Restaurant Review Project 21 – Monsoon

The clear chicken soup with vegetables

Once upon a time, there was an enthusiastic foodie and a blogger who took on the onerous task of reviewing 24 restaurants in a matter of 6 months. Well, that was 6 months ago! Restaurants were visited and revisited but the reviewing was forgotten conveniently. Also the baby that went with the pack to review restaurants grew up to be a highly active 2 and a half-year old who didn’t care about posh restaurants or their food. Slowly and steadily, restaurant visits trickled down and take outs and home delivery were preferred.  But it is time that I go through and fulfill the promise I made myself and show the world what a true foodie I am! For the uninitiated, this post shall elucidate why I took up such a bird-brained project in the first place. After my 20th review, I am really excited to write the 21st one because it is a special one. I have wanted to go to Monsoon, which is located in a stand alone compound in the Food district of Adliya,  for a long time. It has the reputation of being one of the best south-east cuisine churners in the country. They have been awarded numerous awards for culinary excellence year after year. No wonder, my curious taste buds were craving to go check the flavours that Monsoon seem to promise. But as luck would have it, whenever we tried to reserve a space it was always full. Finally after months, we did get a chance and we grabbed it with both hands.  Something just felt right about the night and I was prepared to be charmed.

But nothing prepared me for the fabulous South Eastern interiors and the haunting woodland scents from burning incense. A combination of all this threw my senses into a tizzy and meanwhile we were led to our seats by a gracious hostess dressed in a traditional Thai attire.  The eager bunch of us quickly took our seats and browsed through Monsoon’s exclusive menu. The dishes ranged from Thai, Vietnamese to Malaysian to Japanese and it made it amply difficult to pick out something from the extensive list. The jade crockery they served food in caught my eye and I admired the decor from where I was sitting. Even their washroom seemed a lot like a spa salon with floating roses and lilies and aromatic candles burning at all corners.

For starters we order the Clear and the creamy versions of the chicken soup with vegetables, chicken Satay with peanut sauce and Som Tam( the famous Thai raw Papaya salad) The soups were bursting with tangy flavours with the mild chicken playing its part to balance the taste. I took no time at all to slurp it all down before I took to the menu to order my next course. The chicken satay with peanut sauce was absolute deliciousness on sticks. Perfectly grilled and tender to eat, the chicken satay reminded me of my Honeymoon in Phuket.

Chicken satay with peanut sauce

Som Tam

Som Tam is a true flavour fiesta. It is a gorgeous medley of tangy, sweet, spicy perfectly balanced. It is a kind of starter for which you have to fight for your share because no sooner the waiter plonks the raw papaya platter on the table, it disappears.

Rice dumplings

Some of my vegetarian friends ordered some rice dumplings  which were fresh rolls with fried tofu, mixed herbs and sesame seed served with radish and carrot sauce which I wasn’t too keen on since I rather invest my calories on some good tasting meat. But they did get a big thumbs up from my vegetarian friends.

Assort of main course - Chicken and tofu in different sauces

An assortment of main course which had chicken and tofu in different sauces. These weren’t the top-notch considering how wonderful the starters were. Nevertheless, quite filling and if we hadn’t ordered the starters, we would have liked the main course a whole lot better. For the vegetarians there are plenty options in noodles in different sauces but one such noodle order seemed more like a vermicelli dessert since it was extremely sweet.  The charm seemed to fizzle out as the evening progressed when we finally ordered the dessert.

Panna Cotta with Raspberry coulis

Panna Cotta with raspberry coulis was one of the desserts that we girls picked which left much to be desired. I have not had the best of experiences whilst ordering dessert at South East Asian restaurants. 9/10 times it is a big let down and sadly, it was the case this time too.

Fried ice cream with strawberry compote

Being such a big fan of MasterChef Australia and having seen Pho ( don’t remember the season – Maybe it was 1) make fried ice cream, I wanted to try it atleast once. I expected the batter around the ice cream to be crisp and the ice cream inside the batter to be still firm but it was neither. I wasted my calories on that one, because it is a universal rule that once you order a dessert, it is your responsibility to finish it no matter what ( don’t ask me who propounded this rule. I just use it as per convenience)

All in all the sum total came to a handsome 63 Bahraini Dinar for a meal of 5 with drinks.

