There are pros and cons to having a mum who’s a Cordon Blue (read: super fancy) trained chef. The big pro was obviously being treated to classic French dishes like Beef Bourguignon on a regular basis, while the main con is being all too aware that the key ingredient to a delicious meal is butter (although TG my selective memory usually helps me forget this).

A new French restaurant opened in Dubai six weeks ago. La Môme is on the 49th floor of the Nassima Hotel on the SRZ, and as soon as you enter you know it’s a bit special. Styled around a post-war 1950’s vibrant French restaurant, with a simple intimate feel to it, and Edith Pilaf’s voice booming throughout. Overall my experience at La Môme was my favourite dining experience of the year. Here’s why:

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Three people have put their hearts into La Môme

Too often in Dubai, a celebrity face or ‘buzzy’ NY/London restaurant lends itself to a Dubai restaurant, but the Dubai equivalent rarely matches up. It’s a different story here. When we ate we met the three restaurateurs behind La Môme, I noticed each of them greeting guests throughout the night, all three more than happy to talk food and their trade. There’s heart gone into this restaurant, you can taste it in the food, and hear it when you talk with them.

The layout is simple, intimate and classically French 

As soon as we arrived, my first thought was this was the perfect date spot, with single candles lighting at each table, deep red exposed brick walls, simple Edison lighting and romantic music. But then I saw it as the ideal intimate spot for groups of friends to drink lots of wine and demolish an amazing dinner. You’ll get swept away by the atmosphere here, you could be in Dubai, France or maybe New York. 

Forget tiny morsels of food, you’ll be served up old school French cooking here

Modern French cooking is all foam and pretty (tiny) plates of food. Traditional French cooking is about the flavour and it’s unapologetically messy. La Môme serves up the latter, and we couldn’t be happier about it.

Excuse the shoddy pictures, they really don’t do the meals justice. 

We started with the fish special and foie gras served with brioche.

For mains we had beef bourguignon and the roasted pigeon

The beef was something else. It’s never a good idea to order something your mum used to make because it will never match up, but in a compliment to both the chef and my mum, the dish tasted just like it used to. They even served an extra gravy boat in case you wanted more. Perfection. 

It came with a creamy mash, and we also had the super garlic-ey, amazing potato gratin.

Then the desserts…”Do you trust me?”

Asked one of the owners…and after such a great main course, how could we say no?

We were served not one, not two, but three desserts. A homemade Toblerone chocolate mousse served with a huge dollop of cream, (this comes in an unlimited dish, should you have room for more) a sticky, salty caramel pudding and a creme brulee…. By the end of the night, we were rolled out. But it was so worth it. 

Here’s what our evening looked like in a couple of nine second clips

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What’s the damage?

Starters 45 – 99

Sharing plates 129 – 570

Mains from 105

Call 04 308 0470 for more info