**** Meanwhile, Yanni and her happy cat moved on to a new project, Jazminthing. Estilo Palma will soon come around. ****
In every major city around the world you find a Chinatown. The Chinese community in Palma lives in Pere Garau. In the neighborhood of the market hall there are Chinese supermarkets, workshops, and restaurants. Three young “Chiñorquines”, however, aim for a diverse crowd of locals and visitors. Their eatery Gat Feliç opened up near Santa Catalina only two weeks ago. The “Happy Cat” is both takeaway and bar and I love to enjoy its authentic Chinese cuisine right where it is prepared.
My favorite seating is at the long table along the window. But it’s just as exciting to take a look into the open kitchen. Watch the chef stir-frying vegetables in his wok or roll out the dough, everything on the menu of Gat Feliç is homemade. I instantly fell for their steamed Jiaozi, the classic Chinese pastry. Filled with spicy pork and col china they were just melting on the tongue.
The salad, a crunchy mix of vegetable strips, came in a savory vinaigrette. And the Gong Bao, a steaming dish of vegetables, chicken and peanuts in a slightly hot soy sauce, was super delicious. One of Gat Feliç’s specialties is its mooncake. Those small ball-shaped pies with a sweet filling made of red beans and a salted egg yolk in the middle symbolizing the full moon. Gat Feliç also offers an alternative with pumpkin that many locals like even more.
Yanni Lv, Mario Yang Yang and Fang Ji are young second-generation Chinese living on Mallorca. Their goal is to preserve traditional Chinese recipes, at the same time adapting them to a modern taste and a light and healthy diet. All dishes are also available in a vegetarian or vegan version, many of them gluten free. While most ingredients are from the local markets it’s the spices from the Chinese stores in Pere Garau that make all the difference. Gat Feliç not only refers to the famous figurine but is also a play on words, in Catalan it means happily drunk.
C/ Marti Boneo, 16
07013 Palma de Mallorca
T 651 552 222
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