As we step onto the famous red carpet at Nassau Beach Club, a refreshing autumn breeze is blowing into our faces from the east and generating nice rolling waves that wash up onto the golden sand of Playa d’en Bossa beach. As the plucky swimmers dive headlong into them, the accompanying sound of their laughter sets the scene for an enjoyable lunch at one of the island’s most deluxe beach clubs.
Playa d’en Bossa is renowned for the concentration of world-class beach clubs that dot its 3km stretch of beach and dunes and Nassau Beach Club is the most famous of them all. Everything done here is always with a touch of class. Wherever you look you can see elegance and comfort, with the focus on the highest quality beverages and gastronomic excellence to entertain their discerning clients, who fill the place year after year with an equally high level of expectation.
Although it’s unlikely the judges of the eminent gastronomic awards will visit Nassau any time soon, the quality of the food that flows from the kitchens is always of the highest standards.
Everything on the menu is perfectly balanced for the club’s beachside location, offering a healthy mix of the best Mediterranean and Asian cuisine. Nothing is ever too heavy and, naturally, the emphasis is on the finest selection of fresh seafood and locally-sourced vegetables.
Whether you are dining at a table or reclined on your sumptuous day bed with a cocktail, care is always taken to plate each dish in the most attractive ways, making them as appealing to your eye as to your palate.
After a hiatus of five years, we felt it was time we came back to find out what the 2022 menu has to offer. And it did not disappoint!
Ok, at the risk of seeming predictable, we started with the inevitable plate of Speciale de Claire oysters that had caught our eye the moment we walked through the door. Nothing captures the essence of the sea quite like a fresh oyster and these beauties were pure perfection.
Nassau has a well-earned reputation for the quality of sushi prepared on-site. We felt compelled to try a selection and can attest to their excellence. Our plate included a delicious assortment of buttery smooth but picante California rolls, spicy tuna rolls, salmon nigiris and a choice of fresh sashimi. It is easy to see why they sell so much sushi throughout the season as this was perfection, with the rice served at just the right temperature.
Pretty as a picture, the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio with capers, Taggiasca olives, 30-month aged Parmesan, and slivers of summer truffle, was a work of abstract art. Each mouthful had a different complexion and miniature balls of Balsamic vinegar popped on the tongue to add the right amount of acidity to the dish, just when needed.
The Wild Tuna Poke Bowl needs very little introduction and does exactly what you would expect - delivering a colourful, hearty and nutritious meal in one place. Ideal for lunchtime, this Nassau bowl contained one of the nicest loins of premium tuna sashimi ever seen in a poke bowl.
The authentic Thai Salad, with papaya, tomato, peanuts, carrot, green beans, coriander and chilli, served with tender strips of sirloin steak and beefy shiitake mushrooms in a rich gravy was voted the standout dish. It is very tasty as it comes, yet veterans of the dish’s homeland might like to ask for a little extra chilli to turn up the heat.
For me, the Thai Salad paired with Pan-fried Scallops on a truffle-infused potato purée, with lardons of crispy Iberian ham, could quite possibly be my all-time favourite beachside lunch. The silky spuds, with just a hint of garlic, and the crispy belly pork combined perfectly with the lightly-fried scallops to create a deliciously smooth and salty treat.
However, a plentiful Lobster and Mussels Linguine, with a rich sauce of cherry tomatoes and more than a hint of chilli heat, created whoops of joy from my fellow diners. The mini mussels make the dish complete, with their fresh saltiness complementing the sweet meat of the lobster.
At the end of a great meal, we love to let the restaurant’s pastry chefs demonstrate their flair by choosing the best dessert on offer, their pièce de résistance. The pleasure is even greater when their imagination has run wild and created something new and inventive, or completely redesigned an old favourite.
On this occasion, it was the latter - a reconstructed Mango Cheesecake. The cheese, wrapped in a mango gel cloak, cunningly disguising it as a peach, sitting atop its biscuit crumb base and paired with raspberry sorbet, was guaranteed to surprise and delight even the hardest heart.
Over the past decade, Nassau has striven to define the standards expected of an exclusive Ibizan beach club. The decoration and furnishing, the courtesy and rapidity of service, and even the ambient music curated by the resident DJs, on top of the high quality of the F&B, align perfectly to set the benchmark very high. For 2022, we can affirm that the standard has risen yet another notch.
We will definitely be returning before the season ends. Will you? Click here to book your table or bed today.
