If you’re looking to escape the hustle and bustle of busy Ibiza, and go where the locals go, you need to go no further than Noiam – Santa Eulalia’s age-old, favourite haunt for locals and folks in the know alike. This open plan restaurant, available for year-round dining, has it all. It has a beautiful expansive space that opens up to the streets of Santa Eulalia in the summer, creating a delicious fresh breeze to give you that summery feel, whilst also being able to convert into a cosy dim light dining hole for evening bites.
As a family run institution, it’s been here for a while and it’s seen the island grow – but whilst the tourism and prices may have gone a little haywire in Ibiza, the quality of this place has not. Still affordable, still exceptionally delicious, and still with stellar service – this is a must visit for when you’re on the island and looking for a chilled meal. Warm, inviting, and very tasty, this is a place we’re glad to discover as locals.
Easy Dining in Santa Eulalia
Its location is perfect. A simple quick drive from Ibiza town, straight through Santa Eulalia, and you find yourself on the doorstep of Noiam. It’s right by the beautiful town square so you can easily walk there from parking nearby, or stroll over after being at the beach. The interior is is rustic and cosy, with wooden tables, and a huge bar that you can hang out at, giving it a real family feel. The same way that this place is run from the heart by its family-owners, its location is in many ways in the heart of the island.
Santa Eulalia is a wonderful large town on the island, a popular town for many locals and expats to base themselves in. My guest and I arrived on a Saturday evening, before a big night out that we had planned. It was slightly breezy that evening, since it was still only Spring in Ibiza, so the doors and windows were closed, the dim lighting on. Some locals were hanging out at the bar, and it felt like the sort of place you can be glammed up in (as we were) and dressed down in. As versatile as Ibiza itself.
The Food and Drink at Noiam
The menu at Noiam is diverse yet deeply rooted in the culture and heritage of Ibiza. Like the interior, the menu has been carefully crafted. It’s certainly not too big, and instead, focuses on offering a quality range of Ibicenco starters, tapas, popular mains, desserts, and sides, as well as a decent brunch menu.
Tapas and starters included items like Zamburinas, sea scallops from Galicia Spain, with a delicate tender texture and a sweet taste, Gazpacho, served with tomato and basil sorbet, Chopitos, fried baby cuttlefish with lime aioli and Prawn saganaki, tiger prawns baked in a creamy tomato and feta cheese sauce.
For mains, there was the option of Satay Stir-Fried Chicken/Prawns, cooked in coconut milk, and Asian spices sauce, mixed veggies, rice and coriander (a home comfort meal for me, for sure), plus Cotoletta al Milanese, a pork cutlet Milanese served with a refreshing fennel and citrus salad, burgers, BBQ ribs made with homemade BBQ rib fall off the bone methods, sweet potatoes chips and buttered corn on the cob.
We decided to share the Padron peppers with Serrano ham chips, a favourite of mine in Ibiza though I hadn’t had them with Serrano ham chips, so this was a total delight. Salty, juicy, and very delicious, I vowed to have mine with ham more often! We also tried the Frituras, a mix of 3 crispy fried stuffed jalapeños, 3 mozzarella sticks and 3 chicken croquettes.
All of these were very good, though the fried jalapeños were certainly interesting. We also (greedily), tried the Prawn saganaki, as my guest was curious about the feta cheese and prawn combination – which worked beautifully. A little Greek in flavour with the saltiness of the feta, this was a very warming dish on a cold Spring evening. Perfect!
To drink, we had two cocktails. I had the Aperol Affair, made with peach liqueur, grapefruit, cava and Aperol, whilst my guest had the Pina colada, a classic with rum, malibu, Pina, and coconut cream. For the mains, I had the Grilled squid served bistro style with fries and a fresh mixed salad, whilst my guest had the BBQ Ribs.
The Ribs were a huge portion, literally melting off the bone and very decadent. He loved them, though the portions of the starters were so huge, that he physically couldn’t finish them. That’s one thing to note at Noiam – the portions are BIG! Meanwhile my Squid was crispy, chargrilled, yet soft and sumptuous in texture. Very pleasant, slightly salty, and perfectly grilled. I also physically couldn’t even touch the fries, though my guest told me that they were very good.
We washed this down with two glasses of Viore, Verdejo from Rueda (a very reasonably priced bottle, too). For dessert, though we’re absolutely stuffed, we shared the Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream as a bit of a decadent palate cleanser. Fruity, cinnamony, and full of sweet goodness, this was a very lovely way to wrap up the meal. I finished the meal with a beautifully light Espresso Martini as a pick-me-up before our big night out.
The Drinks at Noiam
The wine list at Noiam is short and simple, it focuses on quality local Spanish, French and Italian wine. There were some interesting varietals, including Rodriguez and Sanzo, a Tempranillo from Barricas de Whisky, iN Toro and Domaine Crochet, a Sauvignon AOP from Sancerre that came in at a reasonable 55 euros for a Sancerre.
The cocktails ranged from the Green Grass, a Gin based mix with Midori, Pineapple, and Lemon, to a light a Cucumber Mint Cooler with Gin ,St Germain, Cucumber, Mint and Tonic, the fruity Blueberry Highlife, with Vodka, Blueberries, Mint and Juice (this looked delicious) and then the more classics like Sangria, Mojito, Espresso Martini and Porn Star Martini. With the bar as a centre feature of the restaurant, it was a real pleasure watching the animated bartenders make our cocktails with flare.
You could tell the staff genuinely loved working here, giving us winks and warm smiles at every opportunity. All in all, Noiam was a totally pleasurable surprise. We’ve lived in Ibiza for a while but rarely make our way to Santa Eulalia. Now we know it’s there, we will be dropping in after a relaxing day at the beach – especially when escaping the busy tourist season!
Noiam Ibiza
Carrer de Sant Jaume, 56
07840 Santa Eulària des Riu Ibiza
Illes Balears
Spain
