Beckett’s Marbella

by Morris Bishop
(San Pedro de Alcantara)

It all started so well, when I saw the Valentines night Menu in an email I received a few days ago, I said to my wife “this look fabulous, and for only 50€” a head, I had already planned exactly what I would have, and my anticipation level was very high.

This was our first visit to this eatery, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Penny
(ex Boardwalk) who is the Maître ‘D there. The room is pleasingly divided into several areas, with a lounge-bar at one end and two dining areas, decorated and lit to a high standard, with comfortable seating and nice table settings.

The menu differed from the email version, which had included an Alaskan King crab, jumbo prawn, and Avocado salad with Horseradish cream and pickled purple onion, which was going to be one of the highlights of our meal, so we had to choose an alternative of a duck salad and a Dim Sum of Pork and Prawn with a dipping sauce for starters, and for Mains, roast baby leg of Lamb and a Beef Wellington. Our starters were preceded by a cheese Fondue with croutons accompanied by a glass of rose champagne, and very pleasant this was!

Our first course arrives, with the Dim Sum in the bamboo steamer, and it was evident
that the pastry had not adhered to the filling and had to be put together to be able to eat
what should have been coherent dipable pieces. The Duck salad was pink and tasty.
The enormous slow roasted Lamb was excellent.

As for the Wellington, which was not a slice from whole fillet, but an individual piece, From first looks it was not the lovely golden, crispy flaky pastry that one expects, neither had it been sealed to retain the gorgeous juices that should be within, though I could detect mushroom in the Duxelles the onion hadn’t been sautéed and the pastry was a thin, soggy, and unattached thing! So all of the cooking juices had escaped and I don’t think the meat had been seared before assembling in the en croute. Altogether, a most unappealing dish, both in presentation and taste.

Then followed a delightful sharing platter of Pavlova, berries, a champagne & passion fruit coulis with a Baileys cheesecake and a chocolate tart dessert.

There was no effort to make this a special evening save the menu, there was however a singer, but she was at the other end of the restaurant and we could barely hear her, let alone see her!

I mentioned to Penny the fact that I was disappointed with the Wellington and owner Mark
Tried to defend their version saying “that there are many different recipes for this” and something about breadcrumbs that I didn’t understand. But he was unimpressed with my criticism of this dish! And sadly, this has sealed the fact that we will not be returning to Becketts. It has given me absolutely no pleasure in writing this one hundred and first review, and indeed I was in two minds as to whether I should publish this or not, but as my wife rightly says, “Good or bad, You always tell it as it is”

Bishlin marks out of 5
Ambience 4.5
Food: (average) 3
Service: 4
Menu: would have been 5 but in the event 4
Value: 3.5
O/A 3.5