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Soie Restaurant’s new dinner menu is on course to be a sizzling success, offering diners delightful delicacies from various parts of Asia.
The Sheraton Bahrain Hotel’s celebrated fine dining Chinese restaurant recently unveiled its latest spicy-sweet selection to members of the media in a glitzy affair, taking their palates on a culinary journey with dishes from South East Asia and Guangzhou to Sichuan and Beijing.
Its modernised setting which, according to the five-star hotel’s general manager Thomas Flindt, is a ‘lighter look’ also complemented the flavourful fare.
Mr Flindt said: “Previously, our setup was more traditional and heavier. Now it’s lighter and even our presentation is more up-to-date.
“As for the menu, we wanted to feature food from various parts of China with the emphasis on Cantonese cuisine, some specialities from Hong Kong, Sichuan and South East Asia.
“We also offer combination meals in our Chinese version of Bento boxes for the single diner who would like a taste of everything on one plate.”
Who better than to be part of the food testing process than Mr Flindt, who spent two years living in three different provinces in China and has a taste for ethnic cuisine? Beaming from ear to ear, the Danish general manager was confident of the new menu, and rightly so, as the dishes the GulfWeekly family and friends sampled were sensational.
As the media personalities began their meet and greet outside the restaurant, friendly waitresses presented trays full of delicious tiny morsels, giving us a taste of what was to come. I had to restrain myself after chomping on a few fried calamaris, rolled up prawn toasts and fried bag dumplings, otherwise known as money bags, so that I could have room for the many courses that were to be delivered to the tables inside.
Entering the dramatically-lit venue with its wooden floors, porcelain ornaments, silky canopy and lanterns, I prepared to be whisked away on an oriental experience along with my dear colleague Gopal and some old friends such as Charlie and Bambi. I took in the savoury scents wafting throughout the restaurant and felt myself drooling.
At that moment, I felt bad for our Editor, Stan Szecowka, who could not be with us on this special night as he was on vacation. It is, after all, his favourite Chinese restaurant and I totally understand why.
The servers were on top form, making sure every glass was filled and every guest was taken care of. The evening started with an assortment of appetisers including butterfly prawns from Hong Kong, fried chicken balls with sweet and spicy dip from Sichuan and Cantonese steamed vegetable spring rolls.
Surprisingly the chicken balls had won me over, although Bambi couldn’t get enough of the spring rolls and she insisted the plate of goodness stay right next to her.
The dip had an amazing fiery kick to it, which I immediately rectified by spilling a glass of water all over my food and plate setting. No phones placed nearby were harmed in the flooding. After a lovely waitress towelled my area down, I resumed eating as normal but this time it was onto the soup which was hot and sour Szechuan.
Sipping the spicy soup felt like being slapped in the face with flavour. My throat was on fire but I couldn’t stop because it was so good. Since I have just started eating spicy food, I thought maybe I was being a wuss but even the chilli eaters were melting. Still, not one person put down that soup spoon and kept at it with beads of sweat dripping from their foreheads. My hubby Sam would have loved it!
For the main course we had Cantonese light fired cigale which tastes like prawn and was incredible. The South East Asian mango crispy chicken was an amazing blend of sweet and salty. We also loved the Cantonese stir-fried chilli beef and the show stealer crispy duck pancake from Beijing.
The Thai green curry, which is my favourite, had me reaching for the tissues. The others loved the stir fried mixed vegetables from Sichuan and the fried noodles with vegetables.
We cooled off with a deep fried ice cream with mango cinnamon coulis and green or oolong tea. What a glorious evening, hats off goes to Sous Chef He Cheng and Executive Sous Chef Frances Gomes for the great meal.
To book your own delectable meal, visit www.sheratonbahrain.com or call 17533533 or follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @sheratonbh
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The Royal Golf Club’s award-winning Friday Brunch in Links Restaurant has been reinvented over the summer and re-launches on August 28 as an ‘A La Carte’ Brunch. Diners will be able to enjoy a wide selection of tempting dishes while enjoying the stunning golf course views.
To book a table for the new Links A La Carte Friday Brunch, call 17751262.
