Frou Frou Marbella – Review

Frou Frou, the Mediterranean restaurant with Executive Chef Alejandro Rivera leading the kitchen, opens for its second season in Playas del Duque, a few minutes’ walk from Marbella’s glittering marina of Puerto Banús and its superyachts, supercars and designer boutiques.

At this time of year, the dining moves outside, to an elegant garden terrace set back from Avenida Playas del Duque, where lush planting of palms screens the road and gives the tables a private, almost secret garden feel. I went on a mellow Sunday in early summer.

The restaurant comes from Bulldozer Group and the design is unchanged from last year. The main entrance to the interior invites you to pass an ice counter where the day’s catch rests on crushed ice beside chilled champagne. Inside, the space drops through several levels, a glass wine cellar to one side, designer chandeliers overhead, an open kitchen cooking over flame, and a theatrical unisex washroom with a freestanding bath that is pure theatre. The terrace is evocative of the Côte d’Azur, with fringed parasols and Amalfi ceramics, colourful and elegant.

The cooking is Mediterranean with an Andalusian flair, and a luxury streak. So expect plenty of black truffle and caviar across the menu. It is great to see Alejandro Rivera in the kitchen. The group’s brand chef is Sergey Yurchyshyn. We began with a cauliflower salad, razor-thin slices mixed with goat’s cheese, caramelised pecans and basil, fresh and full of flavour and texture. The octopus carpaccio was with bottarga, again well presented.

A whole section of the menu is given to the catch of the day from that ice display, priced by weight and cooked however you like, from delicately baked to raw as sashimi or carpaccio. The lamb chops with chimichurri were excellent, the linguini with black truffle generous, and the sides were excellent, Robuchon-smooth mash and a simple green salad with a good dressing. Marc, the sommelier, suggested a Galician Godello that worked well right across the meal.

To finish, the turrón ice cream is carved to order from a large block beside the table, then finished with pistachio cream poured over, a bit of quiet theatre and very good.

The cocktail list is long and prettily presented, signature drinks alongside floral house lemonades, but a Negroni arrived a little over-iced and garnished with a rough slice of orange, a missed chance on a drink that is almost everyone’s favourite. The team were a real strength, our server excellent and the hostess warm. The atmosphere is mellow, with a low key DJ accompanying our Sunday evening vibe.

Frou Frou is an elegant restaurant with a kitchen that delivers. The interior space is impressive and would lend itself to events and parties.