Having gone to the trouble of making our friendship ‘digital’, we trust that any visit to us, recent or otherwise, was a pleasant experience?

If it’s not too much trouble we would like to know more about your experiences with us on Tripadvisor – NOTE: You can do this from your Facebook account, no need to create a Tripadvisor profile!

Simply click the Tripadvisor icon on the Villa Marina Facebook page and fill in the short form. It’s very quick and helps us feel loved, which, on Valentine’s Day, is what really matters?

Lots of love from us all here, and we hope to see you soon x

We tend to get booked up very quickly so if you are interested in celebrating the occasion with us then please get in touch.

New Year’s Eve has always been a special night for us as we see so many of the regulars who have supported us over the last 25 years.

We hope that you all enjoy the occasion as much as we do and see the New Year in with style.

To make an enquiry or reservation please fill in the form below or contact us by phone on 01491 575 262.

We hope you are all well and look forward to seeing you all over the coming weeks and months as we build up to the Christmas and New Year period.

To view the new menu, click here.

To make an enquiry or discuss the arrangements for your party please feel free to contact us using the form below.

All the best,

Fabio

Our 5 course Christmas day lunch menu is priced at £70 per person.

To view this years menu please click here.

To make an enquiry or reservation please fill in the form below contact us directly on 01491 575 262.

Benvenuto a tutti! Thinking of visiting Rome this year? It’s my home town – and if you are heading
that way I say get out of town! Make the short 30-minute trip to Tivoli to visit the inspiration for
my Marlow restaurant, the Villa d’Este, residence of Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este in the late 16th century.

Grandson of a pope (and a failed contender himself), and son of Lucrezia Borgia, Ippolito II was born into the heart of the Machiavellian (literally) politics of Renaissance Italy and, like one modern Italian politician with a talent for self-promotion who comes to mind, he did pretty well for himself – which is why he wanted a fab pad.

What makes Villa d’Este really remarkable, though – enough to have been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations – is the design of its gardens and, in particular, its fountains. This, of course, is why it’s well worth making the 30-minute bus journey out of town to get there. The gardens are terraced and so well designed that the effect is breath-taking, especially when you consider that the water pressure is achieved by gravity alone – the builders had to rediscover ancient Roman water engineering techniques to achieve it, and the fountains still function the same way today.

It’s a World Heritage Site because it’s one of the very best examples of a Renaissance garden, and it influenced garden design for centuries to come (you should see mine). Just next door is another remarkable example of Roman engineering (and another UN World Heritage Site), Villa Adriana, which was the Emperor Hadrian’s retreat and is one of the most fascinating Roman sites in Italy. So even in those regal days there was clearly neighbourly rivalry. I wonder if they ever called next door to borrow a cup of pasta?

So I guess you could sum it up by saying ‘When in Rome…get out of town!’ You won’t regret it.

• 10 oz (275 g) King Edward potatoes (about 2 medium-sized potatoes)
• 3½ oz (95 g) plain flour, sifted, plus a little extra for rolling
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• salt and freshly milled black pepper
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 2 oz (50 g) butter
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 3-4 level tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano);

Direction

First place the potatoes, with their skins on, in a suitably sized saucepan, almost cover with boiling water, add some salt, then put a lid on and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until tender. Then drain well and, holding them in your hand with a tea cloth, quickly pare off the skins using a potato peeler. Then place the potatoes in a large bowl and, using an electric hand whisk on a slow speed, start to break the potatoes up, then increase the speed and gradually whisk until smooth and fluffy. Now let them cool.

Next, add the sifted flour to the potatoes, along with half the beaten egg, season lightly and, using a fork, bring the mixture together. Then, using your hands, knead the mixture lightly to a soft dough – you may need to add a teaspoonful or so more of the egg if it is a little dry. Now transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface, flour your hands and divide it into quarters. Now roll each quarter into a sausage shape approximately ½ inch (1 cm) in diameter, then cut it, on the diagonal, into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces, placing them on a tray or plate as they are cut. Cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes, but longer won’t matter.

