La Baie in Ritz-Carlton, Dubai Marina, Dubai - Restaurant Reviews

La Baie

La Baie’s terrace has always been there when Time Out needed it. From first dates to regrettable break-ups, job interviews to employee-pacifying dinners, the great location and superb French fare has always hit the right note. So when news reached our ears that a change was afoot it was greeted with a mixture of fear and optimism. Would the Ritz-Carlton’s finest eatery finally be tackling its interior problems (while the terrace is superb, the main restaurant has always been too cold and impersonal) or would it wreck a winning formula?

The answer came soon after we crossed the unaltered threshold: rather than tackle its internal issues (the impersonal high ceilings and bright lights still look better suited to host an Agatha Christie play than an intimate evening), LB has been focusing its efforts on its strongest feature: its food.

The menu has been completely rewritten, both in broad sweeps (the French stylings have gone, to be replaced by more seafood-centric concerns), and the finer details have become irritatingly quirky (‘no sir, they’re not appetisers, they’re appe-teasers’). There’s also a brand new sushi bar from which we launched ourselves into these uncharted waters with Chef Randy’s (really?) recommendation. It was superb: a thoroughly successful smash-and-grab of sushi, maki and sublime sashimi. Everything was beautifully simple and fresh and the accompanying miso and chilli sauces pepped where needed. It’s the kind of high we wouldn’t experience again that evening.

The disappointment that followed certainly wasn’t due to the chef’s unwillingness to experiment – names such as seaweed fritters, green tea snow pea puree and truffle jelly (who we’re pretty sure are a prog-rock band from the 70s) leapt from the menu – but sadly these exotic-sounding dishes were somehow lost in translation. The ‘teasers’ proved true to their name, arriving some 30 minutes after Randy’s best was cleared. My seared langoustine came with eggplant caviar, bouchon porcini and a caramel sauce that struggled to make its way from page to plate. Over-salting obliterated whatever flavours the crustacean and caviar once had and, with the sauce lacking, I was soon reaching for a mighty fine Chablis to offer some relief. My partner’s coconut-crusted deep-fried prawns were marginally more successful but were functional rather than fantastic.

My disappointment turned into despair as I tucked into my main. Rather than melting on the tongue, the seared scallops with port wine glaze just lingered like a sullen teenager while the promised five-spice orange butter reduction added precisely nothing. My companion’s painfully average sea bass shone in comparison, despite again suffering from a salt overdose. The meat held up and flaked as required but the roasted dates and Mediterranean couscous were non-entities.

Things were redeemed slightly by a chocolate pudding that hugged the taste buds as tightly as a needy divorcee but on the other side of the table a watery crème brûlée was toyed with before being abandoned in favour of coffee.

We’ve been through enough good times with La Baie to forgive them one bad meal. The service remains impeccable – both polite and friendly – and when the terrace recovers from the cold snap it will remain one of the nicest spots in town. Still, some work certainly needs to be done (or undone) to take the food back to its previous highs and for us to trust them with our special occasions once more.

The bill (for two)
Chef Randy’s recommendation Dhs75
Deep-fried prawns Dhs65
Seared langoustine Dhs70
Seared scallops Dhs150
Pan-fried sea bass Dhs180
Chocolate port cake Dhs20
Crème brûlée Dhs25
Chablis Dhs180
Voss still water Dhs30
Total (including service) Dhs795