You can see me partially hidden towards the end. This photo is a reminder of what a wonderful time was had by us all. Food, wine and good company makes for a perfect evening. Monsoon fits the bill ( pun intended) in every possible way to meet this end. It is a place to relax, converse, nibble, inhale the fragrant aroma and be at peace. I would highly recommend Monsoon to anyone who wants to try authentic South East Asian cuisine and revel in a zen like space.

Monsoon has been Sliced!!

The verdict is :
Food – 4.5 /5
Ambiance – 4.5/5
Service – 4/5
Overall – 4.5 /5

Restaurant Review Project 19- Salad Boutique

It has been such a long time that I haven’t made an addition to my ongoing Restaurant Review Project. Not that I haven’t been eating out. I have been too lazy to take pictures and write about the food. I have had excellent opportunity to sample some extraordinary food and that is the reason why I had little patience to keep it waiting to take pictures. When there are no pictures to support the gastronomic crime committed, posts cannot be written, simply because a picture is worth a thousand words.

But my reviews have pictures and thousand words!

Anyways, on a day when I wasn’t extremely ravenous but wanted a nibble, I was reminded of a new place in town called, Salad Boutique. This quaint little place is located in the heart of the posh Block 338, Adliya.  As the name suggests, they specialize in serving Salads as the main course.

Salad Boutique sports a charming, candle lit opulent interior. It has a cream and purple decor with sparkling chandeliers that oozes indulgence and elegance in the same breath.

Upon entering, we were given a warm welcome by a smartly dressed server and were shown our seat. Since it was Ramadan, there weren’t many diners even on a weekend. That was perfect for us since it meant, Mimi could roam around the restaurant being friendly with the staff.

Soon, we were presented the menu and that I suppose is what has the potential to set this restaurant apart. We were handed the Apple iPad that functions as a menu card. This is such a novel idea and it was supremely exciting to peruse through a comprehensive menu. When the initial excitement was over, we made our order to the server. That is where I felt it had a failed a little. Having an iPad and not using it to its full potential is a waste, in my opinion. It is like having a cell phone only to scroll through the contacts and not actually being able to make a call!! It should have been possible to even place an order through the iPad instead of the server taking down notes. Anyhow, we did place our orders and it was surprising to note that they not only had a wide variety of salad, but also sandwiches, burgers, risotto, pastas and all kinds of sides.

We ordered a Falafel Salad - which consisted of Falafel, lettuce, Cucumber, Parsley and Rocca  and served with Tahina Dressing. Not exactly low-calorie food, I was hoping for. But when it arrived it looked like a sumptuous meal that I could eat at the restaurant and then later pack the leftovers back home. It tasted as good as it looked on the plate.

and a refreshing drink called Vanilla Rocca. I would recommend this restaurant for this drink alone. It has the power to change the world! Okay, I may be exaggerating a little bit, but you get the drift.

Some Grilled Chicken  Sandwich – which had a Grilled Chicken Breast, Lettuce, Rocca, Parmesan and Mozzarella Cheese with Special Sauce. This sandwich wasn’t the best chicken sandwich but it was filling with a coleslaw side.

And Grilled Veggies Sandwich - Grilled Zucchini, Eggplant, Green Bell Pepper, and Rocca Leaves, Mixed with Light Mayonnaise-Tahina Sauce. This sandwich was really tasty and I would recommend this even if you are a meat lover. The eggplant and the tahina sauce combination gives this sandwich a meat-y  flavor.

Apparently, all the sandwiches are presented in similar manner so the photographs of the chicken and the vegetable sandwich look the same.

and a bottle of chilled water in a glass bottle designed by Paul Smith which I took home to plant my money plant.

Overall, the dinner was definitely not light as I had assumed it to be, but it was sure sumptuous. The total bill came to 20 BD for 3 adults.

So I am proud to announce that Salad Boutique has been SLICED and the verdict is as follows,

Food – 3/5

Ambiance – 4/5

Service – 3/5

Overall – 3/5

Salad Boutique has other outlets in Kuwait and Jeddah.

