Lunch date at Florence La Maison Méditerranéenne, Bahrain

You will most certainly agree with me that Florence La Maison Méditerranéenne is a top contender for the quaintest looking restaurant in Bahrain’s Block 338. The pastels, the green, the airy space, natural light all play a major role in increasing this Mediterranean restaurant’s attractiveness.

The husband knows I have been eyeing this pretty place since it opened up but for some reason did not dine there. May be it was some sub-conscious fear that it may fail to strike a balance and have equal amounts of beauty and reallllly good food. I am very pedantic about my food and once I have a bad experience it is hard to recover. You can say these are TRUST issues that I have with restaurants and I won’t mind it at all.

This visit to the restaurant being at lunch time, I was starving and decided to directly dive into the main course. No looking around… no teasing myself with appetizers and then complaining that I didn’t get to demolish a main course.

I ordered the Spanish Chicken (not to be mistaken for a chicken wearing a sombrero) and the hubby ordered Rosé Chicken.

Their Spanish chicken was boneless chicken pieces in a creamy sauce filled with herbs (quite strong), saffron and potatoes and I am guessing paprika. I bet some tomatoes and bell peppers were used to prepare the sauce as well. All this served with fragrant Spanish Rice.

And the Rosé Chicken was escalope chicken breast grilled and laid on a bed of fried mozzarella, and topped with some sauce (Rosé of course) served with mashed potato and steamed veggies.

I also ordered a fresh juice of Carrot and Orange and specified no sugar, and to my pleasant surprise our server mentioned that they do not add sugar to their juices and they are as fresh as fresh can get. He definitely did not disappoint me. I was presented a tall glass of this perfect juice and I got some to take home as well.

The hubby ordered the regular Watermelon juice- nothing to say about that.

As we waited for the food, they served two kinds of bread with black olive and olive oil dip and a minty coriander dip. Again we left no crumbs to trace…blame it lunch time.

For a first visit my overall experience was good. It will take more visits to taste their offerings and form an opinion. I also do not know much about the Mediterranean cuisine so I won’t comment on whether it lives up to its title. But what I would suggest it go give Florence a try.

This is not a sponsored blog post.

Oriental Dinner at Wagamama

Over the last weekend, we went out for a celebratory dinner to Wagamama.

Although Mr D has dined at the Wagamama in the UAE several times , this was his first visit to the Bahrain branch and my first ever visit to this particular restaurant.

What we learnt from the server there was that Wagamama brings to your plate or bowl most of the Asian cuisines-and is mainly inspired by the Japanese cuisine. What was a surprise to us was that the restaurant is UK based chain of restaurants and has nothing to do from a business point of view with Asia. Interesting. Lol.

Their menu was definitely impressive. A rather notable fact for my Vegetarian readers; is that there seemed to be equally enough of green-options for green lovers.

The staff were very helpful and explained our options to us;clearly.. they knew what they were serving and were able to enlighten us.

I knew Mr D had his eyes on the curries section of the menu, and went along the recommendation of our server for the Kareraisu Beef. This is a red curry, with stir fried strips of beef, beans, aubergine and tea-stained  fried  egg served with steamed rice. Despite the red chilies being visible, the spice level was safe to say on the lower side.

Eating this curry and hot and steaming rice, gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling.

My sister and I share a love for noodles; we decided to try the Chicken + Prawn Yaki Soba minus the Prawn from the Teppanyaki section. They were kind enough to replace the Prawn with more Chicken for us.  So this was basically stir-fried soba noodles (‘Soba’ –Japanese for Buckwheat noodles), with chicken, egg and veggies, garnished with pickled ginger shreds. Happy to say, we wiped our plate clean, found no greasy noodles, and the veggies crunch remained intact.

Mum, tried the Chicken+Prawn Cha Han Donburi from the DonBuri section of the menu. This consisted of a very homely bowl of stir fried brown rice with chicken and prawns, mushrooms, corn , egg served with Japanese pickles, which mum devoured needless to say.

And Dad trusted the Chef and ordered the special, which in one word means Omakase in Japanese. He tried the -Thai Green Kare ( Chicken), which came with steamed rice. This happened to be the last one dish I tasted, and boy did I feel the kick out of the chilies in this curry. Just when you begin to feel that this is the same old Thai Green Curry, it decides to prove you wrong.

This post would be incomplete if I didn’t mention that they took hardly any time to serve us. I am definitely going to be visiting Wagamama again, and this time may be go old school and try out their Ramen and their Fresh Fruit juices, which BTW everyone is totally raving about.

