Located on the front line at the eastern end of the Port, Los Bandidos was launched 35 years ago in August 1986 by proprietor Jill Lindberg, who named her new venture after the Los Bandidos Golf Society of which her then husband Kurt was a member, along with Sean Connery, James Hunt, among a number of other celebrities who enjoyed hitting Marbella’s many fairways. From the very start, the restaurant met with an unprecedented success, and it is no surprise to learn that it is highly commended by concierges of the area’s top hotels when guests ask for a recommendation for dining out in Banús.

The many regular diners, amounting to around 80 per cent at this time of year, return here for a number of reasons. The venue is cosy with a rustic charm conferred from its terracotta flooring, wooden furnishings and natural foliage everywhere overhead. A myriad of framed photos of personalities and celebrities surround you, conveying a distinct touch of class. Its dimensions ensure people sit closely at their respective tables and the convivial ambience results in engaging conversation. Above all else, however, it is the food and service that make any dinner here memorable.

Recipe For Success

Jill is well travelled and, over the years, has managed to recreate all of her favourite international dishes she has encountered, currently amounting to a grand total of 68 on the menu, so that diners are always spoiled for choice even if they are frequent visitors. Once a dish has been perfected, for Jill’s highly discerning palate, the kitchen staff are personally trained to be able to exactly reproduce it every time, under the watchful eye of Head Chef, Alfonso Barea Castellano.

This applies to everything on the menu and is probably unique in Marbella. You can therefore choose with confidence, safe in the knowledge that a particular favourite you have been pining for will be precisely as you remember it, and people keep returning to do this again and again.

For those who have yet to experience these delights, a tempting range of starters, salads, and soups and creams await to prepare your taste buds for the pleasures to come. We tried the Almadraba tuna tartar on a bed of avocado with toast, Asparagus au gratin and smoked salmon, and the Avocado with Norwegian prawns and cocktail sauce. We didn’t have to wait very long for these to arrive, remarkable in itself considering the premises were completely packed, and a notable silence descended on our table as we tucked into our chosen delicacies.

Spoiled For Choice

To follow this welcome introduction to our evening experience, we could have selected from a number of pasta plates, a tempting assortment of fish and sea food options and an impressive lineup of meat and poultry dishes. There is also a section with recommendations on the menu, presenting a degree of difficulty in reaching a final decision – always a pleasant situation to find oneself in. After some amount of consideration, we settled on the Curry-flavoured lobster fricassee on a bed of fettuccine, Confit of duck leg with apple puree and red cabbage, and Solomillo Kurt in pepper sauce, served with green fettuccine, mushrooms and cream au gratin. These proved to be supreme in terms of presentation and taste sensation, mimicking the enticing looking main courses being received by diners at other tables – the market fresh produce, prime cuts of meat and fresh fish are self evident.

It is only natural to accompany such excellent fare with a premium wine and here Los Bandidos excels with a wine list that has even the hardiest wine aficionado deliberating as to choice. It is at once clear that, over its trajectory, the restaurant has acquired a very impressive bodega of fine wines to suit every palate. You can of course also order by the glass, sample one of their chilled house cocktails, or liven up proceedings with some Champagne.

To complete an exceptional meal we were sorely tempted by the Homemade deconstructed Banoffe Pie but settled on the house speciality, crispy Apple Tart and vanilla ice cream, with a lovely glass of Mountain moscatel from the Sierras de Málaga to finish.
Los Bandidos fully deserves its distinguished reputation as a gourmet restaurant where tradition, quality, consistency and excellent service come together perfectly.