IT was already a classic. One of Marbella’s stalwarts.
Right by the waterfront in Puerto Banus, the Red Pepper has been holding a torch for Grecian cuisine for over four decades.
First opened in 1984, today it is best known for a recent video showing its clients waving their white tablecloths, as a crooner sings an Abba classic from, perhaps predictably, Mamma Mia.
Looking like a show of support (or anger) at a football match or bullfight, at the Red Pepper it is very much for joy.
Coming just after the place was taken over by a local expat, the timing couldn’t be better.
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Set for a comprehensive overhaul this winter, for now the classic Greek island blue and white decor remains, albeit with an extraordinary stained glass ceiling inset with parrots and cockatoos …a taste of Versace, slightly kitsch, but actually pretty cool.
While the Greek style mirrors and columns will likely go, what will stay, I hope, is the chopping board with a lemon and tomato on each table, plus the interesting Greek fusion menu, curated by new arrival Lucie Sainerova, fresh from a decade in London, Ibiza and Dubai.
Nothing fancy, few punters will feel short-changed with the €28 meze sharing plates, which has just about everything you could want in a Greek starter.
I particularly loved the unusual seabass carpaccio with sweet figs and a ‘zesty’ lemon and mustard dressing. A really clever dish, if a touch heavy on the sauce.
The cured tuna was also handled well, deepest emerald red, with a tomato and garlic salsa and fresh herbs.
And then came the excellent spinach and feta pie with walnuts and pomegranates, the lovely filo pastry showing off the talents Lucie picked up Noviko, in Mayfair, most recently.
The baked aubergine with mixed spices and pomegranates was also beautifully cooked, very tender with a delicious smokey flavour.
The mains had lots of fish and meat dishes, including obviously kleftico lamb and a delicious shoulder of lamb, which falls off the bone.
“I’ve been working in gastropubs since I was 13 so I can roast meat in my sleep,” Lucie, originally from the Czech Republic explained.
Now settling into life on the Costa del Sol, with a husband and a toddler, she is ‘most excited’ about the seafood, if not the heat of summer.
As if on cue, the third souped up Bentley roared past with a 60-something tycoon sat in the driving seat, an attractive, willowly blond sat next to him. The number plate, Cha4li… now I recognise that car.
What’s there not to like here…
www.redpepperpuertobanus.com
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