baleen naples

the view was great, service was good, but the food was terrible! the blackened grouper was not edible and was so tough it could not be cut with a knife. the manager was apologetic about the fish and said it shouldn’t have been brought the table, so we ordered a filet mignon and “lamb” instead. the filet was ok but the “lamb” was lousy and a joke at $38; it only had tiny bits of lamb mixed in with a tomato based sauce on pasta. the setting was great but not relaxing due to a play area being situated between ourtableand the beach which had numerous children jumping right in front of the us, doing cartwheels in the grass. the kettle one martinis were very good and pricey at $17 each. baleen also charges $5.00 plus tip for valet parking (there is no self-parking), which should be complementary when spending a few hundred dollars for dinner. we'd consider going back for drinks sometime because the view is very nice, but we will never return for a meal again. this meal was a second chance given to la playa after a disappointing meal last year.

overall liked it but service needs work. to be honest, we probably would not have gone here except for its beautiful location on the beach. the atmosphere was lovely, the sunset everything we had hoped for, and the food was actually better than we had expected. i especially liked the lobster bisque; the ceviche, beef carpaccio, and crab cake were not incredible but still interesting and enjoyable. the weakest part of the evening was clearly the service. for a restaurant of this level we would expect better than to have to wait an hour for our reservedtableto be available, missing a bread plate, having to ask for spoons after the soup was served, etc. not big things but for a restaurant of this level and with this price tag below expectations.

wow. went here with the wife for an anniversary dinner. great drinks and service. if you can get a seat outside during sundown, good for you! they save seats for guests who are staying at the hotel, so if you call and they say they are booked try showing up anyway. we went on a friday at sunset, and got atableoutside!
the lobster risotto is one of the 3 best dishes i have ever had in my life, no joke! if your looking for a great meal with a view in naples, hard to beat this place.

we spent our 10th anniversary last friday night (sept 6th) at baleen's. i had originally booked atableon 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 atableoverlooking 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 atableon 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 beach dinner while we were there. very beautiful (but not cheap).

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