Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
I’ve always felt a little sorry for Saturday.
Everyone in the kingdom gets excited when Thursday night comes around at the start of the weekend and Friday brunch plans are a well-established tradition … but what about Saturday?
Apart from the Premier League football, which at this time of year mostly kicks off in the evening because of the three-hour time difference with England, there’s, dare I suggest it, always the chance to ‘go Christmas shopping’.
Now, that’s one thing, most men will tell you, that can only be avoided if you are clever enough to conjure up a tasty alternative. So, it’s far better to ‘re-imagine your Saturdays’ and get ‘in the mood for master fully prepared dim sums’, as my friends at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay kindly suggested.
Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck’s re/Asian Cuisine restaurant on the 50th floor is spicing life up with a one-ofa-kind culinary journey every Saturday afternoon with a Dim Sum Brunch - fabulous fare with a stunning view over Bahrain thrown in for good measure.
Traditionally, dim sum is a style of Chinese cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. These are fully cooked, ready-to-serve dishes.
In the Cantonese teahouse, for example, carts with dim sum will be served around the restaurant for diners to order without leaving their seats. Now imagine a culinary symphony of re/Asian Cuisine’s signature dishes according to the latest seasonal offerings and the chance to savour an array of scrumptious items from a beautifully-curated menu.
Executive Chef Brian Becher, pictured right – a winner of the Chef of the Year accolade by Food & Travel Arabia – and his team, enjoy nothing better than instilling an authentic take on Asian culinary creations, with many signature dishes that exemplify his skills in cuts of meat and seafood, as highlighted on more than one occasion on the pages of this newspaper.
“Don’t expect long line-ups along tables piled with chafing dishes at this Saturday Brunch,” he said. “With meticulouslycrafted brunch specialties, expect this weekly event to be an entirely different affair!”
Whereas most American chefs at this time of year have been sharpening their knives to carve the turkey, our man Brian is busy creating handmade dumplings, working the wok, knocking out the noodles and getting to grips with the grill.
Again, this is a real fun family affair, so the good lady wife, Kathryn, could make her choice as could our son, Stan Jnr, and after I ticked off my favourites we could all tuck into a bit of everything.
It’s a clever concept as you can order five dishes each, cooked and served up fresh and piping hot to the table, plus a lavish dessert too, created by Executive Pastry Chef Pierre Chambon.
So you can start your brunch with a wonton soup with fresh prawn dumplings, then continue with wok-fried shrimp dumplings, Peking duck rolls, wild mushroomfilled vegetable dumplings, Korean-fried chicken bao buns or the short rib and brisket wontons, alongside a vast selection of fried rice and noodles.
Stand-out dishes on the 27-strong menu selection during our brunch experience were the Lobster & Shrimp Spring Rolls with HoneyTen Spice Dipping Sauce, the Crispy Spicy ‘Salt & Pepper’ Squid with Thai Red Curry Dipping Sauce, the Chili Pan Mee house-made noodles with Wagyu beef and poached egg, the ‘Crazy Noodles’ with Hon Shimeji (brown mushrooms), Thai Chili and Black Pepper and the Grilled Chicken Opor Ayam, a candle nut, coconut and chili concoction oozing with flavour.
The impeccably presented dishes are filling to say the least and it was a tough ask to make room for a dessert but, as this was a work assignment, I felt duty bound to try one for our devoted readers.
The Chocolate Fondant was fantastic - soft, spongy cake full of magnificent melted hot chocolate with some Thai Spiced Ice Cream on the side.
I’m starting to dream of Saturdays to come … The Dim Sum Brunch is priced at BD19++ and is available every Saturday afternoon from 12.30pm to 3.30pm.
For table reservations, contact re/Asian Cuisine by Wolfgang Puck at 1711 5046.
