Racy burger on the menu

As race fans gear up for F1 action at the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, one of the kingdom’s swankiest hotels is serving up a special promotion, which aims to take pole position with dinners.

The Domain Bahrain in the Diplomatic Area has introduced a Special Formula burger to ensure while the drivers are lapping up the circuit, dinners are lapping up their plates.

Located on the 34th floor of the hotel is Le Sauvage restaurant, a chic, modern venue that boasts breath-taking views of Manama. It is here that the new burger is winning fans.
 
Marketing manager, Majed Al Alawi, said: “We have been receiving great reviews about the burger we serve at Le Sauvage and we wanted to create a hype about it during F1. We thought it would be best to add a twist to it and provide it with a great offer to create a buzz.
 
“The promo will last until April 6 and we are really excited to see our Special Formula Burger be the talk of the town during the biggest event in Bahrain.”

I used to consider myself to be a connoisseur of fast food and nothing annoyed me more than going to a well-known burger franchise and seeing a picture of a pristinely-presented, thick, juicy looking burger only to received a flat, luke-warm reality.

However, with the Special Formula burger, what you see is what you get. It is a mountain of a meal that arrives hot, fresh and delicious.

The only problem I have with gourmet burgers is the etiquette for eating one. It’s quite a conundrum because on one hand, your instinct is to grab it with both hands and sink your teeth into it. With this burger however, you’d have to be able to dislocate your jaw to do so, it truly is massive.

So, the only thing left to do is give in to the fact you’re dinning in a sophisticated venue and dismantle the burger with a knife and fork in a civilised manor while trying your best not to drool.

And drool you do, because there is a reason this burger has the word special in it’s title. It’s a wagyu and duck liver burger slotted majestically in a charcoal bun with, sundried tomatoes, red onion marmalade, pickled cucumber yoghurt cream cheese.

Sides include frites, chick pea fries, mushroom ragout, crispy onion rings and cannellini bean and tomato casserole.

No burger is complete without a selection of sauces and there are plenty on offer at the Domain. Options include truffle hollandaise, harissa mayonnaise, mango-orange chutney, homemade spicy barbeque sauce and cucumber mint dip.

The phrase ‘taste sensation’ gets thrown around a lot but there really is no other way to describe this behemoth burger.

At first, the idea of duck liver on a burger sounded absurd but, the moment it hits your tongue, all bets are off, it’s love at first bite. The flavours compliment each other wonderfully, as do the textures.

The onion rings were a personal favourite of mine, they arrived hot, crispy and oh so tasty. In fact, I liked them so much I almost forgot about the other sidelines.

The chick pea fires were also lovely, although, again, at first, it sounds like an oddity but works very well ... especially when dipped in the lush, slightly spicy, very tangy barbeque sauce.

Rounding off the gastronomic delight is Death by Chocolate, a three-piece selection of tasty treats including a rich brownie, smooth chocolate moose and cool chocolate ice-cream.

If you have space for dessert after the main course, I’d be amazed, but definitely recommend you try to leave room.

The meal costs BD12.750 and the promotion runs until April 6.