Naan

Street food with an international flair

The Naan is an establishment that links its soul to that of a street food stall, a local that became known in 2016.

Author: Joan Ramis Boscana

Today we are going up Avinguda Argentina on the hunt for a very specific somewhere and that has been the usual tonic in our routine: we are looking for a place to eat. It is one of our hobbies, a practice that we will not give up because we need to fill our bellies with the gastronomic treasures that Palma has to offer. We can't help but nod with satisfaction when we walk past Brox or Vegan Bistró, two places we've already visited for their specialties to stun us. If it were brunch time, perhaps we'd head to El Perrito to gobble up some eggs benedict, and if our desires projected the image of a quesadilla, we'd walk straight into El Aquanauta. But today our steps have turned down carrer Caro so that Naan reveals itself as the place to discover. We like to dig into the soil of Santa Catalina for the neighborhood to reveal these secrets, so far from its archetypal offer.

Before entering the establishment, we set our eyes on some Tibetan prayer flags waving in the air, spread outside the window. We take it as a warning of what we are going to find inside the restaurant. Naan is an establishment that links its soul with that of a street food stall, a venue that became known in 2016 and whose cuisine is led by chef Nicolas Malenchini. His contrasted experience at Tahini or Duke encouraged him to jump into the pool. The result has been what our eyes register with hunger and curiosity: wooden floors, high tables and turquoise tones that remind us of the sea of Mallorca, although its cuisine sends us to distant lands to taste the street food that we would find in Japan, Peru, Brazil and other countries that we would only reach with transoceanic flights.     

The fact that Naan is located in Palma is fortunate, because it brings to our table some exotic dishes that would be difficult to access from the island. We sit down in a little corner near a window, look at their menu and see how it is structured: they have some starters that they have dubbed as bites where you can enjoy some pakoras, a portion of babaganoush or a very careful fish tiradito. Then they move on to another section made up of some tapas of camarao (shrimp) pie, crispy yakitori chicken or beef anticuchos that will make us have some delicious doubts. Finally, their proposal goes through some naan classics and some street food basics among which there is a ramen, some ribs, a lobster roll and even a hamburger, just to mention a few. We have not included all the dishes in this list so as not to bog down the reading, but there are many options on the menu. 

After communicating our choice to the waitress, we noticed that the interior of the restaurant is semi-empty because its activity is concentrated at night, with a public that is divided fifty-fifty between a local clientele and another half foreign. We appreciate the calm that now governs the establishment between the guitars of The Doors and the voice of David Bowie, the music played by the Naan while we are served a kimchee salad. It is served in a beautiful ceramic bowl. As if it were a scanner, our palate tries to capture all the nuances of a creation of Korean origin. We would subscribe to the playful and pickled sensation that the onion, cabbage and shitake mushrooms confer to this creation, a feast to which the pork and cashew nuts join in. A collision of textures where the green apple also fits, and to which our pleasure is perfectly molded.

çWe let the fork rest in the bowl when, suddenly, the crispy fish sandwich that will put the finishing touch to this meal materializes before us. This sandwich looks more like a hamburger than anything else, but it is true that we have never seen one like it before. We sink our teeth into a brioche of olive oil and seeds under which lies a fillet of sea bass. If we had never known a burger like this, its taste also places itself in an unexplored terrain for our taste buds. The buttery flavor of the sea bass does not clash at all with the lettuce, cucumber and onion. We couldn't quite identify the sauces that accompanied this dish, but we're glad we bet it all on the succulence of a sandwich that tastes like paradise.

As we wiped our hands with some wipes provided, we think of a night to dine at Naan in its prime time. This place is a wonderful success.