharged for some wine we didn't get, they put it right when we queried it, but it wasn't ideal. We did consider going back a few days later as the food was so nice, and stopped to have a look after we had spent the afternoon at Palmanova. It was about 7pm and we were on our way back to get a shower, but were looking at places to eat later that night. The owner or someone in charge was in the entrance next to the menu board, and without greeting us he turned away, obviously they didn't want someone in beach attire in their restaurant :). That, coupled with the special still being the same, and everything else being a bit pricey for our budget made us decide to go elsewhere :).
Florida restaurant
This was on the way into Palmanova from Maguluf, and is a small friendly restaurant, which seemed to attract repeat custom, we went there twice. The food was nice, if nothing special, and it had a nice ambience with a great view of the street, perfect for people watching.
Benny Hills
Benny Hills is a large bar on a corner of the main street opposite Mcdonalds. It is a fun bar with a small cafe area around one side. It has a large outside seating area, various games for the children, and friendly staff. Inside is some nice comfortable seating, a large floor area, and a huge wrap around bar. There's also a dj and karaoke. We only ever got a couple of late night kebabs from here for around 5 euros each, these were nice and quite filling. We finished off most nights at this bar as it was convenient for our hotel. This was late September to early October and most nights the place was pretty dead, especially inside. Outside there are the usual people trying to pull in the punters and when they managed to bring in a hen party or two it really did liven the place up. We both felt that the place was let down a bit by the lacklustre dj, who seemed to tell the same tired jokes, and rarely advertised the karaoke.
Benny Hills is a large bar on a corner of the main street opposite Mcdonalds. It is a fun bar with a small cafe area around one side. It has a large outside seating area, various games for the children, and friendly staff. Inside is some nice comfortable seating, a large floor area, and a huge wrap around bar. There's also a dj and karaoke. We only ever got a couple of late night kebabs from here for around 5 euros each, these were nice and quite filling. We finished off most nights at this bar as it was convenient for our hotel. This was late September to early October and most nights the place was pretty dead, especially inside. Outside there are the usual people trying to pull in the punters and when they managed to bring in a hen party or two it really did liven the place up. We both felt that the place was let down a bit by the lacklustre dj, who seemed to tell the same tired jokes, and rarely advertised the karaoke.
Linnekars
Linnekars is on the main bar strip, and we chose it one night when we were looking for somewhere different. Outside they had a lad and a lass dragging people in, but we walked past them straight in, tempted by their cocktail offer. I have to say this was a mistake. We sat on the terrace, which like every other bar in the area was waiter service, well I sat there while my husband went to the toilet. I was still waiting when he came back, although someone had been to wipe the table. Anyway my husband came out and said he'd go to the bar, he took ages and came out with nothing, and asked if I wanted a beer instead. I said ok so he went back in and eventually got served :). We then sat and watched the publicity people messing around on the strip, and dragging people in. They had a high turnover of people as no one stayed after the first drink. A group of 6 spaniards came in and sat at the table next to ours, after about 5 minutes someone eventually brought them a drinks menu, but that was it 10 minutes later still no one had reappeared to ask what they wanted, at which they left. Shortly after so did we, not a place I'd recommend.
Citylights
This is another bar on the main strip, it's quite small and narrow, but we found it lively and friendly. We finally got our piña colada there, which was nice, but not the best we've ever had :). That said of the places we saw on the strip this was our favourite, they also did karaoke :).
