When I first moved to Dubai, I lived on the 68th floor of one of many sea-facing skyscrapers in Dubai Marina — with a living room window overlooking Barasti, its beach and the big blue stretching out beyond.
And, as I jostled with seven housemates to bag the best seat on the balcony at sunset, I often gawped across the open water and felt things couldn’t get any better. Fast-forward four years and, remarkably, they have.
Not only am I free of the nightmare of sharing a flat, but our spine-tingling vista has a glamorous newcomer: Dubai Harbour. At the heart of it all is one of the city’s finest new openings of the year: L’Amo Bistro del Mare at the harbour’s Yacht Club.
The Italian seafood restaurant has been reeling in diners since March. It is the brainchild of the Mine and Yours Group, which is also behind the opening of Chic Nonna in Dubai International Financial Centre in August, and Sunset Hospitality, of Sushi Samba and Drift Beach fame.
What to expect, where to sit
The restaurant is reached via a lift from the main entrance. Inside, the soaring floor-to-ceiling windows bathe the interiors in light — either from the orange hues of the daytime sun or from the twinkling skyscraper skyline at night.
The restaurant offers seating options made up of plush booths, wraparound terraces and balconies, and a bar adjacent to an icy seafood counter where diners can pick their own catch of the day.
We take a cosy table close to the sliding doors opening on to the breezy terrace and, just like the superyachts floating metres away, anchor in for the evening. This is white linen tablecloth dining without the fuss; the rest of the interior is a mix of muted nautical tones, warm gold lighting and cool grey seating.
But the 360-degree vista of the harbour, Dubai Marina and Bluewaters Island is really the star of the show. Until the food arrives.
The menu
It is deliberately compact: a smattering of small plates, a handful of hot dishes, a sprinkle of pastas and dainty desserts. Here, head chef Lorenzo Buccarini wants the quality of ingredients to shine. For example: Piedmont Fassona beef tartare; Dover sole with capers, chives and a lemon butter sauce; saffron risotto with langoustine and Oscietra caviar. High-grade ingredients, sourced locally and from across the Mediterranean, presented beautifully.
Take the le tre tartare, or trio of tartare: Sicilian red prawns are finished with caviar, the tuna has capers and a zing of mayo, and the sea bass is complemented with mullet roe. Each is delicately prepared — but leave your pretences at the door because they’re made to be slapped, spread and crunched over croutons as well as freshly baked sun-dried focaccia and slices of sourdough.
Smartly dressed staff provide smiling and swift service alongside excellent recommendations while the terrific sommelier works the floor. Out flow two further dishes recommended by our waitress — roasted octopus, and spaghetti mancini served with sea urchins, Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper.
They’re grown-up dishes, which, true to form, are unintimidating. It’s a bowl of pasta and charred slices of octopus, both ready to be dived straight into.
Seeing our insatiable appetites softening slightly, our waitress thankfully pauses before bringing out the evening’s headliner: her recommendation of grilled sea bass for two. And, when it comes, it more than lives up to its billing; although more on that later.
We end with a sharing dessert of home-made pistachio ice cream with sour cherries. It superbly captures the soul of Sicily, the spirit land of pistachios and ice cream.
Standout dish
The aforementioned sea bass sharer for two is grilled whole before being placed on a metal tray and served tableside by our waitress. She’s given the unenviable task of deboning the enormous fish. Despite our eyeballs boring a hole into the top of her head as she leans over, she executes the procedure with deft precision.
Simply gliding her knife underneath the fillet is enough to remove the flawlessly cooked fish, which is served with roasted broccoletti, roasted potatoes and spinach. We pour the warming, light and citrusy sauce and tuck in: it’s meaty, it’s accomplished, it’s culinary perfection.
Come autumn, once the sliding doors open to bring the outdoors in, L’Amo could fit seamlessly into any Mediterranean marina from Monte Carlo to Marbella.
As for the cooking, there isn’t a pea foam in sight, nor a deconstructed side order or a flambeed dessert designed to look like a tomato although is secretly custard. It’s honest: it’s no-frills traditional dining and we adore it.
A chat with the chef
Chef Lorenzo has worked in Michelin-lauded kitchens while travelling the world, quite literally, having been a sous chef on the Disney cruise liner in the Caribbean before holding positions in the UK, Turkey, Bali and Morocco.
More recently, he led the team at Nammos, located in the Four Seasons Resort Dubai in Jumeirah. The Mykonos-inspired restaurant has welcomed everyone from Cristiano Ronaldo to Sheikh Hamdan, Crown Prince of Dubai, who also visited L’Amo in May.
For his journey here, he explains how he intends to wow diners. “I want to execute simple cooking using seasonal produce at their freshest,” he says. “Ingredients that are in season naturally taste great when combined together.”
He cites his favourite dishes as breaded veal Milanese for carnivores; sea urchin spaghetti for seafood lovers; burrata, beetroot, tomato and walnut salad for vegetarians; and the aforementioned pistachio ice cream for those with a sweet tooth.
In his own words, his food philosophy is: “I let the food speak for itself.” And, at L’Amo, it’s screaming: “Eat me!”
Price point and contact information
Fresh catches vary in price depending on the size; the sea bass for two is Dh650 per kilogram. Starters average Dh60 to Dh80, mains are Dh110 to more than Dh400, and sides average Dh25. The best option is to try the summer lunch menu, which runs Monday to Thursday between noon and 2pm. For Dh139, guests can choose a starter, main and dessert.
Open daily noon-3pm, 6pm-midnight; Dubai Harbour Yacht Club, Dubai. Reservations can be made by contacting 04 278 4800 or visiting www.lamorestaurant.com
This review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant
