I’ve had a very exciting week of new launches and openings. Foodie-wise there’s a very new exciting seafood theme night at The W hotel at Al Habtoor City called Sea-Me on Wednesday nights. This was actually the first time I was ever at the W hotel, and as soon as I entered the lobby, I thought of Tron!
Although the lobby was super futuristic looking in a lot of ways, as soon as you enter Level 7 that feel goes away almost immediately. This restaurant looks tasteful to boot. As soon as we were shown to our table, I had already walked past the lounge in the corner and came across this really cool ceviche station. The lighting in the restaurant is very ambient and it’s perfect for a night out with your beau. Right now, the views don’t offer much, but once all the infrastructure on and around completes, it’s definitely going to razzle and dazzle.
We started off our night arriving to the ceviche station where they have salmon, tuna and oysters in a conveyor belt format. They were dished out by the chef as he laid out the crisp flavours that make a good ceviche. Onions, cucumbers, a bit of chilli and lime. Perfection.
If you walk on, there’s an interesting make your own salad station. I’m a sucker for sun-dried tomatos so was happy to see that as part of the greens.Besides this there was a chiller with small plates of prepped dishes. I picked the anchovies and olive butter and F.C. opted for the octopus in a fresh tomato paste. The octopus won, with F.C. going for seconds.
We then went and saw an excellent lobster salad station. This salad was nice and freshly prepared with apples and clean flavours that were light on the stomach. This is a place where you can enjoy some fresh cocktail shrimp, mussels and a couple of other shell fish with a choice of two dipping sauces.
Moving on to a cooking station where there were some seafood favourites such as Paella Catalana, an exceptional risotto and a very fouga-like Arabic shrimp rice. A fish en papillote makes an entrance here, but disappoints despite my previous excitement as the spices were not ingrained. The paella according to F.C. “was not inauthentic,but not quite there.”
At this point, I was getting full but there was so much more to explore! The lamb was cold and dry, but F.C. and I tried the most lovely crusted salmon with a scallop mousse. Favourite dish of the night, closely followed by the octopus. The crust was perfectly crisp, the salmon tender and the mousse creamy.
The Sea-Me night also offered us several well-priced cocktails. I picked the Balearic Cooler, which was spot on with flavours. So refreshing, it made me wish I was sitting by the pool with the Tahitian sun on my back. It had gin, peach shrub, soda and bay leaves.
The desserts were impressive and even though I was too full, I couldn’t help trying the pecan tart, the panna cotta and a blueberry tart. All of which fell flat against the panna cotta ice cream F.C. decided to have and of which I happily kept dipping my spoon in his bowl.
Overall, at AED 245 per person, it’s a steal for the high quality seafood. Give Sea-Me a try!
DISCLOSURE: I was offered a complimentary meal in exchange for this review. However, opinions are my own.
Lovely post, very informative thanks 🙂
It’s going to be interesting to see how the W pans out (no pun intended) as they are stunning when they work well, but can seem gimmicky once the initial novelty, press nights and buzz wears off.
I’m a big, big fan of SPG, Starwood and especially W hotels and have been lucky to have been in some of their best. Although I tried staying away from the W for six months to allow it all to bed in, I tried the pool deck/bar a few weeks – and it still needs work, but any new hotel does.
Hope you got your SPG Starpoints on your spend BTW ….
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed reading it! I only just subscribed to your blog and am now figuring out my way through SPG thanks to you 🙂
Full disclosure: I was asked to review this restaurant in exchange for a “free” dinner.
Well done on the review and the invite, it’s for #winners 🙂
If the W takes off anything like the brand has in other Ws I’ve been in – Hollywood, NYC, Barcelona etc. – then Dubai is in for a real treat.
Thanks for checking out the blog and the SPG articles – it’s well worth getting into, especially in Dubai. There’s a load of articles yet to be published, but feel free to drop a comment or through the socials if you’ve any questions or can help further 🙂
And keep up the great work, of course!