Our total bill amounted to BHD23.8/- for 5 pax.

Photo Courtesy: Mr D
Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post, all opinions, feelings and experience shared are personal. 

Bahraini Breakfast at the Souq-Manama

We ate a Traditional Breakfast served at Naseef Restaurant at the Souq Mall at Bab Al Bahrain. 

We started with Freshly Squeezed Orange juice and a Lemon and Mint Juice. Both equally amazing, you could clearly tell how fresh and cleansing this was. 

Baby 'E' took the not-so-traditional path and opted for Grilled Chicken Sandwich, that came with a side of French Fries and a few slices of Cucumber. This was clearly more of a Grilled Chicken Wrap than a Sandwich but then again..what's in a name? What mattered was taste. And it wasn't too bad. 

Next came the long-awaited Tradition Breakfast on a big colorful plate was brought to us by Arif our server. Out of the several options available to us for a big plate of traditional breakfast, we chose the 'falafel'- which is a deep fried chickpea ball consisting of other beans too, it is slightly flattened and fried and you eat this in a pita bread pocket with salad leaves, 'Egg tomato'- which is an arabic style scrambled eggs with lots of tomato, 'Mashed potatoes'-this again is mashed potatoes in an arabic style with a hint of turmeric. This was served with tonnes of khuboos/arabian Pita bread.

Our total bill amounted to BHD8.250/- for 3 pax.

Photo Courtesy: Mr D
Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post, all opinions, feelings and experience shared are personal. 

Dinner at Hash House- Adliya, Bahrain

Last weekend Mr D and I decided to dine at Hash House. This place was my top choice for my birthday dinner but unfortunately on that night, Hash House was packed and the waiting list consisted of four groups which meant a minimum of an hour's wait until we get a table. Since I was with a party of 6 guests, I decided to come back to Hash House on another day.

Hash House, is located at Block 338 in Adliya, between Zoe and Coco's. The entrance to the restaurant can be easily be mistaken to be just a window of a restaurant. Once you enter you are in a blissful and warm yet busy atmosphere, both my visits, the restaurant has been busy and this tells you a lot about the place ;)

With four tables downstairs-enough to seat 10 guests and fours tables upstairs-Hash House is a tiny yet cozy place to enjoy a peaceful meal. This restaurant serves Thai fusion food with great value for money and very friendly staff.

Initially we went to sit upstairs because it was packed downstairs, but by the time we finished our delightful appetizers, it had gotten way too cold. Upon requesting the staff present there, we were given a table downstairs where is was just right!

We ordered the Crispy Prawns, (again Mr. D Seafood craving continues) plus, the table next to us had some wonderful seafood on their table. The aroma just made me agree to Mr. D's choice.

The Prawns were 'Crispy' as promised and mentioned in the menu and were fried to perfection. This dish was served with the restaurant's sweet and sour sauce.

Our second appetizer was the Beef Salad, which comprised of grilled beef of course, and a very funky and refreshing salad made of cucumber, carrots, coriander, red onions, tomato, red chilli, pomegranate seeds, celery, fresh mint leaves, lemon grass and some of the signature home made sauce. 

This definitely was a party in mouth and I looked forward to every bite. This salad, had something sweet, refreshing, spicy, crunchy, fruity!! EVERYTHING GOOD!!

 For drinks, I ordered the LemonGrass drink, which is a house special, so I've heard. I was debating  whether I should have this drink or a Tom Yum Soup, I saved the latter for later. Just another reason  to visit you can say :P. Yes it was a cold night-yes I was feeling cold, but I just had to try this pretty and not so little chilled drink-that so did a good job as a palate cleanser. Talk about refreshing!

Mr. D chose a glass of Drosty HOF Shiraz -Merlot Cape Red (South African Wine) to accompany his dinner, I remember him describing the taste as subtle but strong. He enjoyed his drink and continued to explain 'tannins' to me.

Once  it got way too cold for me, we asked if we could be moved down, and we shifted downstairs.

We ordered the Red Thai Chicken Curry accompanied by Jasmine Rice. 

Some more snaps from the Hash House..such warm ambiance..*sigh*

total bill was:BHD15.500 for two pax.

Photo Courtesy: Mr D
Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post, all opinions, feelings and experience shared are personal. 

