Exotic haven with sumptuous cuisine
Text Jessica White
White sand, blue sea, fruit platters and champagne… they could easily make you think you were on the beach of a Caribbean island. In fact the location is Nikki Beach Marbella where – with white sand imported from Miami – the staff are able to create a relaxing yet funky haven away from the stresses and strains of everyday life.
Nikki Beach has always been known as the place to go for either a sumptuous lunch or a wild, fun day at one of their famous parties such as the Amazing Sundays, and this year is no different. With a fresh, lighter menu of which almost 80 per cent features new dishes, diners can enjoy a delicious meal and then relax on one of the many white beds sipping champagne or one of the beach club’s world-famous cocktails.
Dishes on the new menu include: togarashi-spiced, honey-glazed chick salad mixed with greens, grapefruit segments, red onions, red beets and cashew nuts in a lemon dressing; mixed melon lasagne – of watermelon, green melon and cantaloupe – especially refreshing in the summer heat; crab meat and lobster summer rolls – rice paper filled with rice noodles, crab and lobster meat, cucumber and coriander with a mango and yoghurt dressing, served with calamari rings, a shot of gazpacho and a shrimp salad.
The sushi menu has been revamped and includes “Me and You, Sushi for Two”, consisting of Picasso roll, deep sea roll, salmon, tuna, shrimp, sashimi and nigiri. And there are some fantastic fish dishes such as the grilled Atlantic salmon served on a stack of corn and jalapeno tortillas with avocado, tomato and lime salsa topped with sour cream; and grilled seabass served with lamb’s lettuce and baby tomato salad in balsamic dressing with sun-dried tomato pesto on a bed of grilled potato scallops.
The traditional classics are still on the menu, for example, Kobe Beef Sliders – a favourite of all diners – and some other dishes have a 2010 twist.
While head chef Mario Larese produces his culinary delights in the kitchen, bar manager James Burton knocks up some taste sensations at the cocktail bar. As well as Nikki Beach classics such as the mojito, new cocktails include Blackberry Mint Smash – fresh blackberries, cachaca, cassis, fresh mint; Jumbled Fruit Julep – sky vodka mixed with fresh strawberry and mint topped with apple and pink grapefruit juice; Koh Samui Slinger – sky vodka, black current liqueur and grapefruit, topped with Red Bull or champagne.
This month kicks off a fabulous summer of events with the ever-popular Amazing Sundays beginning on 2 May, the opening White Party on 27 May, a Hawaiian party on 28 May and a Moroccan Charm party on 29 May. Residents and visitors to the Coast can look forward to many more events throughout the summer, as well as Nikki Beach opening for dinner from 2 July with a more elaborate, fine dining menu.