After that, using a fork with the prongs facing upwards, press the fork down on to one side of each gnocchi so that it leaves a row of ridges on each one; at the same time, ease them into crescent shapes. The ridges are there to absorb the sauce effectively. Now cover and chill the gnocchi again until you are ready to cook them. To cook the gnocchi, firstly bring a large, shallow pan of approximately 6 pints (3.5 litres) of water to a simmer and put the serving dish in a low oven to warm through. Then drop the gnocchi into the water and cook for about 3 minutes; they will start to float to the surface after about 2 minutes, but they need 3 altogether.

When they are ready, remove the gnocchi with a draining spoon and transfer them to the warm serving dish. For the sauce, melt the butter with the garlic over a gentle heat until the garlic turns nut brown in colour – about 1 minute. Next add the sage leaves and allow the butter to froth while the sage leaves turn crisp – about 30 seconds – then spoon the butter mixture over the warm gnocchi. Sprinkle half the Parmesan over and serve the rest separately.

• 1 lb small tagliatelle
• ½ onion, small
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 7 oz tomato sauce
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• ⅝ lb squid
• ⅝ lb langoustines, small
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt

Perparation

25 minutes preparation + 15 minutes cooking
Soften the finely-chopped onion over low heat in a small amount of oil and then add the finely chopped garlic without letting it brown.

Add the squid in small pieces until it is lightly browned and has lost its liquid. Pour in the white wine and allow to evaporate. Blend in the tomato sauce diluted in a little hot water (in the end the sauce must be a pinkish color).

At the end add the prawns which cook in 3 minutes.
Dress with this sauce the tagliatelle cooked al dente and garnish with chopped parsley.

• One boneless whole pork side, skin on
• 1 cup Garlic, chopped
• 2 cups Rosemary sprigs
• 1 cup Toasted fennel seed
• ½ cup Salt
• ¼ cup Pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
• Ground fennel seed, as needed

Preparation

Combine the salt, fennel seed, and pepper black pepper. Rub cut side of pork well with mixture and let stand 10 minutes.

Spread garlic and rosemary over the cut side and rub in well making sure that it is spread evenly.

Roll the pork up like a carpet, making sure that the pork loin is in the center of the roast.

Use butcher’s twine to tie the roast. Begin by tying a loop around the center of the pork roast.

Place a loop around the pork every 2 inches, alternating sides beginning with your center loop.

Season the outside of the roast very well with salt and pepper and then rub well with olive oil. Let the roast stand at room temp for one hour or refrigerated over night to allow the seasoning to penetrate the roast.

Roast the pork in a shallow roasting pan with an inch of water in the bottom at 325 degrees.

Turn the pork ¼ turn every ½ hour and add water as needed to keep about an inch of water in the pan at all times.

When an internal temperature of 150 degrees is reached then remove the pork from the oven and let rest for at least 40 minutes.

Pour the cooking juices out of the roasting pan into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Use a ladle to skim the fat off the juice.

Use a sharp slicing knife or rounded serrated knife to slice 1 inch slices off the roast. Place the slices on a plate and drizzle with the cooking liquor and extra virgin olive oil.

Finally give the roast slice a light dusting of toasted, ground fennel seed.

• 1.5 Kilos (52.91 oz) Gilthead Sea bream
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Rosemary sprig
• 1 Garlic clove
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and black pepper

Preparation

Clean the fish.
With sharp knife make a cut from tail to head, remove the entrails with your fingers the remove scales by scraping the fish with the dull edge of the knife from tail to head.

Wash the fish with cold running tap water, remove the gills with your fingers .
To help the fishbone removal once cooked, make a slash along the fish and another cut along the backbone on both sides

Place a piece of baking paper on a baking dish, cut two lemon slices then cut them in half.
Salt the cavity, add a pinch of black pepper, insert the garlic clove in the cavity, half rosemary sprig and two slices of lemon.

Drizzle the baking dish with olive oil, transfer the fish to the dish,
place one half lemon slice under tail and head to prevent their burning. Season the fish with a pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper, one rosemary sprig, and drizzle over a little olive oil.
Preheat the oven to 180 C. (350 F.) and place the dish in the oven.

The cooking of every fish is 15 minutes per kilo, this fish 1.5 Kilos (52.91 oz) must cook for 20 – 25 minutes.

Once cooked, remove the baking dish from oven, transfer the fish to a large serving dish, drizzle with olive oil and serve.