Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
WITH its sunken ponds, stone walls and acres of new wood, you feel like you’ve entered Blofeld’s home in You Only Live Twice.
Extremely zen, Koi restaurant maximises on space and light, using contemporary recessed skylights and dozens of indoor climbing plants and vines.
Taking its name from the Japanese fish that was first displayed in Tokyo in 1914, it appropriately has a water feature with natural rock walls at one end of the restaurant.
And, while there is a terrace outside, on a cool evening it has the theatrical look to make you feel very much at home… particularly if you’re in the heart of it on the central banquette.
The flash of flames from the kitchen adds to the milieu, while the engine room of chefs goes about creating their ‘pan Asian’ cuisine, which means combining the best of Thailand, China and Japan.
This is a departure, a real departure from the norm on the Costa del Sol.
And, as they claim on the menu, ‘every bite is a journey’.
So the menu turns out to be an exciting trawl through eleven separate sections, from the ‘raw bar’ to the ‘ceviches and tiraditos’ and ‘dim sum’ to ‘salads’.
I’m more interested in the tempura and sushi sections, but kick off with a couple of dishes from the ‘small plates’ section, which include Edamame beans, either salted or spicy (go spicy, every time!)
The garden sushi roll meanwhile, was really fresh – beautifully made with an avocado hat, crystal gem lettuce and seaweed wrap.
A ‘snow crab’ roll with chives, tobiko and cucumber was amazing, and even better when doused in a decent pinch of wasabi.
Next up, I had to try the ‘chef’s selection’ dim sum platter to share. It comes out in a box, with a steaming mix of lobster and prawn and chicken gyozas, Peking duck spring rolls and splendid diver scallops in a ‘kataifi’ pastry with an ‘xo sauce’. All in all a massive winner.
While my son went for Chinese sticky pork ribs with ginger and siu sauce, which he loved, my vegetarian friend Guy enjoyed the tempura vegetables and a vegetable pad Thai.
I was recommended The ‘San Choi bow’ which is a classic finger dish in which you make your own baos.
It comes with a big plate of wagyu beef, with basil, coriander, lime and roasted peanuts to add into a lettuce leaf as you see fit.
Visually, the best was to come with the ‘baobing’ strawberry shaved Taiwanese snow ice.
Out came our waiter Emiliano, a friendly chap, with a device which somehow made candy floss in front of our eyes, mixed in with chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries, dragon fruit and vanilla ice cream.
We shared it between three of us and were more than sated.
I could be carping on about this place for months, if you’ll excuse the pun.
You can view the menu here.
Boulevar Principe Alfonso Hoenlohe 39, Marbella
tel:+34952770760