Dinner at Rice Bowl-Bahrain City Center

During the first week of this brand new month, we headed to the Bahrain Farmer’s Market in Budaiya, which I believe everyone should visit because it is a wonderful experience. We had a big and filling Bahraini breakfast which included fried omelet, chicken liver, Arabic bread, cheese and ‘Luqaimat’ (sweet and crunchy on the outside deep-fried dumplings drizzled with honey) and Karak Tea. This breakfast kept us happy till past three in the afternoon. Following this, hunger pangs crept up and we ended up picking up lunch from Lulu Hypermarket’s Hot food section.

After a food-filled day, later in the night we headed to Rice Bowl (located on the ground floor of Bahrain City Center) for a light dinner, we were the last diners that were accepted, those who came after us were politely declined.

Since this was going to be light and Mr. D was inclined towards seafood. We ordered the Calamari, but we were informed that it was not available. Then Mr. D ordered the Tempura Prawns and for the main course we ordered the Mixed Lo-Mein.

Our orders did not take long to come-which is impressive. We were served our appetizer and before we could finish it, we were served, our main.

The Tempura Prawns -are battered and deep fried prawns which I personally felt leaned towards the non-crispy side, and it felt as if they had softened (visible through the photo). The seasoning was a miss too. This was served on a scanty bed of shredded cabbage and a slice of cucumber and tomato along with a sweet sauce.

                                                 (Tempura Prawns)

The Mixed Lo Mein (Chinese/Cantonese noodles) basically comprised, chicken, vegetables, beef and shrimps cooked with wheat noodles and tossed in Chinese sauces. The latter was definitely lacking and it resembled and tasted so much like regular ‘mixed fried noodles’. I don’t know how an actual Lo Mein should taste so I leave you to try this and decide.

(Mixed Lo Mein)

May be the next time we head there we might try the Arabian dishes. 

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post and all opinions/feelings/experience shared are personal. 

The Urban Dhaba ,Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain (Our second visit)

Over the extended weekend, we visited The Urban Dhaba once again, but this time we were accompanied by two of our friends.

During our first visit , which fortunately was a weekday, there were very few guests, which probably is the reason why service was super-fast. Our second visit to The Urban Dhaba was on an extended weekend, and the place was packed, and quite naturally, there was an expected delay in catering to guests.

As mentioned in my previous post that detailed our first visit to The Urban Dhaba, I longed to try their tikkas and kababs.  So we ordered the Lamb Seekh Kabab, but unfortunately that wasn’t available that night. So we ordered for our next option Chicken Tikka as well as the Paneer Pudina Tikka.

(Photo Credits: Mr. D)

(Starters: Chicken Tikka and  Paneer Pudina Tikka)

After quite a long wait, out starters were brought to us. First we were served the, Paneer Pudina Tikka- paneer squares, tomatoes and onions marinated with fresh mint paste and spices and grilled.

                                    

Next came, the Chicken Tikka served in a table top copper tandoor, with a wooden base and two skewers with 6 pieces of amazing Chicken Tikka on each *drool*. Good food makes me happy and this definitely made me happy, for I can still recount that first encounter with that amazing piece of chicken tikka.

We also ordered 2 Aloo Paranthas and 2 Chicken Paranthas served with Minty Chutney, both of which were good for the price, however, I guess in a hurry they missed checking the salt for the Aloo in the parantha.

                           [Main: Chicken Parantha (left) & Aloo Parantha (right)]

The Chicken Tikka definitely was the highlight of our second visit.

Do give this small, cozy, Dhaba a try.

Click on the link to view my first post on The Urban Dhaba

http://bpvenus.blogspot.com/2015/09/dinner-at-urban-dhaba-adliya-kingdom-of.html

Total Bill for 4 people: BHD5.300

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Photo Credits: Mr D.

The Urban Dhaba, Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain (Our dinner at...)

Last night after running errands, we popped over Urban Dhaba in Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain. After months of drooling and browsing through this restaurant's Facebook page. We randomly decided to have a small dinner there. 

Urban Dhaba is a small, colorful and interesting little place located in Adliya behind Costa Coffee. The restaurant has closely placed seating, and the tables are rather interesting and can keep you and your gang quite busy. As we waited for our order, we played board games. The dice is placed in a small bowl placed inside a 'dafli' (tambourine)!

After we placed our order, the waitress brought us a plate of papads served with chutney. I really liked the chutney, which had the right amount of spice and salt.

For starters we ordered Gobi Manchurian. The two of us couldn't finish the generous portion of crunchy, indo-chinesy appetizer. There wasn't any excess oil to be found nor were the cauliflower florets soggy because of the sauce. they were just right.

