The Maine sits on the lower level of the DoubleTree by Hilton at JBR, a short walk from the beachfront. Take a seat at the long bar for oysters and a cocktail, or book a table for the brasserie menu.
The Maine sits on the lower level of the DoubleTree by Hilton at Jumeirah Beach Residence, a short walk from the JBR seafront. The room is a New England oyster bar and brasserie built by the Montreal restaurateur Joey Ghazal, and the long bar is the part that earns its place on a Dubai drinks list. The World's 50 Best Bars Discovery guide lists it as a bar, and Time Out Dubai named it Best Restaurant Bar.
Set expectations on the beer. This is not a craft tap house, and the beer list is short and conventional. The pour to come for is a cold one next to a plate of oysters, or a proper cocktail at the counter, not a rotating wall of guest kegs. Anyone after a serious flight of local IPAs is in the wrong room, and the venue does not pretend otherwise.
The fit out reads coastal brasserie. A Flawless.life review describes dark leather banquettes, subway tiles, and industrial lighting around a raw bar stacked with oysters, lobster, and seasonal shellfish. The long bar runs along one side and pulls the pre dinner and after work crowd before the dining room fills.
Lead with the raw bar and a cold pour. Oysters arrive shucked to order from France, Ireland, or the US, and the venue's own pairing note sends them out with a crisp white or a dirty martini. A pint of beer runs about AED 45, which sits at the upper end for the category and tells you where the priorities lie.
The cocktail list is the bar's real work. It runs modern riffs on American classics, among them a Mayflower Martini with parsley infused gin and dill oil, an Elderflower Tini, and a Tommy's Margarita. Treat the beer tap as a supporting act and order the counter accordingly.
The long bar draws an eclectic crowd of young urbanites in for old fashioned cocktails, per the venue's own copy and the JBR setting. Expect a pre dinner and after work mix early, shifting to a louder dining room as the evening runs on. It reads polished and social rather than rowdy, closer to a seaside brasserie than a beer hall.
Early evening at the long bar for oysters and a cocktail before the dining room turns over for dinner service.
