Hard Rock Cafe Ibiza opened three years ago and this being the White Isle, you will find a special Ibiza-influenced vibe and indeed look and feel. The place is well lit and bright with red leatherette booths, some cool design cues and great atmosphere. You'll see the their mottoes like “Take time to be kind” or “All is one” in neon and colourfully lit. This place is a bit more, well…cool. The rock memorabilia, which is authentic by the way, is of course there. In Ibiza, look out for Madonna's Gaultier-designed conical bra, a bright jacket once belonging to Elton John and Brian May of Queen fame's trainers.
Of course, there is far much more to this Ibiza Town outpost (or indeed any of their venues) than burgers. It's about a big variety of great plates prepared from scratch daily. We went to watch head chef Gabriel in action prepare the Ibiza Local Legendary burger. Lots of Hard Rock Cafe's from Busan to Barcelona do their own local sandwich, though after seeing the love and care that Gabriel put into making it and explaining it to us, we could see this would be no ordinary burger.
A true local legend
Is it delicious? Yes and here's why. There's a special rustic style burger bun to start with and then there's a host of local ingredients. You get the thick, roughly ground burger that smacks of freshness and flavour. This is topped with a firm goat's cheese with pimentón plus a sprinkling of Ibiza salt with added hibiscus; then it's topped off with a special spicy salsa. Instead of chips, you get potato halves flavoured with herbs of Ibiza like wild thyme and oregano. This is what anyone would call a proper burger: a juicy, tender taste sensation that will rock your world. I'm not exaggerating!
If you've been to a Hard Rock Cafe, you will know that the food quality is very good. This is because virtually everything is home made and freshly prepared. The bread and burger buns are the only things that aren't made in house, but (and it's a good but) it is made to their own secret recipe and baked by a quality local baker on Ibiza.
Beyond burgers
So what else do you get? All dishes are big, so you won't go hungry and their starters can help you work up an appetite with things like their classic nachos' plate or yummy fusion Santa Fe spring rolls or you can mix and match with a selection of some of their best offerings with the Jumbo Combo.
Main courses have a lot of great American-style classics like the Twisted Mac, chicken and cheese dish or the New York strip to the British, beer battered fish and chips. Big healthy salads are on offer with lots of different classic dressings. The Caesar salad can be had with the chicken or changed for prawns, salmon or beef. The Haystack chicken salad gives you lots of chopped greens with pico de gallo salsa, shredded cheese and then topped with a choice of chicken with spicy pecans on top. Gabriel's personal choice is the hickory-smoked ribs, which are cooked very slowly to get that super tender, smoke infused flavour of the Deep South. That's for my next visit. Or, you could just come and try what manager Mariano feels are the best burgers on the island and having tried one, he has a very good case.
Relaxed and laid back
This place is a place to come and be relaxed. It's cool, yet very unpretentious; the idea is that you should feel like you are in your own living room. You can get some great cocktails including different margaritas, their own specials and some cool classic ones. There's a very decent selection of non-alcoholic cocktails and an extensive wine list to choose from too. Not forgetting the desserts, which will satisfy many a sweet tooth: everything from carrot cake to cheesecake made with Oreos to the tantalisingly tempting “Sinful Hot Fudge Sundae” is on offer.
Customers of the Hard Rock Cafe travel all around the world visiting their different restaurants and get their pictures taken with the waiters. You don't need to do that; all you do need to do is check out this superb, distinct and special Ibiza venue. You are guaranteed a big hug from the food and the friendly staff. Get yourselves down there.
WORDS | Julian Heathcote PHOTOGRAPHY | Peter Young
