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Fine dining with fun is a combination not easily achieved but the award-winning Margarita Mexicana, Gulf Hotel Bahrain’s Mexican restaurant, continues to triumph on this score.
I love the annual Mexican carnival staged at this venue with traditional dancers and crooners thrown in for good measure and last weekend the atmosphere was just as vibrant with a delightful duo providing the swinging sounds.
Diners have in recent weeks been flocking to enjoy a terrific Taco Promotion running until the end of January, at a staggering great value price of just BD10++ per person for three tacos, plus one round of a popular beverage.
There’s probably no better fun dish than the traditional taco composed of tortilla folded or rolled around a fabulous filling which you have tried to tuck neatly into place before devouring.
A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, chicken and vegetables, allowing for great versatility and variety and it’s a dish that comes with more than 500 years of history.
But please don’t get confused with the store-bought American-style version that comes in a cardboard box and, unsurprisingly, tastes a bit like cardboard too. You know the sort, where mincemeat is packed inside but as soon as you squeeze the hard tortilla between your fingers it cracks and the contents spill down the front of your shirt. We’ve all been there.
There are many types of tacos in Mexico, but the most popular come with a home-made soft corn tortilla which provides a fail-safe solution to the messy problem because the wrap is so flexible you don’t have to drop a bit of the contents!
These were freshly-pressed, hot, steaming, moist and ready to fall apart in your mouth.
Every taco stand has at least three different kinds and the great thing about real tacos is that you build them up yourself.
You can load them up, try new combinations and make each taco as spicy or not spicy as you want.
The salsa sauce of chopped vegetables or fruit, especially tomatoes, onions and chili peppers comes in numerous strengths depending on your taste although I prefer mine hot.
Check out the blended green tomatillo salsa. The fruit looks like a funny-coloured tomato but in fact it is of the nightshade family bearing small, spherical and green or green-purple fruit of the same name. Tomatillos originated in Mexico and were cultivated in the pre-Columbian era.
I want to repeat what a fellow restaurant reviewer once penned, that Mexican tacos are not spicy. You make them as spicy as you want. You know you’re getting the real McCoy here because Mexican Head Chef Ruben Herrera Aguilera, who stepped over from Trader Vic’s last year, wouldn’t have it any other way and diners get the chance to see the dish being created live in the restaurant.
His colleague Chef Vipin prepared the marinated chicken and beef to perfection, as Morelos-born Chef Ruben watched on before returning to the kitchens to prepare us more of his amazing creations from the home country.
I must not forget to mention the other live sensation … the guacamole show.
It is freshly prepared at guests’ tables to guarantee that the menu and fine dining experience are as authentic as possible.
The avocado is crushed in a bowl with a combination of lime, tomato, onion, coriander and pepper to give it a kick of pure healthy culinary pleasure ready to be scooped up with crunchy tortillas.
Chef Ruben’s culinary creations included a Mexican-style fondue, which I urge my fondue-loving Swiss and German expat friends on the island to give a go as soon as they get the chance. The Chorisqueso features meat mixed with mushrooms, chili sauce and cheese.
I also recommend shrimp connoisseurs to try the Ceviche de Camaron. The seafood is marinated in lime juice and comes accompanied by cucumber and peppers and every bite is mouth-wateringly magnificent.
Everyone’s favourite, the awesome fajitas, have a fine following too. A hot iron transforms the onions, peppers and shrimp into gorgeously browned, sizzling, caramelised deliciousness.
For dessert the Churro, fluted sticks, lighter and fluffier than a normal doughnut, were served with a rich chocolate sauce.
The dining experience was divine, delightful and Margarita Mexicana remains one of my top dining destinations in town.
Don’t miss the superbly-priced Taco Promotion. For more information visit www.gulfhotelbahrain.com/Margarita-Mexicana or call 17746462.
