THE Dilly is clearly back on top form and has delivered a tasty new menu jam-packed with family favourites for its multi-national members and visitors, writes Stan Szecowka. The bill at the end of the night will not break the bank either as the prices are remarkably competitive.
It is also heartening to find one of my favourite haunts well and truly back on song on the culinary front. I’m told from a very reliable source that the new menus were put together as a ‘team effort’ as it is as much about the service as it is the guys who devised it or cook the food. And, that is probably where the Dilmun Club outshines many other dining establishments as it would be difficult to find a more attentive, happy and professional service. I probably eat here, on average, once a week and my favourite is the Dilly Grill (much to the displeasure of my doctor and trouser belt). This is a fabulous feast of rump grill, sausage, chicken breast, gammon with fried egg, chips, tomato and mushrooms and, at BD5.200, it is the most expensive item of the 32-strong ‘main courses’ selection. It’s a feast worthy of a king but I thought it would be wrong to go for an old favourite to review … instead I went for a dish an Irish friend would often wax lyrical about during his time on the island. I recall how devastated he was when they suddenly took the Chicken & Spinach Curry off the menu a few years back under a different regime. A lot of favourites suddenly disappeared overnight off the menu and the locals were in uproar. Well, my dear friend, you may have left, but the BD3.800 dish is back and wow, now I know what all the fuss was about. Served with fragrant rice, the combination of melt-in-your-mouth chicken pieces and Popeye’s muscle-pumping greens is amazing. Kathryn, the good lady wife, went for the Special of the Day set menu, which offered a choice of breaded Dory and prawns, Beef Bhuna, pan-fried chicken breast with Tarragon cream sauce, Vegetable Burrito or a Chinese chilli meat offering. All priced at BD4.500, they come with a choice of free beverage. We both had the soup of the day to start with, accompanied by crusty bread and butter (BD1.500) and shared some crispy duck spring rolls served with Hoi Sin Sauce (BD2.800). This week we have my 14-year-old daughter, Immy, back from boarding school in the UK along with her Auntie Lou, who lives close to the school near York and helps keep a watchful eye on her progress. Immy went for her usual child’s portion of Spaghetti Bolognese and Louise, who is what I would politely call a picky eater, eventually tucked into the beef stroganoff (BD4) after some debate and was suitably impressed. The biggest treat fell for my son, little Stan, who was welcomed into the kitchen, given a chef’s hat to wear and a pair of disposable gloves to not only create his own pizza (BD1.200) but place it on the dough base with the help of executive chef Siraj Miah. Chef Siraj, a 52-year-old from Bangladesh who came to Bahrain in 1993 and has been with the Dilly for around 20 years, leads a team of 11 chefs and kitchen staff in impressive facilities which match, if not better, some of the five star hotels on the island. The children’s menu is fabulous and again shows the direction the Dilly is moving in with a variety of healthy and fun dishes on offer. There was a time a few years back that the 40-year-old expat institute wobbled and looked like it had lost its way until South African Mark Rowe arrived to take charge of the kitchens. Now running the show as general manager and supported by food & service manager Sathish Palayat and an active committee listening to the concerns of its customers, the Dilly team has come up trumps with a vast array of filling favourites which cannot fail to impress. Alongside the Main Courses Menu are separate sections for the steak corner, salads, sandwiches and burgers. The dessert menu includes apple crumble and the marvellous Malva Pudding both served with custard and priced at BD1.500. Club treasurer Alec Peck said: “We updated the menu because we like to keep the choices fresh. We felt it was time to offer more of what our members wanted – good quality food that is priced reasonably and expertly prepared. “The diversity of the menu reflects the diversity of the club. Our members and guests want to see dishes that reflect the kind of food that they grew up with and would order at home. With members from so many nationalities we try to cater for as many tastes as possible. “It’s also a reflection of the fact that people want much more variety, nowadays. For example, when we have a family of four come to dine with us it’s not unusual for the dad to order an Indian curry, the mum to order a Salad Nicoise and the two kids to order a fish ‘n’ chips and a hotdog – that’s four countries cuisines in one order! “We are particularly proud of the changes we have made to the children’s menu. The idea was to move away from the out-dated view of what a children’s menu should be, which is often little more than chicken nuggets and is clearly just an afterthought to the adults menu. “We wanted to be different so we designed the menu from the ground up around children. That meant asking the kids what they wanted and making sure it is offered to them in a fun and compelling way. Of course, there are treat items on the menu like our amazing Waffles and Ice Cream but there are also a number of healthy options, which are proving to be very popular too.” As reported in GulfWeekly, The Dilly went a stage further recently and redesigned its kid’s outlet at the club, Amigos, and it is now a place where the young can hang out with their friends, sample the new menu or even challenge each other on the new PlayStations installed. But whether it’s Amigos, the Poolside Bar, Stella Sports Bar, Candles Restaurant, the Bull’s Head or the more intimate Bistro where we enjoyed our family meal, one thing is guaranteed … the food will not disappoint.
