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ART Rotana - Amwaj Island’s Iftar experience is bigger and better than ever dishing out delicious local and international cuisine in an Arabesque souq style.
Families and friends have been flocking to the five-star-hotel throughout Ramadan and it’s easy to see why.
The luxury resort has transformed its Flames Steak & Seafood restaurant along with its all-day dining Choices and outdoor Terrace into a superb seaside street food market featuring a plethora of live cooking stations, a bountiful buffet and an array of activities to keep diners entertained throughout Iftar and Ghabga events.
This is Italian executive chef Theodor Rudiferia’s second year with ART ensuring that guests are enjoying the resort’s holy month offerings cooked up by his 30-plus strong culinary team.
A packed Iftar venue proves that the hotel has found the recipe for success. Chef Theodor said: “Our Iftars are quite popular as we are fully booked almost every day and that’s because we have taken every suggestion and request to heart and made sure we deliver.”
Feedback from last year resulted in requests for more regional dishes along with that growing addition to the kingdom’s night-time feasting, healthy sushi.
“This year we went big by adding more live cooking stations offering pasta, an assortment of sushi and we even have a fantastic Tantuni area with a chef dedicated to cooking the traditional Southern Turkey street food cuisine,” explained Chef Theodor. “Tantuni is thinly-diced beef cooked in our special pans with Turkish spices. It will not disappoint.
“Our dessert corner is also superb with a Turkish ice cream section and Kunafa in different flavours that you will not find anywhere-else in Bahrain.”
The outside terrace resembled the Garden of Eden with vines branching out all over the pillars in a serene setting that was warm and inviting, capturing the true spirit of Ramadan.
From the moment I spotted the Turkish ice cream vendor with the giant moustache in the dessert section I knew it was going to be a deliciously fun evening. I was captivated by the lay-out which looked like a Turkish bazaar with tables stacked with different delights to entice diners.
Beautiful silk lavender fabrics were draped across the ceilings along with lanterns, connecting all the restaurants together under one theme. Arabesque arch-ways took guests on a culinary journey from Italy, to Japan and India, as well as Bahrain and other parts of the region.
There was a golden gazebo decorated with Arabic loungers and ottomans, flowers and a sparkly chandelier for diners to pose in at the entrance of the venue. There was also a large table featuring a wide selection of sweet dates.
All the stations and sections were decorated with wooden camels, lanterns and other trinkets.
My husband Sam and I were accompanied by our friend Vesta Popova. Before settling down at a table, we walked through the mini-souq to pinpoint our first target.
We arrived at the celebrated sushi section which boasted a colourful assortment of rolls in greens and yellows with shrimp, crab and vegetables. After filling up our plates we then made our way over to the Tantuni. A joyful chef armed with a spatula and spoon was standing in front of a large flat pan with a pit in its centre.
Thinly-diced minced beef and lamb were on either side of the pan as well as tomatoes and red onions waiting to be combined and cooked in the pit. Small bowls of chopped green chilli, coriander, spicy sauce and other condiments were placed on the side too to be added to the mixture.
Adding oil to the centre, the beef was fried to perfection and the bread that would eventually be used to wrap the meat and vegetables into a roll, called durum, was used to soak up the juices to add extra flavour.
Onions, tomatoes, Turkish spices, including sumac and fresh herbs, were added to the mix before being expertly rolled up. Guests stood stunned watching the chef create the Turkish-looking spicy burrito.
Diners heading for the main courses were quickly demolishing the lamb ghouzi and there were plenty of other local dishes from samboosa and kebab appetisers proving just as popular.
Italy was my next culinary destination and a cheesy bowl of macaroni with cream and tomato sauce found its way to my table along with a second round of Tantuni to be shared with Sam.
The desserts were next. Kanafah, a Middle Eastern cheese pastry soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup, is a speciality where I come from. In my opinion, it’s hard to find great Kanafah in Bahrain but I believe I have at ART Rotana.
I have never seen so many varieties. There was a nutella kanafah, blueberry and even mango choice. It was amazing and unlike anything I have ever tasted although the original variety was great too!
There was no way we could leave the venue without a cone of Turkish ice cream from the cart. This traditional dish is chewy, thick and has an elastic texture which makes it easy for the vendor to play ‘keep away’ using a large silver spoon.
Just when you think your ice cream is on your cone, he will pull it back, popping the scoop off the cone and smacking large bells attached to the cart to humiliate your sad attempt.
This is a fun tradition in Turkey where they enjoy playfully teasing customers. After pouting, he finally took pity on me and gave me my scoop. I went home a happy girl and singing the hotel’s praises.
We can’t wait to go back and this time we will be bringing the whole gang. After all, we want to share the goodness with the people we love and there are just a few days to go before Eid.
Iftar starts from sunset to 8.30pm and the Ghabga is on from 9.15pm to midnight. Iftar is priced at BD19++ and its BD21++ for Ghabga which will also feature a musical performance.
For details, email fb.art@rotana.com or call 16000111.
