Spain Just Around The Corner
Marbella Restaurant
220-33 Northern Blvd., Bayside
(718) 423-1000
www.marbella-restaurant.com
Cuisine: Spanish
Credit Card: Yes, all major.
Delivery: Yes
If you’re like me, someone who yearns to travel the world in search of great food and places to visit, look no further for your traditional Mediterranean Spanish food than Marbella Restaurant in Bayside.
This cozy restaurant wisps you halfway across our world just to bring you the finest Spanish cuisine. Upon entering, I was greeted by Servando Cid, who has been in charge of his restaurant for more than 35 years. The mastermind behind the restaurant’s great menu is executive chef Esteban Barroso, an originator of the tapas restaurant, which is slowly growing more popular in the Borough. Since Esteban is from Madrid, he likes to think of himself as an innovator bringing his style of cooking to our little place in the world.
Our waiter, Paulino, who always had a smile on his face, explained some of their most popular dishes to me and my guest. We started out with a glass of their homemade Sangria, which delicately coated my pallet as our first course arrived. In Spanish tapas tradition, I decided to share everything I ordered with my guest. The first dish to arrive at our table was an avocado seafood salad, a half sliced avocado stuffed with a ceviche style seafood salad, full of lobster and shrimp and bay scallops. The flavors of this dish were a perfect way to start out our meal, a great starter from their specials of the day. Next was the Mejillones al Whiskey, mussels in a whiskey cream sauce. The restaurant used New Zealand mussels, which are some of the best. For those wanting to know the difference, New Zealand mussels have a green shell, as opposed to the Prince Edward Island black mussels, and are usually larger.
For entrees, we shared their most popular dish, Paella Valenciana con Langosta, which is a traditional Spanish dish combining a saffron yellow rice over lobster, shrimp, bay scallops, chicken, and chorizo, served on a hot skillet which Paulino split and served out for us to enjoy. As we were digging in to all the delicious colors and flavors in front of us the next dish arrived, one of their specials, Lamb shank Osobuco in a Rioja Wine Demi Glaze. Talk about fall off the bone good. The meat slid right off with little effort, and the flavor of the Rioja sauce paired perfectly with this braised lamb shank. This dish was accompanied with boiled red potatoes, steamed carrots and string beans, which were seasoned ever so nicely, not take away from the flavor of the lamb.
For dessert, I decided to order their homemade hot pecan pie (which I’m a sucker for), though I would have liked to try their signature Crepes “Marbella” which is a dish for two, but my guest was full from the delicious Mediterranean cuisine we had just enjoyed.
From great attentive service, to a wonderful array of food, Servando and his crew really know how to cater to his guests. Willing to accommodate anyone who steps in their door with or without a reservation. Their calling is to go above and beyond for their guest’s satisfaction.
-Eric Jordan