Eating on the trail
Mao and Ciutadella are the dependable year-round food towns; much of the coast is seasonal. Cala Vegana in Mao publishes an all-vegan menu, Venus Garden in es Castell describes itself as fully plant-based, and the Cardamom at Son Bou confirms adapted vegan options. Carry two days from Fornells for the north coast and treat resort restaurants and shops as unconfirmed outside their season.
Mao and Ciutadella are the dependable year-round food towns; much of the coast is seasonal. Cala Vegana in Mao publishes an all-vegan menu, Venus Garden in es Castell describes itself as fully plant-based, and the Cardamom at Son Bou confirms adapted vegan options. Carry two days from Fornells for the north coast and treat resort restaurants and shops as unconfirmed outside their season.
Ask for marrania, a Menorcan vegetable stew, without egg on top; oliaigua in its tomato, pepper and onion form; or coca amb sofrit whose dough is made with oil rather than lard. Plain pa amb oli with tomato and olives is a reliable fallback. Perol de tomatic is not automatically vegan because some recipes add egg, meat or fish.
Do a full shop in Mao, then use Fornells before the undeveloped north coast and Ciutadella at halfway. South-coast resort shops are top-ups and may be seasonal. Binipreu's operator confirms branches including es Castell, but branch stock still varies. Carry bread or oil-based coca, cooked pulses, olives, fruit, nuts and one cold dinner. Buy two days before leaving Fornells in either direction.
Mao: Cala Vegana publishes an all-vegan menu and the covered market provides groceries. Arenal d'en Castell and Fornells have vegan directory leads only, so verify seasonal opening. Ciutadella: Fang i Aram is a long-running vegetarian lead with reported vegan dishes; the city also has full shops. Cala Blanca, Cala Galdana and Cala en Porter have directory-listed options but no strong operator vegan policy in the current sources. Son Bou: the Cardamom's own site says its menus include adapted vegan options; ask explicitly about ghee, cream and yoghurt. es Castell: Venus Garden describes itself as the Balearics' first fully plant-based sushi restaurant. Its takeaway format makes it useful for the final carry. Do not infer year-round opening from a settlement being a village rather than a resort.
Choose figues al forn or a water-based sorbet after confirming the recipe. Bakery coca is suitable only when the dough is made with oil, not lard.
Clockwise, load up in Mao, buy two days in Fornells, reset fully in Ciutadella and use the south-coast shops as seasonal top-ups before es Castell. Anticlockwise, reverse the same anchors. Nothing dependable was established across the remote north-coast coves, so carry all meals there. Outside summer, confirm every resort shop and kitchen before relying on it.
Ask about lard in coca dough, egg or meat in vegetable bakes, fish stock in rice, dairy in aioli and desserts, and honey. A vegetarian paella or Indian curry is not automatically vegan.
Spanish: “Soy vegano/a: sin carne, pescado, lácteos, huevos ni miel.” “¿El arroz lleva caldo de pescado o carne?” “¿La masa está hecha con aceite y no manteca?” “Sin queso, mantequilla ni huevo, por favor.”