A wonderful setting alongside one of Marbella’s best beaches comes accompanied with mesmerising sea views, with the shoreline curving to meet Gibraltar and North Africa. Add to this a stylishly relaxed chic décor with natural and colonial touches, and the stage is set for a memorable experience by the beach.
Casanis La Plage, as the name suggests, is the beachside sibling of the famous restaurant in the heart of Marbella’s historic centre. Its food offering comes from the same place: the heart, with an abundant dose of skill and creativity thrown in as well, but as a venue right upon a stretch of sandy beach, Casanis La Plage also has the feel of a very chilled, tastefully decorated beach club with a truly inviting and relaxing ambience. This extends from the layout and design – which features very natural elements skilfully composed with colonial touches – to the live DJ who creates a wonderful seaside soundtrack just made for a perfect day spent the classic Marbella way.
You cannot help but think that life is good when you’re seated on the covered deck of a restaurant like this, looking out over a rolling sea in glistening shades of blue-green, a gentle wind coming off the water. On windy days shutters come down to create a comfortable environment, and for those who want to stay all day the sunbeds are located within a part-shaded area that also offers a great sense of privacy and relaxation.
Cuisine Inspired by the Location
With a setting like this, Casanis La Plage naturally focuses primarily on fish and seafood dishes, with also an excellent range of meat, pasta, vegetarian and light, refreshing options available, not to mention a good wine list and tempting cocktails that befit a venue of this kind. We were tempted, and started a truly enjoyable day by the sea with a selection that included a Zombie Punch – a telling blend of Caribbean rums enlivened with lime, pink grapefruit, cinnamon and other spices – a deliciously soft Mediterranean Sour, which adds fruity flavour to a Pisco base, and a Japanese Mule of Japanese Roku gin, Yuzu and ginger beer.
They are just a few of the tasty and expertly mixed cocktails to choose from, but henceforth we stuck to water and a delicious and indeed also beautiful bottle of Minuty Côtes de Provence rosé blush. They formed the companion for an array of dishes that began with a series of refreshing starters in the form of Peruvian Ceviche – a perfect choice for a setting like this – a Mediterranean dish of hummus, tzatziki, babaganoush, pita bread and cured vegetables and olives. Tuna tartare is another deliciously fresh accompaniment to a venue such as this, while the Vietnamese Nem spring rolls and the Gyoza chicken and vegetable dumplings added a touch of wonderful Asian flavour to dishes that we shared and sampled.
Take Your Time to Enjoy It
Though the service is prompt and friendly, my advice would be to take your time and enjoy a languid afternoon at Casanis La Plage. This is such a beautiful spot and the décor and ambience are so relaxed yet uplifting that you would do yourself short to rush the experience. You might even want to laze on one of the sunbeds before indulging in the kind of lunch we enjoyed.
The main courses again offer a good range of options, and our eyes went to a delicately prepared steak tartare with delicious French fries, classic Mediterranean Calamari, a wonderfully juicy and flavoursome grilled chicken with Hawaiian barbecue sauce, and a very impressive 280-gram steak served with rock salt and a selection of sauces and garnishing. The meat was so good, however, that you were tempted just to enjoy it as is. A feast of this kind is naturally rounded off with delicious desserts, and here too Casanis La Plage delivers; in our case with refreshing lemon pie, coconut cake and red fruits panna cotta, to complete a day to remember, and recommend.
Themed Sunset Evenings
Casanis La Plage also offers a series of themed sunset events, such as the happy, dreamy Sun-blessed Tribe on Saturdays, when beach house music creates a very special chilled vibe as the sun sets in this seaside location. The Sunday sunset is equally celebrated in style, with the Sunday Sunset Ritual, which features guest DJs, drums and sax – just the place to be with a drink in hand watching the sky turn pink, orange and gold.
On 21st July there will be a special Belgian edition of the Sunday Sunset Ritual, accompanied by live DJs, dancers and much more entertainment, ensuring that this is not only a beautiful Marbella spot in which to enjoy fine food and friendly service, but also a chilled atmosphere and wonderful entertainment.
WORDS MICHEL CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHY KEVIN HORN
Urb. Golden Beach, Playa Real de Zaragoza, Exit 190C, Elviria, Marbella. Tel: 952 837 862.