 

Restaurant Review Project 14- Deja vu

Deja Vu - is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the previous encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined. (courtesy: wikipedia.org)

A fascinating name for a restaurant, if you ask me.  More fascinating is their exterior lit up with psychedelic lighting display -Very surreal and very Deja Vu -ish. It is difficult to miss this stunning art piece of a restaurant building  which shines in a hue of purple , blue and violet. All of them are  my favourite colors and hence I developed a favourable bias right away. Deja vu is a new kid on the block and is located close to Gulf Hotel in Adliya.

Upon entering, we were struck by the sophisticated decor of this petite restaurant. The servers graciously asked us where we would like to be seated, since they had two floors. The ground floor too was laden with the royal shades of purple with grand paintings all over the walls.  The top floor was their lounge section and  a private room that serves about 8 people. We chose to dine at the ground floor which was prettier and more baby friendly. We were handed over a menu card to make our food choice for the evening. While we pondered over the gourmet food and the ingredients therein, we ordered a bottle of Chardonnay to set the mood. A chilled Chardonnay appeared almost immediately and I was prompted to take a taste before it was poured out for everybody. Quite liked that gesture! It was chilled and extremely dry but I loved it nevertheless.  Finally we placed our order and got around chatting. My daughter was happily engaged by the lovely servers and the hostess.

Food arrived which looked beautiful, undoubtedly. The portions looked tiny but by the time we finished, we realized the portions were just right.

We had a friend of ours who had joined us for the evening. Ashish Dixit is an old friend who has recently moved to Bahrain from Dubai. It was really lovely to have him join us and it made me very happy, when he told me that he did follow my restaurant reviews.

So this is what we ordered:

Tre Formagio Manicotti

Tre Formaggio  means three cheeses ( different types of cheese) stuffed in Manicotti ( this is a type of pasta which looks like a sleeve) shells on tomato sauce. Ashish had ordered this dish and seemed pretty pleased with his food.

Pasta con Aglio Olio

A simple looking pasta with Garlic (Aglio) and Oil (Olio) cooked al dente. It was full of flavour and very satisfying a meal.

Beetroot Ravioli

As stunning as the Beetroot Ravioli looked, Namit vouched that it was simply delicious. The pink from the beetroot provided that beautiful blush to the dish.

Moussaka

This is a classic Greek casserole made by layering egg-plant with spiced+minced meat. This is topped with a creamy sauce and baked to perfection. I had heard about this hearty dish but never got around trying it and it was worth the wait.

For dessert, we ordered Panna Cotta which arrived looking fresh with vivid colors. This was the first time I tried Panna Cotta. Until now I had heard only lovely things about it, and when at Deja Vu, I tasted that cheesy loveliness for the first time and I was floored.

Panna Cotta

Overall, our experience at Deja vu was excellent. The presentation, the service, the ambience, the food – everything gets a big thumbs up. In other important matters such as parking space, unlike the block 338 where you never get a parking slot, Deja vu provides plenty of parking. This itself is a huge bonus.

I proudly announce that Deja vu has been SLICED!!!

The verdict is as under:

Food – 4.5

Service  - 4.5

Ambience – 4.5

Overall – 4.5

The meal for 4 came to 41 BD – not that economical, yet this place can be reserved for that special eveing with that special someone.

Restaurant Review Project 12- Thailand & A Poll

Yay!

I am half way already into my 24  restaurants for Restaurant Review Project.

And Phew!

A whole lot of food consumed, savoured, talked  and written about on my blog. I remember every one of the trysts very distinctively. It may not be the food alone. The company of friends and family was what made it all so beautiful and memorable. Thank you , Amit, Namit and lovely daughter Mimi. There have been days, when none of us were really in the mood to eat out, yet they accompanied me because they knew this was important to me. *wipes a tear rolling down*

Now for the review:

It had been a while that we hadn’t visited any South East Asian restaurant. Thai food was one of my favourites but this was before I tried Japanese. I was enchanted. But for old times sake and to revive some lovely memories of having visited Thailand for our honeymoon, we decided to sample some Thai food at “Thailand”  at block 338, Adliya.

Same night, there was a market place being set up too. A market place selling, store-bought items at even higher a price. Well there we some boutique patissiere selling stunning macaroons and some lovely photographs. If I had a home of my own here, I would have most definitely bought one.

