Sea Grill, Puente Romano Marbella

Sea Grill has been the signature restaurant at Puente Romano Marbella since 2012. After a thoughtful remodelling in early 2026, Chef Leonardo Ferchero and his team build each day’s menu around what arrives that morning from the fishing boats of Marbella, Málaga and Algeciras, from a close-knit group of farmers across Málaga province, and from the resort’s own organic market garden. Guests can expect wild sea bass and langoustines straight from the docks. Antonio sends wild asparagus from Sierra de Yeguas. Emilio picks rare tomatoes in Coín each morning. Domingo grows baby peas in the Sea Grill farm nearby. With each ingredient, the servers can tell you who grew it and where.

I have known Sea Grill for well over a decade, and this latest chapter feels like the most focused. The restaurant now occupies the upper level of the resort’s sea facing pavilion building, with the new La Petite Maison taking the lower, direct sea-facing space. Sea Grill is a more intimate, more cohesive space, and it suits the restaurant well.

We took a seat at our table and ordered a Negroni, prepared tableside from a trolley, served with an ice cube pressed with the Sea Grill logo and a neat circle of orange peel. Generous and well made. I had the cocktail of the day, whisky with a carrot liqueur made from the resort’s own farm, shaken and served in a coupe glass. Superb. From the bar you look straight across to the marble seafood counter on the east side, where the day’s catch sits on a bed of crushed ice under a continual flow of dry ice, framed by a view out across the terrace to the gardens and the sea beyond. On the day we visited, a ronqueo carving of a whole bluefin tuna was taking place behind the counter. It is the kind of scene that tells you immediately this kitchen lives by what it says about provenance.

Tables are set with white linen with dark blue water glasses and bespoke plates. Each is white with a blue rim and a small stamp, topped with a signature plate featuring three blue sardines. Fun, and distinctly Sea Grill. Blue velvet banquettes line the west wall, vintage-style ribbed glass globe lamps with maritime brass fittings hang from the white wood and glass pergola ceiling, and on the north wall, bespoke hand-painted ceramic tiles of fish, octopus and shells frame a wide cinematic hatch into the open kitchen. The team in white shirts, blue chinos and aprons move through the room with relaxed, attentive confidence. The one note I would lose is the terracotta pot of fresh herbs on each table, which feels at odds with the otherwise pared-back, refined aesthetic.

Bread arrived in a small iron skillet, soft buttery rolls like a light brioche, accompanied with a marble tablet of two house-blended butters. One a rich salted and the other with green algas. Irresistible. Then the smoked salmon, carved tableside from a trolley, a time-honoured recipe with a deep, authentic smoke flavour. Alongside, the classic accompaniments in miniature, including finely chopped hard-boiled egg, capers, red onion. Beautifully done, simple and elegant. The tuna tartare with Japanese mayo was a delight.

The artichokes, pan-fried in olive oil, were among the best I have had in Andalucía. A genuine highlight. The yellowfin tuna steaks, prepared à la roteña with tomatoes, onions and peppers, one of six ways the kitchen offers to prepare your fish, were less memorable, though the fresh asparagus alongside, dressed with olive oil and black pepper, was good.

Desserts are evocative of Spanish classics and traditional treats. The flan was one of the finest homemade Spanish-style flans I have tried, soft and creamy, flecked with ground vanilla pods. The bread, olive oil and chocolate was less successful in my opinion, the mousse too runny with too much oil, but served with crisp toasted slivers of crystal bread to enjoy. Both are evocative of Spanish childhood treats, the bread and chocolate a nod to the merienda, the afternoon snack of a bar of chocolate on bread. With coffee came a warm magdalena, generous after an already substantial meal.

The house white, a Nekeas Blanco 2025 from Navarra, was a good, enjoyable glass. In fact, the by-the-glass selection is extensive, and the full wine list, overseen by Wine Director Alejandro Marcos, holds over 1,400 references with two consecutive Wine Spectator awards. The dessert wine pairings alone, from a 1984 Don PX to Château d’Yquem 2022, tell you everything about the ambition of this cellar.

The quality across the board is reflected in the pricing. With a couple of starters, a fish course, dessert and a glass of wine each, lunch for two will comfortably reach almost €300. It is worth knowing before you sit down, but for this level of produce, preparation and service, it feels fair.

Sea Grill continues to earn its place at the centre of this landmark gastronomic resort. More intimate, more personal, and with a daily-changing menu that gives it a clarity and honesty genuinely rooted in the land and the sea around it.

This was a hosted lunch.