(Veg Starter: Gobi Manchurian)

(Main Course: Bhuna Ghosht and Butter Naan)

For our Main course we ordered, Bhuna Ghosht (pan fried meat in spices) with naan. The essence of a Bhuna Ghosht is the blending and frying of the spices; this needs to be done really well, there is absolutely nothing more beautiful that slow-cooked meat in its own juices and aromatic spices. For me the single and most important criteria for any mutton dish would be how the meat melts in my mouth. Very few places give cooking meat the time it needs. Urban Dhaba's Bhuna Ghosht did not quite make the cut for me and Mr. D found the salt a bit low in this dish. 

I guess next time, we need to stick to their tandoori/ tikka items. We are defintely headed to Urban Dhaba for a second time-just to try out their tandoori/ tikka items and their lassi (the whole idea of serving it in a chota matka part fascinated me)

Since Mr. D was craving some sugar last night, he ordered the Gaajar Ka Halwa. The second the waitress placed it before us on our table, I could smell that majestic aroma of saffron. The halwa was warm and yum, it definitely put me in my happy place after a couple of spoons.

The bill for just the two of us came to BHD4.500. Apart from all the food, we ordered a small water bottle and a Coke.

(Dessert: Gaajar (Carrot) Ka Halwa)

Are we going there again?
YES. And this time eyes on the kababs, tikkas, tandoori items and lassi for sure!

We went there again!!…and here is my blog post detailing our second visit.

If you have visited this quirky new place, share your experience in the message area.

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Dinner at Panasia Bahrain (Asian Cuisine)

Last week we celebrated my Dad's birthday by going for dinner to Panasia Restaurant and Tea Lounge.

Panasia is a aesthetically decorated Restaurant situated in Um Al Hassam, certainly away from the hustle bustle of the popular restaurant road in Um Al Hassam.  The restaurant offers a good range of Chinese, Thai and Indian delicacies.

Unfortunately I do not have snaps of the main course, but I do have photographs of the Starters that we ordered as well as of the Dessert.

It didn't take them long to bring our starters, but as we waited, they gave us two plates loaded with Spicy Pappadoms and Prawn Crackers with their special sauces (I call them the traffic signal sauces-you ask why?-well because of their colors). 

Here are photographs and descriptions of the Starters we chose,

Chicken Lollypops with Oriental Sauce....sorry about the blurry photo, can't help it when you have good food in front of you ;)

Chicken Siu Mai- minced chicken, water chestnut, mushrooms served with their '3 G dip/sauce'-which I found very YUM and for some odd reason reminded me of Beef Pickle that a Keralite friend had brought from her house to our hostel in Mangalore. That is one pickle I ate daily, religiously.

Once we were done with the starters, we were given some breathing time and more importantly time to get back to those yum PRAWN CRACKERS.

In a few minutes, our Main Course was laid before us on the table, and the waiter served us all. 

Like I mentioned earlier we had the Brocolli Beef (thinly sliced beef stir fried with brocolli in oyster sauce) and the Kung Pao Chicken, again, stir fried diced chicken pieces with scallions and cashew nuts as garnish.

Sorry no photos of our main.

Considering how much we ordered for the five of us and it being dinner time (light food time) and us having a three course meal..I expected us to have no room for dessert or being unable to walk to the car but the food was astonishingly light and we didnt' have to take a doggy-bag as there were no leftovers. NONE AT ALL!

Moving on to our dessert.....here is what he shared like a good family ;) 

PanAsia's Signature Dessert- two scoops of Vanilla ice-cream, deep-fried and the outcome, a warm crispy outer shell that hold cold vanilla flavored ice-cream inside it. PURE MAGIC!

(This is TMI, but I had to mention, while trying to sleep my sister and I YouTube-d the recipe for Fried Ice cream)

Warm Chocolate Brownie topped with a scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream, cashew nuts and Chocolate Fudge sauce on the side (this doubled as Dad's birthday cake)

I do not have the break down of the bill but the total as per my memory came to BD21.300 for 5pax.

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Lunch at Spice Nice Restaurant, Bahrain

On one of our quiet Friday late afternoon, after a good amount of rest, we (Mr D and I ) decided to head out to Spice Nice located in Adliya behind Gulf Hotel, next to Cafe La Ventana. This lunch was supposed to be a light one just to satiate a craving that I had for Chicken Dumplings.

