Vegan Bistró

Good, nice and vegan

At Vegan Bistró everything is cooked on the spot. Nothing is prepared. An approach that we applaud while it makes our mouths salivate.

Author: Joan Ramis Boscana

It has been a few years since the Santa Catalina neighborhood came under the magnifying glass of many young people and foreigners. The picturesque appearance of its houses attracts like a magnet, a magnetism that manifests itself in all its splendor on the terraces of its bars and market stalls. A human bustle with exotic touches in which people who have lived in the area for decades also coexist. We perceive this atmosphere when we cross its main artery: San Magí. A street that leads to an avinguda Argentina full of restaurants and locals. But today we go with a very fixed course, because we have heard about a Vegan Bistró that is not lacking in compliments, and that is located in a place where an effervescent hustle and bustle palpitates.

The establishment already wins us when we observe its decoration, which harmoniously combines a checkered floor with chairs and sofas upholstered in green. The mustard tone alternates on the walls with a luminous white, a tone that underlines the beauty of a place that has doubled thanks to the reflection of an elongated mirror. Helpful and attentive, José approaches our table to ask if we would like something to drink. He informs us that they have La Virgen, a craft beer brewed in Madrid that some of us know well, and which is synonymous with longing and joy. The Vegan Bistró seduces us from its preamble. The perfect combination between the peninsula and the Balearic Islands is already starting us off on the right foot.

We download its menu and the dishes parade before our eyes. Suddenly, choosing becomes a task for which we are not prepared; their descriptions are too suggestive. Nevertheless, two proposals come to our attention because we want to try different things, each from its father and mother. José approaches again and we tell him our choice: a boletus and black truffle risotto and some spinach and pumpkin cannelloni. José nods as if we have hit the bull's eye, and tells us that the risotto will take a while to come out because at the Vegan Bistró everything is made on the spot. Nothing is frozen. An approach that we applaud while it makes us salivate. 

During the short wait, José treats us to a pate of olives with fine herbs accompanied by some peppers. And as we are lovers of dipping and spreading around here, the snack tastes like a small, russet-colored delight that communicates with us: it tells us that this is only the beginning, that the big part is just around the corner. Although the Vegan Bistró is located in Palma, the conjunction formed by the tapenade and La Virgen takes us to the bowels of the Madrid we love so much, where a bowl of olives becomes an inseparable element to any table where a couple of beers rest.  

We return to reality when our request makes an appearance on some oilcloth where the picks and pate are already history. The dish that at first sight claims our interest is the one that aesthetically differs from the typical; cannelloni have never been presented to us with such sophisticated looks. The creaminess of the pumpkin is wrapped in a fold of spinach with a thick texture, a composition that supports a cashew ricotta that melts to the touch, accompanied by tomato sauce. We try to fit all the ingredients on our fork. In our mouth they explode with softness and a very light sweetness. 

Then we remember the risotto, which steams on the table to tell us not to forget that it is there. We sink our fork into the plate. We sink it into the rice and find it hard to get it out of there, trapped by the sweetness of a recipe that manages to surpass - and that's difficult - some cannelloni that had already set the bar very high. Had we ever tasted this combination before? Yes. Had it ever tasted so good? No. It's as if the boletus, truffle and rice had never met before and were celebrating their alliance with the momentum of the first time. A first time like ours at the Vegan Bistró, where we will repeat again without hesitation.