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BRINGING the team together for an office party was always a challenge but where better to gather than at the British Club of Bahrain’s Outside Inn, a retreat for those who remain unsure whether to dine inside with air-conditioned comfort or al fresco in the sunshine.
A continuous argument with no apparent resolution my team face each day concerns the optimum temperature for getting down to work. Some like it warm, whereas others prefer the chill factor. Peace, therefore, never reigns for long.
I’ve tried knocking their heads together but nothing appeases them. The Outside Inn, however, provided the ultimate solution because they could enjoy pre-lunch refreshments on the terrace, a meal inside the impressive restaurant with its coffee-shop ambience, and a double espresso back outside after sampling a sweet, before returning to the office.
I was a born diplomat.
It was also fun to make my multi-national writers and page designers sample some good old-fashioned English fare, which, nowadays, can be pretty much a multi-cultural affair too and one the club’s Indian Chef Sudhakar seemed well capable of delivering.
The Outside Inn lunch menu is impressive and the specials of the day a gastronomical delight at incredibly reasonable prices. David Endall, the British Club of Bahrain’s general manager, said: “The menu is simple, we’ve kept the classics, while full English breakfast and the lunch-time specials are really popular too.
“You have to be a member, or you can come as a guest of a member. Tables can be booked in advance by calling the reception, however, we do like our walk-ins as well.”
The sweet taste of success came with scoops of prompt, polite service by senior duty manager, Entekhab and his team.
There was also an interesting array of art work on the walls which helped keep me occupied as the team scrutinised the offerings available. I already knew what I desired.
The starters at BD1.400 included a Thai Fish Cake on Ginger Relish with cucumber and bean sprout salad and was truly scrumptious, providing a subtle bite at the back of the throat after every mouthful. The Smoked Duck on Olive Polenya and Ratatouille was sampled too and did not disappoint.
The specials main course included a Shredded Beef Chimichanga with Salsa at BD3.100 although one health conscious member of staff went for a Smoked Salmon Salad with goat’s cheese and green beans off the main menu at BD3.300 and, of course, the Arab in my party insisted on a Lamb dish, a sizable shank served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, and complained throughout at the ‘British desire to add too much Rosemary’ to the dish.
As if you can add too much Rosemary? I retorted.
The two Brits in our party, of which I was one, went for the steak pie (BD3.600) and, yours truly, broke all his diet rules by choosing the awesome British Club Platter (BD4) featuring sausages, chops, steak, ribs, fried egg and chips no less. Proper grub.
There was only one thing left to do … allow my team to sample a taste of some Spotted Dick dessert which for some unknown reason resulted in a lot of tittering from the uninitiated.
Just to explain to any readers who have found the above sentence amusing too, Spotted Dick (BD1.400) is a British pudding served with custard.
It is made from a flat sheet of suet pastry sprinkled with dried fruit, which is then rolled up into a circular pudding.
The dish was first mentioned in Alexis Soyer’s book The Modern Housewife, published in 1849. And The Pall Mall Gazette reported in 1892 that ‘the Kilburn Sisters ... daily satisfied hundreds of dockers with soup and Spotted Dick’.
The name remains, it appears, a source of amusement and double entendre to the point that the catering staff of one English local authority decided in 2009 to rename it ‘Spotted Richard’ because of all the jokes.
While ‘spotted’ is a clear reference to the dried fruit in the pudding (which resemble spots), ‘dick’ is more obscure. The word, however, was widely used as a term for pudding in the 19th Century.
Whatever, it tastes amazing.
