Our Review of Forum Marbella

We end up at Forum almost every week and it never gets old. It's right on the Golden Mile, directly across from Marbella Club Hotel, and the setup is perfect for families — an open-air commercial centre with three floors of restaurants, cafes, and a handful of shops, all built around a central fountain plaza where the kids can run around while you finish your coffee.

Our usual routine starts at Nybakat, the Swedish bakery on the ground floor. They open at 8am and do proper sourdough bread, pastries, and sandwiches. The cinnamon buns are a family favourite and the kids demolish the croissants. If we're after something more substantial, Planta Bistrot does a solid breakfast and brunch with healthy options. Kofficlub is another morning go-to — specialty coffee that's genuinely good, not just beach-town good.

For lunch, there's a surprising range. Beast does Asian food with a fun atmosphere, Fisherman's Daughter serves fresh seafood if you're feeling fancy, and then there's Fiorentina — the Italian trattoria that works for everyone. The adults get a proper sit-down meal (voted best restaurant in Marbella 2025 by Vogue), and the kids are happy because the pizzas are genuinely great. It's become our go-to when we want a real lunch rather than just snacking our way through the centre. After that, the kids drag us to Charly Cook for rolled ice cream made by a former El Bulli and Noma chef. It's become our standard bribe for good behaviour.

The whole place is buggy-friendly with lifts between floors, and there's enough covered area that it works on a rainy day too. It's not a playground or a kids' attraction — it's just a really well-designed spot where eating out with children is genuinely easy. No one bats an eye at a toddler wandering around with a croissant, and there's enough variety that even fussy eaters find something they'll eat.

We rate this one highly because it solves the "where should we eat?" problem so reliably. Everyone picks what they want, the kids are happy, and it feels like a proper outing rather than just grabbing food.