An exciting evening at the Burger Lounge, Amwaj enjoying the AliaApproved Burger experience

There has been a sudden shift in the way this region (specifically Bahrain) has started to embrace social media and its power to influence. Since last year September I see an ongoing flurry of activities surrounding Twitter, Facebook and Instagram wherein all the PR and event management companies are roping in bloggers as partners. As a blogger and as someone who uses social media quite actively, I am quite taken by this new phenomenon. Winds of change are here and some very smart and intelligent PR companies like Obai and Hill understand that bloggers are that unbiased channel whose opinions people trust . This technology savvy bunch of girls at Obai and Hill have been creating events that are quite a new experience because they not only include the traditional channels such as magazines and newspapers but also bloggers who have their own follower base and influence on the WebSphere.  Perhaps Obai and Hill could be the trend setters here in the region who have begun branding their clients’ products and services and promoting them using all possible media.

Well done Team Obai and Hill!

Alia Almoayed

Being a part of this sassy PR and Design company’s events means you are in for a good time. I say this with experience because very recently I happened to be invited to the AliaApproved Burger event at Burger Lounge in Amwaj. The Burger Lounge has launched its very first Local Celebrity burger Campaign opening with the “AliaApproved’ Burger. The place was packed with magazines and newspaper representatives and bloggers on a chilly Thursday evening . Burgers were being served with onion rings and dips. There were bowls of exotic looking ice cream desserts doing rounds as well. Everybody was enjoying their fare and the atmosphere was boisterous. I attended this with a dear friend of mine, Farheen and we had good girls evening out clicking selfies on Instagram. All in all it was an enjoyable evening where I met with some blogger friends whom I only manage to meet during such events.

About the Burger : What makes the AliaApproved Burger special? Well, it is vegan! In a meat loving country, vegan options are next to impossible to find. But here we have Bahrain’s leading food and nutrition expert, Alia Almoayed designing a special burger that is vegan. People are bound to be curious and would definitely be willing to get a taste of the AliaApproved Burger. The burger has been made by grinding cooked brown rice, lentils, mushrooms, carrot and spices. These flavorsome patties are then topped with caramelized onions and nestled between two fresh and crunchy lettuce leaves. This was served with guacamole and sweet potato crisps.

A match made in heaven!

 My hearty congrats to Obai and Hill team for hosting such an exciting event and best wishes to Ms. Alia Almoayed and Burger Lounge for creating this special burger which is not only dairy free but also gluten free! All the readers in Bahrain, I urge you to go and try the AliaApproved Burger at the Burger Lounge in the Amwaj Lagoon to indulge in your favourite burger whilst remaining absolutely guilt free.

About the Burger Lounge

Burger Lounge is a unique concept restaurant that serves ‘burgers with style’ in a sleek and a stylish set up located directly facing the Lagoon in Amwaj Island. Burger Lounge specializes in creating and serving delicious, mouth – watering burgers made with the finest ingredients.

Restaurant Review Project 20 – Cappuccino Cafe

A Restaurant Review after such a long time.

Though I visited Cappuccino nearly a month ago, I can without any aid, recollect, the wonderful time I had sampling their delicacies. That is the mark of a good restaurant. Eons may pass, but some restaurants leave that indelible mark. Cappuccino is such a restaurant, tucked away in a quiet little corner on Saar Road. It is quite easy to miss this quaint little cafe and we had some difficulty tracing the place. This place came recommended by a friend, Riddhima, who has nothing but excellent opinion about the food that this cafe dishes out. I made it a point to visit it at the first given opportunity and wasn’t disappointed at all. One of the finest British comfort food serving restaurant is how I would define Cappuccino.

Coming straight to the food,- I ordered some cream of spinach soup with great anxiety. Spinach is not my favourite but Riddhima was so insistent that I give it a try. I was completely bowled over by a number of things. First, the presentation, the flavours and the whole idea that you could have your soup in a bowl and eat it too ( literally). They served piping hot spinach soup inside of a bun. For the same, they had cut out the insides of the bun and filled it with this flavorsome soup. Simply gorgeous. This got my taste buds buzzing and I was ready for more.

During my time in the UK, when I was heavily pregnant with Mimi, I craved for Jacket potatoes all the time. I had to have them every other day, with different kinds of fillings. It could be baked beans with cheese, vegetables and cheese etc. When I saw they had my favourite Jacket potatoes flavour combination –Baked potato with broccoli, mushrooms, corn with salads, I had to order it.

If I was to say, that these were the best jacket potatoes ever, would be an understatement. I haven’t savoured a dish so much in a long time. Okay, maybe I have 🙂 But this Jacket Potatoes made me forget all the other good things that I might have devoured at other places.

Scones came highly recommended, so we did order them.

The most scrumptious scones that were buttery, soft and crumbly, served with dollops of jam, butter and cream. I would highly recommend the scones since I haven’t had such wonderful scones even in bistros of London or Birmingham.

Apart from the recommended delights, we felt like sampling some of their regular fare like a chicken burger which was equally delightful.

We washed it down with a glass of iced coffee which was refreshing (  we enjoyed  our meal in a relaxed manner- hint: Mimi was sleeping)

While the food was spectacular, the ambiance lacked sophistication. I gathered from the menu that they were trying to do a British pub/ cafe style food. But the ambiance and the service did not reflect any of that. The service was very tardy and it took us quite some time to attract any server’s attention to take our order.
So I am proud to declare that Cappuccino cafe has been Sliced!!A meal for 3 cost us about 18 BD and as far as the food was concerned, it was the best meal I had had in a long time.

The verdict is :
Food – 4.5 /5
Ambiance – 3.5/5
Service – 2.5/5
Overall – 3.5 /5 (and an additional 0.5 because the food was excellent) so a total of 4/5

I hope to go back to Cappuccino again for breakfast to sample their wonderful brunch spread.