Mercato Della Fontanella — Restaurant in Marbella

This whole experience was hit and miss. We stopped in the bar before our reservation to have a cocktail and ordered an old fashioned and dry martini off the standard menu. The old fashioned arrived with so much ice it was impossible to tip to get a sip out of and was awkward to get rid of the second large cube because no napkins were supplied. It was a good drink without the excessive ice. The dry martini arrived with two beautiful, tasty olives that unfortunately had pits so it made for a tacky experience as I have never been served a cocktail (salads, yes) with olives with pits. Also, olives in even numbers are often considered bad luck - one or three is better.

At the table, we were greeted with a bread basket and we ordered a bottle of wine and water along with the Fiori di Zucca Fritti starter, Garganelli al Pesto and Tagliata di Entreco as mains. The focaccia looked nice but was dried out and crunchy all throughout like a giant crouton. The starter was beautifully plated and very tasty. The steak arrived and was served on a hot stone and cooked to a perfect medium which was nice but it was topped with raw baby spinach leaves which seemed like they were hiding the steak and tasted odd to eat the raw spinach with the warm steak. The side vegetables were excellet - roasty and tasty. The menu described the steak with ‘rosemary aromas’ - it came with an herb oil that had no rosemary in it and was made with a very cheap oil that tasted rancid. Oh, and I can’t review the pesto dish because it never came. The experience caused us to cancel a second reservation later in the week of our stay. Give them time and feedback because there is potential to be a great restaurant. Lovely decor does not ensure a stellar...

The atmosphere and service are quite decent, they came pretty fast with the drinks even if the restaurant is crowded. One recommendation would be to reprint those menus, when we opened them, a smell of rotten fish hit me and it was not a good impression. The food, will give it a two because we have been there twice, first time a couple then with some friends, both times lasagna was cold, where I understand that things are prepared in advance you cannot bring a dish burning on the sides and cold in the middle. Same with pinsa, it was not as if it was barely pulled out of the oven. Last time, the pinsa diavola was better than yesterday, when I feel like they changed the products a bit because it tasted cheap, or different, I don't know how to place it exactly. On the other hand, the place looks amazing, super modern, something that...

I hesitated for a long time before leaving a review, but after several visits to this restaurant, I think it’s important to share my experience. The food is excellent, truly delicious and consistently high quality. That’s what kept me coming back.

However, one thing unfortunately spoils the experience: the manager. Every time I’ve been here, no matter who I came with, we all had the same impression. He is far too present, intrusive, constantly interrupting, talking too much, moving around the tables all the time… It’s overwhelming and ends up being exhausting.

It’s a shame, because the food is really outstanding, but the manager’s behavior clearly affects the...