baleen naples

baleen is the restaurant in the la p laya resort on gulf s hore dr. in north naples.   of all the waterfront venues to dine at, this is hands down the best in naples. the view and gulf breezes from the outside dining patio area are what really sets this restaurant apart from most others whether it be for lunch or fordinneron this day, my dining companion and i decided to go there for lunch. they have a very nice lunch menu . if you look to the left of the menu (click on the photo to enlarge) they are promoting a daily 3 course prix f ixedinnermenu as a summer special for $38.00, a tremendous value.  for those residents that are perennials, summer is the best time to be in town in part because of all the dining specials available . i will talk about some of th ese in later posts. after a couple of p ie ces of very nice ciabatta b read each , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ciabatta   my dining companion decided on the roasted salmon nicoise salad,   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/niçoi

we spent our 10th anniversary last friday night (sept 6th) at baleen's. i had originally booked a table on the main level however got a call from the restaurant two weeks before our visit to naples advising that they will be closing the downstairs for renovations for a couple of weeks. they offered the upstairs patio as an alternative option however i was set on wiggling our toes in the sand while enjoying our romantic dinner. i cancelled the reservation and called option 2 (the turtle club) only to find out they were completely closed for renovations during the time we were on naples hey it's low season in florida). so i scrambled to call baleen back to rebook. yikes!
checked the weather report before we left. thunderstorms everyday all day for the 4 nights we were there. double yikes.
it turned out friday was a beautiful day. we arrived at the restaurant early (600) and sat down to enjoy a drink and the ocean view. the restaurant was pretty quiet when we arrived but got really busy as the sun started to set. the second floor area was really nice. we had a table overlooking the beautiful beach.
the server was really attentive, friendly and non-intrusive. he told us not to rush and just sit back and enjoy.
i did call him over and asked him if they mentioned that it was our 10th anniversary. i was a little disappointed to learn that they didn't let him know even though i mentioned it twice when booking the reservation. no harm done as chris suddenly arrived with a beautiful red rise for my wife.

we order a salad and truffle french fries as our apps. mmmm both were yummy.
as the beautiful sun was setting we ordered our main course. my wife had a new item on the menu salmon on very tasty rice medley. i had the streak with horseradish mashed potatoes (to die for) along with a side of peppercorn gravy/sauce.

dinner was amazing! we watched the sun set while thoroughly enjoying our dinner.
the whole evening was spectacular and very romantic. chris came back to let us know that dessert was on them given it was our anniversary. we were stuffed at that point so he packed us up a couple of delicious pieces of key lime pie for later. very nice touch for sure.

baleen's will also provide a private beach dinner. they put a table on the beach and surround it with umbrellas to block any sand from flying. they have lit torches all around for wonderful ambience. a couple who were just married had a private beachdinnerwhile we were there. very beautiful (but not cheap).

ourdinnerwith apps and drinks came to $125.00. we thought this was more than reasonable for the greatdinnerand beautiful ocean side dinner.
we highly recommend this amazing restaurant and look forward to visiting again when we return in february.

phenomenal sunset view. first things first, the valets were just great. i can't say that i've ever had a really memorable valet experience but i did at la playa beach resort upon arriving fordinnerat baleen. same on the exit. my wife and i were both impressed.

i'm going to call thedinneras i saw it. the sunset view totally made the experience, absolutely the highlight of the meal. we had snooty snobs seated at tables at both sides. one returned their grouper because it wasn't medallions, it was cubed...which means it wasnt "succulent". good lord.

i found the food a little pricy for the plating. our server was decent, but not above average. i noticed two other servers who were out of this world good. i would have loved to have their recommendations on the menu. my wife ordered lobster tail and i ordered scallops. we both felt they were good, but not great. so there's that.

but....that damn sunset made it worth every penny. truuuuuuuust me, if you like sunsets you're all good. if you love them, a trip to baleen is a no brainer!

great food and a great view! my wife and i enjoyed our anniversarydinnerhere at sunset. we couldn't have asked for a better experience. the food was prepared perfectly!