A taste of Italy

Muju Restaurant and Lounge in the Amwaj Islands is one of the few outlets with a view of the brilliant and bright blue sea surrounding the kingdom.

Situated within The Dragon Resort, the restaurant provides a relaxed and comfortable setting and offers an array of international cuisine.

The name behind the culinary excellence in its kitchen is Italian Chef Vito.

He comes to the island with 14 years of cooking experience.

Chef Vito, 28 from Amwaj, studied at a specialist culinary school before taking up a job in his hometown in Southern Italy. In 2002, he moved to London working for an Italian restaurant and a year later joined the five-star Berkeley Hotel followed by experiences at the well-known Connaught and Metropolitan hotels.

Last year, Chef Vito made a giant leap to the Middle East to open the Muju kitchen. He said: "I think Bahrain is very interesting because of its multi-cultural mix. Residents of the island are very familiar with a variety of cuisines including Italian, Japanese, Asian and English.

"I also feel Bahrain has a growing and thriving hospitality industry with so many hotels and restaurants coming up - a lot is going on here."

Chef Vito has introduced a fusion of traditional dishes from different cuisines to offer a unique taste for the island's diners.

Some of the outlet's mix-n-match dishes are bruschetta, ravioli with tandoori lobster, fagottini with wild mushrooms, Thai green curry, chicken teriyaki, tikka masala, chicken satay, American beef gravadlax, Muju fish and chips as well as a sushi menu.

The outlet offers a jazz brunch on Fridays from 12pm to 3pm offering a buffet with a selection of pasta, sushi and salads as well as a separate buffet for hot items.

There is also the choice of an a la carte menu offering between 10 and 12 dishes for guests to choose from. Rate for the brunch is BD25 net including drinks.

Chef Vito shares one of his favourite seafood recipes with GulfWeekly readers.

Parsley risotto with pan fried fish fillet and wild mushrooms

Ingredients (serves four)

300gm carnaroli rice

30ml olive oil

50gm chopped shallot

400gm fresh fish fillet (sea bream, sea bass, cod, red mullet)

80gm wild mushrooms

150gm fresh parsley

50gm butter

50gm grated parmesan

1lt fish stock or fish cubes

Method

In a casserole add the chopped onions and rice and toast for three to four minutes until it becomes hot. Cover it with fish stock and cook until ready - or for 18 minutes.

In the meantime, wash the parsley and blanche it in hot water for a second and then refresh in ice water.

Once it is cold, squeeze out the water and blend the parsley with olive oil until nice and smooth.

Once the rice is ready close the fire and add butter, grated parmesan and two spoons of pure parsley. Mix gently and check the seasoning with salt and pepper. In another pan sautŽ the wild mushrooms with a bit of olive oil until cooked.

Also separately, pan-fry the fish fillet seasoned with salt and pepper, add a bit of oil and cook with the skin down until gold and cooked. Put the rice in a bowl and adjust on the top the fish fillet and some of the wild mushroom, ready to serve.