I had been to Spice Nice twice before, but I always missed documenting it. This time I made it a point to cover this cozy, affordable and lovely place. This restaurant specializes in Chinese, Goan and (other) Indian food. Both the times I've dined here, I've only had their Chinese food, because this is what I've heard they are very good at, the Spring Chicken in particular!

After we placed our order for drinks and food, the waiter brought us a basket (basket that is refilled, whenever found empty) filled with Prawn Crackers (yum), that are hard to stop munching on, once you've begun. It is rather surprising how soon two people can empty a basket of these delicious-deep-fried prawn goodness, even without the sauces. 

Mr D, allowed me to order for him, after we picked our choice of beverage. 

I ordered the Fried Kingfish in Recheado masala. This 'masale-daar' fried fish  was accompanied by a salad comprising of cabbage, carrots, onions. The 'Recheado' masala is of Goan origin and is basically a spicy red paste usually slathered on to the fish or stuffed inside the fish.

Next to arrive was my 'crave', Steamed Chicken Dumplings, 8 beautiful juicy dumplings, and all of them for me :D Notice the artsy way the sauce has been plated...yes that is Mr D's work.

             

No snaps of the beverages we ordered ,thanks to this scorching heat we guzzled down our drinks, but I would like to make a mention of the Lemon and Mint Drink that was an absolute thirst quencher. Presentation would have been better if the drink was strained, but the mint infused drink really soothed my afternoon.

Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post. 

Our bill breakdown is as follows:

Kingfish Recheado BD3.5

Steamed Chicken Dumplings BD2.1

Corona Beer BD1

Lemon and Mint Drink BD0.800

Service Charge BD0.400

Total Bill: BD9.600

Dinner at Bonchon, Bahrain [South Korean- American Cuisine]

On the first day of Eid Al Fitr this year we went out for dinner to a new place I had been longing to try out. Tucked away in a very cozy spot at the Seef Mall-Muharraq on the 2^nd floor next to TGIF is ‘Bonchon’- a South Korean based international fried chicken franchise that serves rather interesting food.

Bonchon means 'my hometown'.

Photo Source: (www.twentyfoursevennews.com)

It didn’t take us long to locate the place since we already had most of the clues we needed thanks to facebook-bonchon-bahrain.

We took our seats by one of the huge glass panel windows and we were given the Bonchon menu in two different ways, one on a Samsung Tab and the other on a wooden board with their menu strapped on to it.

I had absolutely no idea about Korean food –all I knew is that I wanted to try this place coz the food looked…. We studied the menu, thankfully there were photos of the dishes they served and we of course took plenty of help from their service staff who were so kind enough to patiently explain to us about some dishes we set out eyes on.

Anyway this is what we ordered….*controlling drool*

For starters we ordered the 'Half and Half' Bonchon Chicken (boneless) (serving size: small i.e. 8 pcs). The Bonchon chicken ones on the left were with spicy sauce and the ones on the right were coated with soy garlic sauce. These pieces of chicken were served with a tiny portion of coleslaw.

The second starter that we opted for was the 'Kimchi Fries'- they are fries that are baked and seasoned with Korean chii seasonings and is basically served with various toppings such as lightly carmelized white onions, kimchi, jalapenos, scallions, beef bacon, and topped with cheese.

Our first main course recommended by the staff there was the 'Bibimbab Beef' (this means 'mixed rice' also available in Veg). This was a bed of jasmine rice flavored with some secret sauces covered with assorted veggies (sauteed carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, sprout stems) and sliced juicy beef and topped with a sunny side up egg. 

Bonchon staff showed us their special way of stiriing this up before we attacked this dish. 

Bibimbab Beef was served with Kimchi sauce (cabbage stem fermented with spicy and sour seasoning) .

 Our second main course was the 'Japchae'- glass noodles with vegetables and beef. This was slightly  on the sweeter side. (Glass noodles are made from sweet potatoes)

Close up of the glass noodles that I was fascinated with. My first time eating glass noodles :P

The bill for 5 persons breakdown:

1 Boneless Chicken small (half and half) 4.900

1 Kinchi Fries                                           3.500

1 Bibimbab Beef                                       5.900

1 Japchae                                                 4.500

2 7Up regular                                          2.400

2 Pepsi regular                                        2.400

Total:                                                     23.600

Pop over Bonchon Bahrain this weekend if you are in a mood to try something different.
                                                    Please Note: This not a sponsored blog post.