La Carnita Dubai: do first impressions always count?
La Carnita Dubai – PR image
When I call a new casual Mexican restaurant just open in Dubai, La Carnita, on a Friday, for an evening reservation, the hostess advises that only a 7 to 9pm slot is available. A booking strategy or is it really that busy? As it happens, I love early weekend dining when am reviewing and we’re in and out by 8.30pm.
La Carnita has arrived in Dubai from Canada replacing Ynot wine bar in the Intercontinental Dubai Marina’s basement. As a transplanted concept and the first outside Canada, I expect guidelines are in place to replicate the model in Dubai. The trick is to adapt it for the local market, and to deliver on excellent food and service. Can La Carnita pull it off?
We enter through the hotel, however a separate entrance from the promenade is also an option. The bar area is busy, partly due to an earlier fashion event, but the restaurant only has one table occupied on arrival, yet the hostess is adamant that we take the first table with overpowering whiffs of smoke emanating from the bar. I request to move to the other side of the dining area, but she claims all tables are reserved. I insist and eventually a manager returns that pleasantly agrees to move us. By the time we leave at 8.30pm, the restaurant is around half-full, so by no means is it too rammed to have accommodated a different table for us. That’s the only service issue throughout the night, where mostly European and Latino staff is wonderfully engaging, well paced and fully versed on the menu and individual dishes.
The one-page menu is as compact as a menu can be, covering starters and salads; tacos and tostadas; and ‘large format’ mains. I love that we are asked what sequence we would like the dishes served, rather than assuming, like most Dubai restaurants these days, that these are all for sharing and for eating as and when the kitchen is ready. Talking of the kitchen, the head chef is Lara Said (hurrah a female for a change) who has a seasoned pedigree moving across from Il Borro, and previously Jean-Georges, La Serre, Bagatelle and La Petite Maison. La Carnita is her first head chef position, an interesting move given her expertise with Mediterranean fine dining cuisine. A talented chef should be able to apply himself or herself to any cuisine, in my opinion. Let’s see.
An avocado mango salad is more than a sum of two parts – with Mexican ingredients of jicama (turnip), pepitas (from the pumpkin seed family) and queso fresco (similar to ricotta) thrown in, and topped with a mound of crisped sweet potato for texture. A good kick of red chilli and a smooth yet tangy coriander lime dressing binds the salad together bringing out gorgeous, robust flavours.
Now on to the real test for a Mexican restaurant – the tacos and tostadas. As an aside, if you’re after some #tacoporn, watch chef David Chang’s Ugly Delicious episode on Netflix. A tostada is a toasted corn tortilla, which arrives warm and freshly baked. We opt for a slightly more unusual topping – a well-balanced and spicy mix of tuna ceviche with guacamole, chillies, and diced tomatoes and cucumbers. Easy to roll up and eat. The menu boasts three veggie tacos and we order the cauliflower topping that arrives deep fried in batter and mixed with a strong Mexican cheese (queso anejo), crema (Mexican sour cream), pickled celery and jalapenos, plus scallions, with a drizzle of hot sauce. It lacks depth of flavour though – perhaps some meat is required 😉
The barbacoa lamb from the main course section is the star dish of the night, and one that clearly reflects chef Lara’s fine dining experience. Her spin on traditional slow-cooked Mexican lamb is, instead, grilled Australian lamb chops glazed with pomegranate and sesame. Super tender, finger lickin’ moreish meat. We are asked our cooking temperature preference and request medium-rare. But it almost borders on rare – excuse the pun, but a rare occasion for a Dubai restaurant, which has a habit of over cooking meat. A delightful pungent Mexican sour cream is served as a dip. The only thing lacking is some greens as an accompaniment. Adding a section for sides would be welcomed.
Ice pops in Mexico go by the name of paletas, and La Carnita offers four flavours on the dessert menu. We opt for the key lime pie ice cream and the tangy flavours transport me well and truly back to a good friend’s signature dessert – a perfectly light and not too sweet ending. So good, I am also tempted to order seconds.
La Carnita is a dark and sultry spot where a retro interior features murals with ‘street art’, an ode to its inception as a pop-up in Toronto. So dark, it’s impossible to take any decent photos. Burnt orange leather banquette seating is comfy, whilst the vibe is energetic even when quiet.
If you order three courses each (a starter or taco, a main and a dessert), expect an average cheque of AED225 per person. That’s without booze. So the price point is reasonable, and you can even order less, like we do, and still leave full. The bill is presented in an old-school cassette, a quirky touch in line with the interior – they must have raided my storeroom.
The Mexican fare using native ingredients with a slight twist is, overall, well executed. Bar the unhelpful hostess at the start, the service is friendly and efficient. A sign, perhaps, that first impressions don’t always count. The atmosphere and price point are spot on. If you are looking for a casual Mexican fix with a margarita in the Dubai Marina district then you would do well to throw a few dirhams at La Carnita. Here’s to a four out of five FooDiva knife rating.
Where do you head to for your Mexican fix?
A bientôt.
FooDiva. x
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