Instagram and Tiktok users are likely to have heard of Le Relais de l’Entrecote. A Parisian bistro dating to 1959, serving steak frites so good people will queue for hours.
A zero-reservations policy, if you want to tuck into the famed entrecote cut of sirloin steak with crispy golden fries and the top secret, family recipe sauce, you need to be prepared to wait. And the rule will be the same here in Dubai. Le Relais de l’Entrecote is preparing to throw open its doors in Business Bay on January 10, and in the ultimate queue-jump, I got into the restaurant to try the famous dish.
First impressions matter, and pulling up to the Me Dubai Hotel, the first thing I spot is the Parisian-style red awning. Behind a fence and double doors lies the bistro, with Belle Epoque posters, vibrant primary-coloured tablecloths, banquette seating and wooden panelling. Outside, there is a charming terrace, it’s no Parisian boulevard but it does offer an impressive view of Burj Khalifa.
Now, onto the steak frites. Not a restaurant for vegetarians, Le Relais de l’Entrecote’s menu comprises one main dish, which comes with a house walnut salad in a light mustard vinaigrette and fresh French baguette to lap up the sauce. At the Dubai restaurant, the dish will cost Dh155 and comes with a second helping of steak, fries and sauce, should you have space.
Visiting the restaurant on a Friday afternoon pre-opening to sample the dish, I was simply asked how I like my steak – rare, please – and the rest was taken care of. The light salad graced my table first, followed by the pre-sliced cut of steak with golden fries piled high and lashings of the sauce. My steak was cooked to pink perfection and the fries had a distinct crunch.
The sauce, oh the sauce. I am yet to dine at Le Relais de l’Entrecote in Paris, but the sauce seems to be the source of the hype for entrecote restaurants across Europe – pun fully intended. Herby, light and fresh, but also intensely buttery, made – I think – with thyme, parsley, tarragon and mustard, among other ingredients, it’s like no steak sauce I have tried before. The recipe is a closely-guarded secret, so try as I might to find online recipes, very few claim to have captured the unique compound served at the bistro.
While the restaurant offers just the one main dish, when it comes to dessert options, it’s a different story. I didn’t try any of the sweet dishes, but did get a glimpse at the hand-written menu of 20 or so options, which included profiteroles, creme brulee, fruit tartes and a strawberry melba tulip, which consists of a biscuit bowl filled with vanilla ice-cream, fresh strawberries, Chantilly cream and almonds.
The restaurant first debuted in Dubai's dining scene back in 2015, but the new outpost will be the first exact replica of the storied Paris eatery and I have to commend any restaurant that backs its star dish so much that it only offers the one. I’d be interested to know how the queuing policy will go down in Dubai – especially in the summer, although I was assured that air-conditioned solutions were being explored – but if people are in pursuit of high quality steak fries for a sensible price, Le Relais de l’Entrecote is definitely worth trying out.
Le Relais de l’Entrecote Dubai, Me Dubai Hotel, Business Bay; opening January 10
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
The specs: 2017 Dodge Viper SRT
Price, base / as tested Dh460,000
Engine 8.4L V10
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 645hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 813Nm @ 5,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 16.8L / 100km
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The five types of long-term residential visas
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
'C'mon C'mon'
Director:Mike Mills
Stars:Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman
Rating: 4/5
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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