La Ribera — Restaurant in Marbella

Excitement swarmed the exotic sea air as my friends and I descended unto Marbella, from our native Mijas. We had no hesitation when Alex (the God of administration who has never failed us) suggested a tidy looking establishment with rave reviews. Jubilation was already rife among the three of us given the news on the previous day that Mancunian band Oasis were reforming after 15 long years.

Excitement soon turned to crushing disappointment when we realised the restaurant was, by all accounts, rubbish. Let’s start with the furniture: plastic upon plastic upon plastic. Less Marbella, more Skegness. I’m not asking for ornate Georgian decor, but let’s at least see some wood.

Our expectations already nosediving, the experience went from bad to worse when the food arrived. I’ve tasted less salt in the shallows of the Mediterranean Sea. Every dish was a lesson in over-seasoning. Even Oasis’ reunion was now struggling to maintain our spirits.

At this point, I’d like to offer the establishments one positive - the restaurant, like all bars serving draught pints on the promenade, had very good service. It would be a sin for our waiters positive contribution to go amiss, but he was very much a fantastic violinist whilst the titanic sunk around him.

I’m not sure what inspired the 2023 Tripadvisor travellers choice award. Whether it was a nefarious actor or sheer dumb luck is unclear and so I will not comment. But what I will say is this:...

We found this place through reviews and are very happy we ended up here. Me and my husband were in Marbella for 3 nights and came for dinner on our first night. There we met Franz (apologies if we misspelled your name) who couldn’t be more welcoming and made our experience outstanding. He suggested great foods, was very kind and genuine. My husband, who usually is not fan of restaurants, said that he wants to come back another night for this experience! And after our dinner we made a reservation right there for night after. Prices are very affordable, definitely not a tourist scam. Food was amazing.. over course of 2 nights we tried clams, octapus, baby squid, artichokes, sea bass and pistachio dessert - everything was top notch! On the second night he remembered what we ordered night before, what we eat and don’t eat and suggested different things. Thank you Franz and team, it was our pleasure! We will recommend your lovely place to our friends. Greetings...

I need to say that when I came here I was little bit sceptical, restaurant is located on busy street. Waiters are slower but I am in the Spain so need to count with it more manana style 😅 But the most important what I wanted to say I ordered paella and it was the best one what I had in me life. I really recommend it....