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The Rice Bowl in Seef Mall is attracting a growing and glowing reputation for offering a variety of authentic tastes of India and China for the island's food lovers.
The outlet, which only opened eight months ago, features an open kitchen and a welcoming ambience decorated in bright orange and red.
It provides a haven for diners to enjoy an array of curries and sauces accompanied with an assortment of rice dishes and bread.
Restaurant manager Prakash G Shetty said: "Rice Bowl offers its customers a well-balanced meal that is crafted with utmost care using fresh ingredients to serve traditional and exotic oriental favourites."
From samosas, tandoori prawns, aloo mutter tikki to fried wonton, plum sauce chicken wings and tempura prawns appetisers are aplenty.
The Indian main course section offers a range of chicken, mutton and vegetarian options, the most popular being murg (chicken) biryanis, bhoona gosht (lamb and vegetables).
The Chinese hammour in hot bean sauce, seafood clay pot, Buddha's vegetarian delight and beef oyster sauce, do not go unnoticed for those preferring a taste of the orient.
Head Chef of Rice Bowl and the Chinese kitchen master is Hongxing Zhao. Before taking up his post at the Rice Bowl eight months ago to create its Chinese menu, Chef Zhao, 32, worked with the Hong Kong Restaurant in Umm Al Hassam.
Rather than join his father, a doctor, studying medicine, Chef Zhao preferred watching his mother in the kitchen preparing the family meals and after school he applied to learn the art of cooking at a specialist institute.
After successfully completing the course he landed himself a job at a popular four star hotel in China. He continued his steady career climb gaining experience at leading hotels and restaurants before catching the interest and appreciation of the owner of Hong Kong Restaurant who invited him to move to Bahrain.
Chef Zhao, who now lives in Adliya, boasts 11 years of culinary experience and enjoys life in the kingdom.
The Indian kitchen is looked after by Chef Raja Shaikh who comes from the eastern city of Calcutta. Prior to moving to Bahrain six months ago, he worked within the hospitality industry in the Indian cities of Chennai, Cochin and Trivandrum. Chef Raja, 28, comes to the island with five years of kitchen experience.
Rice Bowl also offers a special 'kid's meal' featuring cheese naan, chicken nuggets and chicken chow mein with a free toy and served with French fries and soft drink.
Mr Shetty said the restaurant is planning to introduce a business lunch option to cater for growing demand. "We are also planning to expand the brand to various outlets, with one coming up at the Bahrain City Centre soon," he added.
Rice Bowl is owned by the Al Azzam Group which also features Little Caesar's Pizza, Pastarito, Metcafe and Sultan Grill.
The chef shares a recipe with GulfWeekly readers for a popular Indian dish, mutton biryani.
Mutton biryani
Indian meat 350gm
Rice (soaked for 10 minutes) 150gm
Pure ghee 2tbsp
Onion finely chopped 1
Tomato finely chopped 1
Garlic, ginger paste 1tbsp of each
Kewra/rose water 1tsp
Finely chopped coriander leaves 25grm
Whole mint leaves 30grm
Orange, yellow & red food colour 1/2 pinch mixed in four tbsp of water
Saffron 1gm
Salt 1tsp
Preparation: Fry chopped onion in ghee until golden brown. Add meat and fry for five to 10 minutes. Add three or four cups of water (or as desired) in an air tight vessel and cook on low flame. When meat is tender add tomatoes, garlic, ginger, yoghurt and spices. Cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. In another pan boil rice in seven cups of water with salt as desired. When rice is half done, drain the water. In a separate pan, set rice and meat curry in alternate layers sprinkle orange red and yellow food colour coriander and mint leaves and kewra rose water on the rice. Cover and simmer on low flame for 10 to 15 minutes.
