Zoë Perrett discovers a roast-with-the-most one of Ibiza’s most iconic dining destinations
Driving up a track that one might flatteringly describe as ‘rustic’, it feels as if you’re heading into the back of beyond – certainly not towards one of Ibiza’s most legendary venues.
Over the years, Pikes has seen it all. Perhaps most famous as the setting for Wham!’s Club Tropicana video, the hotel, music venue and restaurant is a multi-coloured, laid-back temple to hedonism where anything’s possible and where a visit is unlikely to go as planned.
Waking in our finca on a blazing hot Sunday morning with a mild hangover and a strong craving for a classic roast, a little bird tells us that Pikes is the place to be; moreover, all the island’s musical movers and shakers know that to be the case.
Our advisor is not wrong, and nor is the A-List – many of whose members we’re sharing space with as we take our seats on the terrace and do a spot of surveillance from behind our sunglasses as we quaff from pleasingly large glasses of chilled Spanish rose.
The local climate and the cuisine we’re here for might seem to contradict one another, but it doesn’t diminish our appetite for a bit of Brit. We’d happily snack on light, bite-sized fishcakes ’til they came out of our ears; whilst a lamb faggot has the robust flavour that the offal-centric meatball should, but is far less leaden than too many other examples.
Committed carnivores that we are, LB and I always opt for a mixed grill given half the chance. Here, after much anguish at eliminating pork and lamb from the equation, we finally settle on lemon and thyme chicken and sirloin of beef.
The roasted meats are served sliced on a platter; the accompanying – and extensive – trimmings family-style in communal dishes. Although we do fair justice to Bacchanalian-proportioned portions of roast potatoes, humungous Yorkshire puddings, roasted roots, green veg, red cabbage, cauliflower cheese and various sauces, we have to admit defeat (and also that we want to save room for pudding).
It’s a good job I still have space, because LB’s not eating his ice-cream medley rapidly enough to avoid ending up with melted puddles, and I gallantly have to step in before I even get to my own salted caramel chocolate pot.
The meal might be over but the afternoon’s not. After a couple of cocktails on the poolside roof deck, we pay a visit to Pikes’ in-house PR and host Sunny Ramzan’s walk-in wardrobe: a fancy dress fan’s nirvana where guests are encouraged to don outlandish attire and retire to Sunny’s own karaoke bar – aka a bathtub ballpit that’s welcomed endless celebrity derrieres into its depths.
We’re not remotely famous, but we give it a go. I could tell you more, but then everyone knows that what happens at Pikes, stays at Pikes.
Make it happen
Where: Pikes Hotel, Camí Sa Vorera, Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza, Spain, 07820
Find out more: To visit the website, click here
Amuse Bouche 