Feeling 1 Bleu at The Regent Bal Harbour

It's expensive and mostly satisfying — not enough from a superstar chef.

Comments (0) By Lee Klein Thursday, Mar 19 2009

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Joe Rocco

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One Bal Harbour Resort & Spa

10295 Collins Ave.
Bal Harbour, FL 33154

Category: Hotels/Resorts

Region: Surfside/Bal Harbor/Bay Harbor Islands

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1 Bleu at The Regent Bal Harbour: 10295 Collins Ave., Bal Harbour; 305-455-5400. Dinner Sunday through Thursday 6 to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 6 to 11 p.m.

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Non-pasta entrées start at $30 and run up to the high $40s (for the lamb and for Dover sole). Rib-eye chop is in a league all its own at $68; I don't doubt the generosity of portion size involved, but heirloom tomatoes, herb cannelloni, and salsa verde do not exactly comprise a dream team of haute plate mates. An á la carte side of asparagus with fried egg sounds more intriguing, but an á la carte side of roasted baby vegetables epitomizes the prosaic nature of 1 Bleu's menu: Zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots, baby versions or not, are B-O-R-I-N-G.

The wait staff is professionally trained in proper table etiquette, which includes knowing which side to serve from and how to be quietly efficient. Our server, in other words, proved capable of providing a serving of three ice creams and concisely describing each flavor without waxing ecstatic about what wonderful choices we had made. Besides, upon tasting the scoop of rich, aromatic Armagnac plum ice cream, and of brown butter ice cream bravely laced with boiled peanuts, our savvy was obvious. The third flavor, apple pie, was perhaps not so precious a pick, the texture marred by graininess, the taste dominated by cinnamon. Like much at 1 Bleu, the ice creams were expensive ($15) and mostly satisfying — but certainly nothing to talk about.