Brasserie Boulud — Restaurant in Dubai

French Restaurant at Sofitel Obelisk, Dubai

I received a friendly welcome from both the receptionist and the manager, which set a positive tone for the evening. The restaurant's design was appealing, with lighting that struck the perfect balance—not too bright, not too dim. I was allowed to choose my table, initially opting for a cozy sofa setup. However, the sofa was too low for dining comfortably—a common oversight by interior designers who seem not to test their creations practically.

I switched to a classic table for two and received helpful recommendations from the staff. They were flexible when I changed my mind on starters and mains, showing an understanding that customer satisfaction is the priority.

Starters: I ordered oysters and grilled prawns. Before that, they served bread with butter and a ceviche-style amuse-bouche. It was good, though it lacked the "umami" spark that would have made it truly memorable. While the texture and presentation were on point, the flavor fell a little flat.

The oysters were outstanding—highly recommended. The prawns were good, though slightly too firm. Ideally, they should have been more tender. The accompanying cocktail sauce was flavorful but could have used a bit more zing—perhaps a stronger hit of lemon and garlic to create that “wow” factor.

Main: I took the unconventional route and chose a beef tartare with French fries as my main. The manager complimented my choice, adding a nice personal touch. The tartare was superb, but the fries were too brown and not as crispy as they should be. In a French restaurant, smaller, crispier fries would be more appropriate, rather than the thicker Belgian-style fries. While they tasted good, they were slightly oily and lacked the crunch needed to elevate the dish.

Dessert: For dessert, I had an espresso martini and a meringue with strawberry ice cream and sauce. The martini was excellent, and the dessert was very good, but it was clear that the ingredients weren’t fresh or locally sourced. This leads me to two key suggestions:

Stay authentic. Even in a high-end setting, keep it simple and true to French tradition. French restaurants serve French fries, not Belgian-style ones.

Freshness matters. If you're serving berry desserts, ensure the fruit is fresh and sourced daily. If strawberries aren’t in season, opt for blueberries or another fruit that is. Menus should be adaptable to what's fresh and available, and daily updates should reflect this both in the restaurant and online.

Additional Suggestions for Perfection:

When clearing the table, make sure to remove all crumbs from the tablecloth between courses.

Introduce the wine properly—mention its name and ask if it’s okay to pour it into the glass.

For solo diners, provide privacy but also look for small opportunities for brief, warm interaction. Gauge whether the diner wants more conversation or prefers quiet.

Overall Impression: This was a highly recommended experience. Despite being in the middle of the UAE, thousands of miles from France, the restaurant delivers a mostly authentic representation of French culinary culture. Keep up the good work, but avoid falling into artistic or "blingy" traps. Authenticity, even in Dubai, will be appreciated by customers. Overall it's 5 star each, as 4 would be too drastic. But for perfection some room is left for...

One of my favorite (French) restaurants in Dubai. The consistent quality and elegant presentation of the food, as well as the beautiful decor and professional service, are some of the best in Dubai. They also have one of the best business lunch deals. For some reason, Michelin gave them a Bib only, but they definitely deserve a Michelin star imho.

Let’s talk about the food. Sure, it’s called Brasserie Boulud, but it’s just not the kind of food you would expect from a brasserie (celebrity chefs enjoy calling their non-3-Michelin-star restaurants names like diner or cafeteria). The setting is definitely upscale and quite elegant. The food is more oriented towards classical French cuisine with a modern take or presentation (hence the name, I guess).

For example, the “Thon au Fenouil” is a signature appetizer dish from Boulud, and it stays in the menu during all seasons (recommended). They also serve amazing hot appetizers such as escargots (the best in Dubai!), garlic shrimp, and mushroom soup V.G.E. (Bocuse style). Recently, they started serving frog legs as well. The (one-person) mains are modern takes on standard dishes. I tried quite a few of them on different occasions. The ones that stood out to me are the seabass, lamb shank, and the burger (interesting gourmet burger with amazing fries). They change their menu every now and then, so some items might come and go. They also have big mains (2-person and more) but I never tried them. Make sure to keep an eye on the truffle menu because it’s so good! The truffle pasta was very delicious, not just bland cream pasta like most truffle pastas out there in Dubai. And oh boy, the truffle flat bread was absolutely amazing!

I still haven’t got to the good part, which is the dessert. Brasserie Boulud has easily some of the best dessert in Dubai. Yes, it so f’ing good. Don’t skip it. Just order anything, really. But If you ever see the pain perdu (french toast), please order it. Words cannot describe the heavenly goodness of cracking the caramelized top of the incredibly moist tiny french toast with your spoon, scooping some of that goodness, and sending it to a wonderful journey inside your mouth. Or if you just want to indulge in chocolatey goodness, go for the molten chocolate. I remember one day they served gallettes des rois for a special occasion, and guess what, it was the best gallettes des rois I’ve ever eaten. And oh, the complementary madeleines they serve you at the end are actually the best madeleines in the world.

Brasserie Boulud has been consistent in its quality and the menu is not boring, there is always some seasonal and new items around. Whenever I’m in a good mood or want to celebrate a personal achievement or something, I sometimes go and have a nice meal at one of my favorite restaurants. Brasserie Boulud has been one of them for many years, and I will keep coming back as long as they maintain this level of dedication to excellence! Thank you to all the lovely people who work here, especially chef Nicolas...

Second visit here after an exquisite first. The first visit was way back in 2021, fast forward to 2024, 2 years of michelin guide in a row (2022 and 2023) and it all went downhill. Extremely disappointing experience. Ordered food with a total of 1k+ when it wasn’t worth even half the amount. Got almost all the dishes recommended as the ones that we came in for were served for dinner only. With that, the dishes still did not meet any basic expectations. The onion soup that they’re known for as the waiter mentioned was blant, nothing special, least that could have been done is serve it along with a spoon, which we had to ask for ourselves. Same thing with the steak, ordered it for sharing, basically tasted like a well cooked grocery steak, and again, not a single steak knife, which would make sense if it was soft enough to not use one which wasn’t the case. Ordered a pizza from the kids menu and they served him a pasta that was sent back after the waiter has denied the kid ordering so. We asked for whatever is ready to be served, that did not mean it’s okay to serve the salads last, long enough after we were already full to the extent where we forgot about it. Ordered every halal drink mocktail there is, which were disappointingly few, they all tasted like sweetened canned juice or to exaggerate, bottled juice, not even the fresh ones. You can tell how effortless the drinks were made by their pale presentations as well. Last but not least, the unbearable service, to begin with, being the only locals there was turned into reverse bias. After having a staff member recognize the unsatisfactory situation, she asked how everything was and after explaining she just lightly apologized and managed to clear a few plates up which we helped in doing so in the first place. After-all, she just had a follow up question of getting desserts or not which intending to but changed our minds about after the terrible service, which we told her and she just managed to smile it off. To spare enough necessary criticism, only thing worth it was the complimentary bread, amazing, and the escargot. The prawns were good too and so is the chocolate fondant based on the first experience. Overall, not coming back again unless its for the four’s mentioned above. Note: The first two pictures were back in 2021, the last two were the...