Barça Club in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai - Restaurant Reviews

Barça Club

The Palm welcomes its most romantic spot to date. We try out the menu, rate the location, and tell it like it is - we liked 7 Reviews

If you’re after an intimate venue for some romancing you can’t get much better than Barça Club. Hidden in the lower echelons of an imposing-looking apartment building on The Palm, with no signage to announce its presence, my (sadly platonic) date and I were unsurprised to find a near-deserted restaurant.

Barça Club’s secluded feel actually conjures an exclusive vibe thanks to its tasteful, Gaudí-esque decor, candlelit banquettes and Latin-inspired soundtrack. An inexcusable letdown, though, comes in the form of the bathrooms: should the (very quaffable) house wine necessitate a trip to the WC, you will have to wander down to the sporting facilities’ changing rooms. In the ladies’ icy confines, the cubicle door doesn’t even come close to shutting (making the place’s emptiness something of a blessing).

You know you’re somewhere a bit swanky when the maitre’d is allowed to wear a tasteful dress of her own choosing. After we had surveyed the venue and chosen our table, we were presented with a complimentary amuse bouche, a tasty ‘golden gazpacho’ which was actually green and contained peaches, gin and coriander among other things. Perusing the menu, we couldn’t help but be distracted by the only other people there. Obviously on a first date, we tried not to giggle as the man showed off to his companion while simultaneously flirting with the waitress in the most cringe-worthy manner (at one point he actually sleazed, ‘You’re just desperate to serve me, aren’t you?’)

Luckily, the interesting array of dishes on offer distracted us from this distressing scene. The menu is mainly Spanish with French, Italian and Moroccan influences, the central theme being classic dishes presented in a contemporary way. To start, I opted for a trio of bruschetta, while my pal tried her luck with the Spanish meatballs. Coarse, well-seasoned and made from Aberdeen Angus beef, the latter were, quite simply delicious. The former was almost as good: bruschetta number one was topped with a simple tomato mix; number two held an asparagus spear wrapped in slightly dry smoked salmon; and the third provided a final resting place for some of the finest mushrooms I’ve ever tasted.

No sooner had we laid down our cutlery than the mains were whipped out and proudly placed before us. ‘I hadn’t even swallowed my last mouthful!’ my alarmed date whimpered, before tentatively tucking into her second beefy course, a splendid fillet steak. She needn’t have worried though: the meat was so tender, it glided down the throat – it truly was cooked to perfection. The rather half-hearted attempt at accompanying veg was the only let-down: a teeny glob of unexciting mash sat on top of the hunk of meat, and a pair of asparagus spears added little charm.

Being on the FWPC (Fair-Weather-Post-Christmas) diet, which entails trying to cut down on calories but not bothering to resist if a box of choccies is being handed round the office, I opted for the one dish that didn’t come with some form of carbohydrate- based portion: beef bourguignon. Luckily, I’m a fan of low-level lighting and so I didn’t mind that I couldn’t really see which element of the low-key dish was on my fork at any one time: both the mushrooms and the beef chunks were soft, plump and coated in a rich, thick red-wine gravy. The abundance of whole garlic cloves made me thankful that I wasn’t on a hot date – although I’m not sure my friend was as glad of this on the cab ride home.

We had already been warned on arrival that the restaurant isn’t yet serving desserts, because they’re ‘still trying to choose the perfect selection’. Although it’s only been open a month, this did seem a little odd, but it was probably for the best – one of the clauses of the FWPC diet is that, if dining for professional purposes, three courses are perfectly acceptable, and that just ain’t good when in the throes of Mission ‘Eradicate The Muffin Top’.

The bill (for two)
1x bruschetta Dhs40
1x Spanish meatballs Dhs45
1x beef bourguignon Dhs105
1x fillet steak Dhs125
1x large water Dhs15
2x glasses of house wine Dhs70
Total (including service) Dhs400