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It’s time to go Belgium barmy at the Mövenpick Hotel Bahrain once more as the kitchen team pulls out all the stops to enchant diners during a week-long festival of fabulous European fare.
Bucketloads of fresh mussels are winging their way into the kingdom each day with tomorrow’s Night Out offering and Friday’s brunch, plus Monday’s Seafood Night boasting added European delights.
On non-themed days an amazing Poolside Belgium Combo will be available and for connoisseurs of fine cuisine there’s an A La Carte Menu which promises to tantalise the taste-buds.
One of the stars of the show will be the Steak Tartar which even Executive Chef Alfred Zuberbühler admits should only be ordered if you trust the kitchen team and your dining destination.
In a special taste-testing session before Monday’s launch, Chef Alfred allowed me behind the scenes on Sunday into the kitchens to watch him prepare the dish made from finely-minced raw beef tenderloin.
It’s stunning to watch this culinary wizard at work as he added finely-chopped red onions, gherkins, capers, anchovies, parsley, chives, ketchup, egg yolk, olive oil, tabasco and pinches of salt and pepper to the mix as his hands suddenly metamorphosed into human whisk-mode.
This conjuring trick was completed within minutes without spilling a drop or showering the contents far and wide and the ingredients were then carefully plated with a tiny quail egg yolk planted perfectly on top.
My trust in the masterfulness of Chef Alfred and the Mövenpick was fully justified. The Steak Tartar (priced BD9.200++) was a case of ‘très bon’ for my French-speaking Belgian friends, ‘zeer goed’ to my Dutch-speaking Belgian friends and ‘sehr gut’ to the German-speaking ones … and a simple ‘top job’ to the ones who understand my simple use of the English language.
To my Bahraini buddies, I know you might not normally go for the raw deal but please make an exception this time!
As I chewed, swallowed and dribbled a tiny portion of raw meat magic down my chin, I suddenly had a Game of Thrones moment (readers, do you ever get those?) I’m confiding in the Lord Commander of the Night Watch’s and the surviving Stark family and we concur, in Ser Alfred, we doth trust!
The good lady wife, Kathryn, was suitably impressed too but her eyes really started to glow when the bowls of mussels appeared.
Our son Stan, fresh from school and celebrating his 13th birthday, looked on in wonder and politely asked her why she was devouring them so swiftly, and she replied without losing her shelling rhythm by asking him how he would feel if he could only eat pizza once a year!
Stan chewed his first one ever as we attempted to expand his gastronomic knowledge slowly but surely.
I’m rushing ahead a bit, because the Salad of Belgium endive with goat cheese, orange and dill, proved to be a superb starter from the A La Carte menu priced BD3.800++.
Other main dishes to recommend include Chicken waterzooi (BD7.600++), a creamy chicken stew with vegetables which was a firm favourite with little Stan and a fine butter-seared Sole filet meaunière with parsley potatoes (BD12.500++) which we all enjoyed.
There was also one very traditional offering, which may not be to everyone’s taste because of the meat which is wrapped round an endive, a leaf vegetable, covered with a Gratin melt that just works wonders, cauliflower-cheese style (BD6.500++). Fabulous.
We wrapped up the tasting session with a chocolate birthday cake for our son who has insisted on returning to Muharraq again for the Belgium Waffles this week and nothing will keep Kathryn away from the seafood.
I think she said mussels, not muscles … but I’ll book a table and drop by the rugby club gym for a session, just in case!
* To book a table too, call 17460017.
