Though I hated Marbella, and hope to never have to go back there again, unless that is my…read morepunishment in the afterlife, there were a few gems to be found.
One of the best of those was the Argentinian Fondue Lounge, just off of the A7, in Elviria, Marbella, just a few blocks away from where we stayed on our recent holiday.
We went there once just for drinks, saw how interesting the menu was, and decided to stay for food.
Marbella is an interesting place, tacky and commercial, and Elviria in particular wasn't particularly nice. Bland is the best word I can think to encapsulate the complete "blah" of the place.
Most of the restaurants seemed to have found their decor from the 1970s, and not updated since then. As it's such a tourist attraction, Marbella is deadly expensive to eat out in, and you don't get much bang for your buck. The food is certainly much worse than you'd find in England, and, though in Spain, it's hard to find decent Spanish food.
We were so pleasantly surprised by this reastaurant, however. Owned by a charming and utterly polite Belgian lady, the Fondue Lounge's decor is deliciously indulgent.
The theme is red, but instead of being overpowering and tacky, it's soothing and chic all at once. There are tiny little delightful touches, such as a red wire strung up across the ceiling, with two little red and white lovebirds snuggling together on it.
The place is magnificent, and, though expensive, makes you feel as if you've had an excellent dining experience for your money. The ambience is just right, and the food is very memorable, even if you don't like fondue.
Dinnere for two here will set you back, with starters and mains, about 60 Euros (about £50), and even more if you go for one of their delightful Argentinian wines. The reds are the best, and well worth the splurge.
My stepson, as most kids, has such particular eating habits, that it's a bit of hard work trying to get him to eat out happily. Normally we just deny him all pleasure and make him eat anyway, but this time, the waitress noticed he was having trouble with the menu.
She asked him what sort of things he liked, and, with some additions of the vegetable persuasion for us, had the chef make him up a bespoke meal, which he loved. They didn't take the mick with the price either -- it was priced similarly to other children's meals in Marbella.
We had the mixed meat fondue, with chicken, steak and prok. Though I'm not a steak fan, the meal was absolutely divine, and we left having had fun, stuffed to the gills with delicious food.
I liked it so much, I asked to go back for my birthday, which fell on the holiday. The owner made a big fuss over us, giving us free drinks and desserts for both my stepson and I. A lovely place I'd gladly return to.
