El Lago in Marbella: colour and flavour

Enrique Bellver

Marbella

Monday, 31 March 2025, 11:00

Milos Zdravkovic, at the head of the kitchens of the reborn Marbella restaurant El Lago, has a fascinating gastronomic adventure ahead of him, to put this establishment back among the elite of the Costa del Sol's restaurants and he does so with a culinary philosophy based on the use of local products.

• Address Avda. Marco Polo

• Telephone 952 832 371

• Closed Monday

• Opening hours From 12-5pm and from 7-11pm

• Web restauranteellago.com

• Prices Canelloni: 31€ | Wagyu and foie sauce: 45€ | Apple tartin: 11€

• Valuation Kitchen: 8.5 | Dining room: 8 | Wine list: 7.5

• Rating 8 / 10

El Lago has completely renovated its entire aesthetic, with the rooms decorated more in keeping with what a modern restaurant should be and it has also gained in terms of views over the artificial lake and golf course from inside and from its large terrace. The latter with a new fountain that at night offers a spectacle of light and colour. But it is not only the interior and exterior decoration that has changed, but also the wine cellar and the cuisine. At the head of the dining room and the cellar itself is Hassan Hatochi, responsible for the care of more than 300 different wines, including around 70 national and international champagnes, without forgetting Malaga wines.

The team formed by Milos, Hassan and Elena have not only set out to return El Lago to the benchmark it has been almost since its beginnings, more than 20 years ago, but they also have their eyes and their professionalism set on recovering this restaurant's lost Michelin star. To do so, they have started by doing what should have been done a long time ago, that is, not confusing the client with two completely different menus depending on whether it was lunch or dinner. Now there is no longer any difference and, in addition to the menu, the customer can choose from a tasting menu where the chef's hand and his cooking philosophy are reflected.

Surprising dishes such as tartare on a nest of straw potatoes, low-temperature roasted poussin with red pepper sauce and monkfish confit for dinner. All of these dishes ooze technique, colour, flavour and elegance. Portions designed to satisfy the diner and where our local products are plentiful and blend together to achieve an offer based on a wide range of Mediterranean cuisine.

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Nothing better to start the tasting menu than a delicate and smooth shrimp tartare accompanied by a vegetable papyrus with glass prawns and, as a salty touch, caviar.

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Another more than surprising preparation, sea urchin, fresh peas and seasonal mushrooms. A fusion where the sea flavour and the sweetness of the peas merge with the mushrooms in different textures.

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A coquettish trompe l'oeil. The noodles are not made of wheat, but very thin strips of fresh squid, and the Bolognese sauce is not Italian, but rather an Andalusian-style sauce that plays with the cephalopod to achieve a texture and flavour that is unique.

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Perhaps this should be the name of the dessert, as it consists of fermented banana slices, a banana sponge distilled in manzanilla de Sanlúcar, caramel and chips of the same fruit. A combination of flavour that is just right.