Menorca Entertainment

Many eating places in the coastal resorts serve up the type of international resort fare found throughout the Mediterranean and cater for holidaymakers' 'home-from-home' tastes (eg pizzas, burgers, bratwurst, full English breakfast etc). Elsewhere Spanish cuisine predominates, though island cooking, using olive oil, tomatoes and garlic with fresh meat, fish and vegetables has become more common in recent years.

Regional specialities:
• Queso de Mahón (fresh island cheese).
• Caldereta de Llagosta (lobster stew).
• Sobrasada (soft, spreadable, red, chorizo-like sausage).
• Tumbet (baked dish of layered potato, courgette, aubergine and tomato sauce).
• Pa amb oli (literally, bread with oil), a snack often supplemented by cheese, jamón (cured ham), or chorizo.

Regional drinks:
• Gin, introduced by the British. Pomada (gin with cloudy lemon) is popular in summer.
• Calent (liqueur made from wine, cinnamon, aniseed and saffron).
• Palo and Herbes de Mallorca (aromatic herby liqueurs).

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: around 10% in restaurants.

By contrast with its Balearic neighbours Menorca is very quiet with nightlife usually hotel-based, though Mahón and Ciutadella offer a choice of bona fide nightspots. One place that you should try for its location alone is the cliff-side nightclub Cova d'en Xoroi (www.covadenxoroi.com). The evening begins with relaxing ambient music as the sun goes down, cranking up the beats as the night goes on.

Local craftsmanship includes furniture, hand-embroidered works, hand-painted ceramics, carved olive-wood panels, wrought ironwork, glassware, leather, handmade shoes, costume jewellery and artificial pearls from Mallorca. The island's most famous brand is Abarcas sandals which use recycled car tyres for the soles and eco-leather from Valencia for the top. The best shopping is to be found in Mahon and Ciutadella while the Saturday market at Ferreries is the best on the island.

Shopping hours: Traditional shopping hours are Monday to Saturday 0900-1300 and 1700-2000. Supermarkets and department stores are open 1000-2200. Tourist shops also open on Sundays.