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Aroma Café has a reputation of enticing customers, not just with its sensational smells, but also with its mouth-watering selection of Mediterranean fare.
Known for its extensive menu and cosy atmosphere, the newly-renovated venue situated in Seef Mall falls under the umbrella of Mesk Holdings, a Bahraini closed shareholding company focused on the food and beverage industry in the region.
According to Mesk’s area manager, Hassan Chouman, the group is a dynamic chain that aims to provide guests with new dining experiences and entertainment.
Mr Chouman said: “Aroma could seat 300 patrons comfortably and had five private dining rooms. But due to popular demand, the restaurant has expanded and we are always updating the venue or our menu.
“Now, it accommodates around 750 people in its spacious interior and exterior. The café has a smoking and a non-smoking section, a children’s play area, eight private rooms and a terrace.”
The rooms, which can be used for social gatherings or business meetings, all feature a different themed interior including contemporary or Arabian-inspired and are fitted with a range of appliances for entertainment such as DVD players or game consoles. The café even has a long list of movies for diners to enjoy while eating their meal.
Mr Chouman added: “We are even planning a cinema in which the children and their nannies can watch movies while the parents dine. We always have activities for children as we make sure every customer, big or small, is happy. Customer service is very important for us.
“Aroma isn’t just about the great food and atmosphere. We want our customers to feel at home and, to be honest, there are many that do.
“We have almost 400 regular customers who come here on a daily basis, sometimes two or three times a day. That is amazing.”
The café is open from 8am until 1am, dishing out large plates full of scrumptious fare prepared by a multi-national team of chefs and sous chefs from Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, India and the Philippines who create their countries’ signature dishes.
Mr Chouman said: “We make sure our diners have a plethora of options to choose from. Our Indian chefs make delicious biryani while our Jordanian cook has created a mansaf which our customers go crazy over. We not only offer quantity but also quality.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself as the dishes were both bountiful and tasty.
Mr Chouman had recommended I sample his favourite dishes which are the seafood salad at BD3.800 along with the mixed seafood platter as my main for BD6.200. My husband, Sam, was more interested in the meat selection, opting for a mixed grill priced at BD5.600 and a Moroccan lamb tagine at BD3.200. This was going to be his first lamb tagine experience and I assured him he was in for a treat.
We thought we ordered more than enough but I guess Mr Chouman didn’t think so because he sent over a cold mezza priced at BD3.800 and a hot mezza at BD3.500 along with soujok (sausages) at BD2.500 to start off our meal.
Sam liked the soujok and meat kibbeh while I devoured the stuffed vine leaves and cheese rolls. The spinach pastry was also good.
We were starting to get full with the appetisers and although we tried to stop, we couldn’t resist the fresh and delicious hummus.
Then came the salad, which was a meal on its own! The grilled prawns, calamari and mussels were great with a zesty bit of lettuce, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. The mixed seafood platter was large with giant prawns, a tasty fish and more calamari and mussels. I was in seafood heaven.
Sam’s mixed grill was juicy. We both agreed that the star of the meal was the tagine. The aromatic spices that wafted from the pot were to die for and the meat was beyond tender. I would definitely go back again.
To top off the meal, Sam had a lemon mint cocktail at BD1.950 and I had a Turkish coffee priced at BD1.100.
It was such a great experience and had us wondering why we never dined there before. I guess now Mr Chouman has 401 regular customers to care for.
Aside from Aroma, Mesk operates a group of local and internationally renowned dining establishments in prime areas throughout the kingdom such as Block 338 and The Meat Co in Adliya.
Their catering division for Aroma has been doing extremely well and is also in demand for weddings, parties, social gatherings and corporate events.
Mr Chouman said: “The catering business has been doing really well and we are always busy.
“We are also opening a new outlet in April in Juffair called Aroma Express. It is more Arabian-themed, focusing on dishes such as shawarma, grills, pastries and saj.
“As Mesk, our target is to open two to three outlets a year. Our ambition is bigger than our appetite.”
For details, contact 17582711 or email info@aromabh.com.