So Thailand – the restaurant, has an impressive exterior.

When we stepped in, we were greeted by a life-size wooden statue of a Thai lady and I almost exclaimed ” Hi there!”. Inside the whole placed was completely bamboo-ed and gave the feel of being rustic. The chairs and tables were all cane and not really comfortable. They had separate seating area for non-smokers. I like that. The initial impression was that of a lazy, relaxed place which might serve good food. There was a lavish bar right in front of us and a glass case full of artefacts from Thailand and a full length ( breadthwise) frame of all the possible Monarchs in the world sitting in single row. That photo made quite an impression on my mind. A few steps away from the entrance they had a small fountain with a few beautiful but scared fish. Too many things in a small place but t ‘was nice as it gave me the feeling of being inside one of the restaurants in Goa.

Sweet looking waitress quickly gave us the food and beverage menu. At the first glance, it seemed pretty balanced. A whole section dedicated to vegetarian food and the selection looked pretty good.
Amit ordered his beer and the rest of us settled for the humble still water. Food was quickly ordered - starter & main course.

Starters came in first – Som Tam ( Papaya salad) and fries ( Customary. For my daughter)

Som Tam

Meanwhile we got around entertaining my daughter who was getting increasingly restless. That’s when we started looking at our watch every now and then. The relaxed dinner was soon turning into when-will-they-bring-the-d**n-thing-so-that-we-can-stuff-and-go. Finally after waiting for good 30 minutes or more, food did arrive and it looked good.

I had ordered some stir fried chicken in basil and chilli while Amit had a stir fried chicken in Cashew with steamed rice.

Stir fry chicken with basil and chilli

Stir fry chicken with chashew

Both of these were good, the chicken was tender and full of flavour but they had upped the heat a few notches than what we would have liked. Amit was in a miserable state after a few spoonfuls. But I enjoyed the fiery plate and helped myself from Amit’s as well. It had been days, that I have had the opportunity to really test my taste buds to this extent. But that apart, I felt, for others’ sake, they could have done with a little less chilly. Amit’s was supposed to be sweet and savory since it called for cashew to flavour the gravy. But it wasn’t so, for that alone, I felt, maybe they didn’t get it right, inspite of the time they took to serve us.

Namit had ordered Thai Fat Noodles with lots of sprouts and vegetables. He seemed to enjoy it as he finished off the whole thing.

Thai Fat Noodles

After we finished our grub, I felt a strong craving to have something sweet. So we perused through the menu for something delectable, delicious and sinful. None of these adjectives were done justice by the very dowdy looking desserts in the menu. So we took off after paying the bill. A meal for 3 + fries for my baby + 1 beer came to about 11 BD.

When I headed out, I found a stall (at the marketplace) selling macaroons, just wrapping up for the day. I rushed to them with the request of a single macaroon and the kind lady at the stall obliged by giving me one ( rose flavoured & yum) free of cost. Who says there are no free meals?? I just had my very first macaroon ever, free and it was wonderful. Free meals taste better, anyday.

So now for the verdict:
It was a forgettable meal except my tongue was still tingling with the raw taste of chilli. I enjoyed it till the moment I was having it. It did not stay and while I am penning this down, I had to try hard to recapture what I felt when we sat there at Thailand.
Definitely, did not bring back the lovely honeymoon memories from Thailand and I am sure, my husband would agree too.

Food – 3/5
Ambience – 3/5
Service 2.5/5
Overall 3/5

Now for the news! While we were waiting for our food to be served, my husband & my friend Namit came up with this idea, that I should start branding my visits to these places. I was perplexed as to what they were talking about. How can I brand my visit? Does it mean I have to print my visiting cards saying ” Anita Menon- Blogger+ Restaurant Reviewer who doesn’t eat anything apart from chicken and fish? Apparently that is not what they had in mind. They wanted me to just refer to it in my blog. Example : “Thailand has been SLICED” – Meaning – We have visited Thailand and the review has been done. That sort of thing sounded fun. But I need other opinions about whether I should go about remarking “So-and-so restaurant has been SLICED!!!”. It wouldn’t mean a thing to anybody, but for fun sake should I go ahead or would it look too ‘wannabe’.

Thanks a lot for participating!!!