Restaurant review: Brasserie Astoria, Marbella
Brasserie Astoria is a Swedish brasserie in the middle of Marbella, which sounds like it shouldn't work and absolutely does. There's a martini I'm still thinking about, a steak sauce made at the tabe, and a crème brûlée that our two munchkins ate with genuine reverence.
It was one of our favourite nights in Marbella. Gorgeous terrace, brilliant food, and the kind of service that makes a long dinner with two children feel completely effortless.
Here's everything you need to know before you book.
A Terrace That Does All the Work For You
You spot it before you're anywhere near the door - that deep terracotta facade with Brasserie Astoria in gold script, palms spilling out below it, the corner of a red-and-white striped awning just visible over the top. It's confident without shouting. Marbella has a lot of restaurants that try very hard to look expensive. This one just looks good.
Upstairs is where it happens. The terrace sits under those striped awnings with white tablecloths, deep red banquettes, green glass pepper mills and little gold table lamps that catch the light at exactly the right hour. There's a domed trellised pavilion at one end, dressed in trailing greenery, that I would happily move into. Book for around 7pm and you'll get the golden hour version - warm light across the linen, the mountains hazy in the distance, everything looking about twenty per cent more beautiful than it has any right to.
The detail I loved most: the plates. Each one has a different little illustrated character in the centre, so every place setting is a tiny surprise.
The Martini. Let's Start There.
Order the martini. I'm going to save you some deliberation and simply tell you.
It arrived properly cold in a fine-stemmed glass, the kind of martini that is bracingly, gloriously itself, and it set the tone for everything that followed.
What We Ate
The råraka was my favourite thing on the table. A crisp golden potato rösti, properly crunchy at the edges, topped with cold soured cream, a generous spoonful of bright orange vendace roe and a scattering of finely chopped red onion and chives. Salt, fat, acid, crunch - it does everything a first course should do and then asks if you'd like another. I would have. I nearly did.
The Toast Astoria came next: a golden fried round of bread piled with prawns in a light, lemony dressing, a few pieces of tomato and radish through it, a tangle of micro herbs on top and a wedge of lime alongside. It's the Swedish classic given the full brasserie treatment, and it's exactly as good as it sounds. Squeeze the lime. All of it.
My husband had the steak - the one with the sauce made at the table, the one with the Hennessy and the flame and the audience. It was excellent. Properly cooked, properly rested, and that sauce genuinely earned its performance. If you go with someone who orders it, angle your chair. You'll want to watch.
And then the crème brûlée. Served in a little red cast-iron skillet with a handle, the top torched to a dark amber, orange zest scattered over. Both children went completely, silently feral for it. Freddie worked his way through his portion with the focus of a small surgeon. Clara had already ordered a second spoon's worth before the first was finished. If you're travelling with kids, know that this dessert is your closing argument, and it wins.
The Service Is the Quiet Star
I want to give the staff their own paragraph, because they were genuinely brilliant.
Warm without being performative, quick without hovering, and completely unbothered by two children at a white-tablecloth table on a busy Friday evening. Water glasses refilled before you noticed they were empty. The kids spoken to directly, like people, rather than over their heads. Nobody made us feel like we'd brought chaos into a grown-up space - which, when you travel with children and still want to eat properly, is worth more than almost anything else on the menu.
Lena's Tips
Book the terrace, and book it early evening. Around 7pm is when the light does its thing. Ask for a table under the awnings or near the trellised pavilion.
Order the martini. You're welcome.
Get the råraka. Even if nobody else at the table wants it. Especially then.
Someone must order the steak with the table side sauce. It's half the fun of the evening.
Save room for the crème brûlée, or accept that your children will finish it for you.
Dress up a little. Nothing formal, but this place deserves the effort and you'll enjoy it more.
The Verdict
Brasserie Astoria is that rare thing - a restaurant that's gorgeous to look at and seriously good to eat in, run by people who make it all feel easy.
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Would we go back? We're already planning it.
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