La Mer

It is the UAE National Day long weekend and while many friends are out of town or on local staycations, given the five days of celebrations made possible by the 3 days of declared public holidays, we have elected for a quiet extended weekend at home with a little La Mer celebration.

That doesn’t mean we cannot indulge in a little of our own celebrations so Jason & I decide to leave the boys behind for the evening and head out for a date night dinner — destination La Mer.

La Mer is a beach and restaurant destination located in the Jumeriah district of Dubai. It has the feel of a theme park and the retail is built around a meandering mostly wooden esplanade featuring two beaches, a north and a south beach, connected by a water park and cinema complex on the small peninsula between the two.

In addition to the beaches and restaurants there are child friendly activities such as a large air pillow area, small playgrounds, a dig-it construction zone and ride on bikes for hire around the complex. Ice cream and smoothie outlets abound as well as cafes and casual dining options taking into account all tastes and desires. There is a large stage set up on the peninsular near the water park, however, the concert that is planned does not appear to be taking place tonight.

We arrive and park at the south end of La Mer. It is about 1.5km from one end to the other but we have nothing particular in mind and nowhere to be so we enjoy following the meandering esplanade. We pass Amorino, a dessert restaurant and are tempted to stop for a coffee. The coffees at BLK Cab Coffee also look pretty good, they also have a tempting array of smoothies on offer. HQ’s 459 is a family friendly all day breakfast and cafe that also has a selection of salads, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, burgers and other mains if the breakfast mood doesn’t strike you. There is also burgers, Sushi, seafood, Indian and Arabic as well and that is just on the South side. We take a look at the beach and menus as we walk along.

It is a beautiful winter afternoon in Dubai, about 28°C and people are out swimming and enjoying the long weekend as we are. Children run, play and scooter and tourists snap selfies on the beach and in front of some of the water features running through amongst landscaping and the buildings.

Too late in the afternoon for a coffee and too early yet for dinner or ice cream treats, we find The Bungalow behind Laguna Waterpark on the central peninsula, a bar overlooking the beach in a garden style resort setting. It looks perfect although alas it is only 4:30pm and it doesn’t open until 5pm. We press on past Dunkin’ Doughnuts, Pretzel World, Tart Barkery and Crepetastic to the Northern beach passing Hawa Hawa (children’s air pillow playground) and Smoky Beach which serves Turkish coffee and shish tawook but is most popular for shisha as is evident by the distinct apple smell wafting our way.

We end up right at the northern end and spot Stars N Bars an American style sports bar and lounge with upstairs seating that we can tell optimises its west facing aspect. What’s more it has happy hour (alcohol available) which is just about to start. We nab ourselves a first floor balcony table for two with a prime view of sunset over La Mer and sit back, me with my Chilean rosé (Antares Cabernet Sauvignon) and Jason selects a glass of Jacobs Creek Pinot Grigio, a little taste of home.

We sip our drinks and catch up, chatting about not very much and enjoying the blazing orange sunset melting into pinks, purples and blues as the sun goes down and the moon appears over the water.

Jason’s spaghetti topped chicken parmigiana and my ‘hell yeah’ spicy burger on a charcoal bun arrive and we enjoy our meals and watch the lights come on over Downtown.

As we make our way back after dinner, stopping for that ice cream along the way, the district takes on a completely different feel, lit up for night time and distinctly busier than earlier. Families, groups of friends and couples are all out to enjoy the mild night and Dubai does, in general, seem to come out to play after dark.

I, however, am happy to get home. Having had my outing, our date night is finished off by kissing the boys goodnight in their sleep and settling onto the couch to watch a Netflix movie before bed.

UAE National Celebrations complete!

Would I Return?

Yes. Although La Mer was opened in late 2017 in time for the winter season, I visited here early 2018 and only the northern beach and adjacent shops and restaurants were operating.

Since then, the southern beach and restaurants have opened as well as the Waterpark and retail on the peninsula area.

La Mer has grown up. During the day there is the beach, Waterpark, children’s activities and enough choices of restaurants that you could spend days here and not try everything. At night it turns into a dining destination with a difference dishing up an enviable array of cuisine not to mention a couple of bars and Train Beach Club – Dubai’s first fitness inspired beach club featuring a gym, pool, beach access and a ‘fitness’ restaurant. Whatever it is, the music was loud last night.