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I’VE sampled a sizable chunk of Bahrain in almost a decade of living on the island but I’ve never seen such a large pizza as was served up at the El Rancho Steakhouse & Cantina, upstairs at the legendary Ric’s Kountry Kitchen.
Over the years I’ve heard so many things about this Juffair establishment and particularly complimentary mention of its dazzling breakfasts. We had some friends, who recently moved back home, boasting every time they were able to secure a table for the morning feast, such is the demand on a Friday and Saturday morning.
In fact, on the odd occasion I’ve driven around Juffair and spotted the Ric’s sign I’ve thought, I must try that out one day. As soon as I heard the amiable former Dilmun Club general manager, Mark Rowe, had returned to his kitchen roots in the role of executive chef, it provided the ideal opportunity to check out how he was adding a touch of South African culinary flair to the fare.
Ric’s Kountry Kitchen is renowned for offering real homemade American food for all to enjoy and like everything American they don’t do anything by half … particularly when it comes to Italian pizzas!
The good lady Kathryn and I shared the large Ric’s Meat Lovers Pizza (BD6.300) and it was truly enormous and, better still, tasted sensational. It came as little surprise to hear that the outlet dishes up and delivers around 1,000 pizzas a month to fans – definitely a delight to share with friends!
We, on the other hand, shared a couple of slices before requesting the remainder be packed up for a take-out for Friday night’s supper! Waste not, want not!
The history of the establishment is quite fascinating and originates from a restaurant owned by Rick Abernathy’s mother, Rula, in his small home town of Holdenville in the US state of Oklahoma.
Rick has made his home in the Middle East now for the last 30 years and decided in 1997 to put all his experience and family recipes to good use by opening the first American restaurant of its kind in Doha and the Bahrain base followed in 2001.
The downstairs lounge area on Thursday evening was buzzing and operations manager Gil Ford was conducting business as the room rocked. We made our way up to El Rancho, a large gem of a room and home to the traditional pizza oven close to where a laid-back singer/guitarist was enchanting diners with a chilled set.
There was nothing chilled about the food that was to follow … just a variety of taste sensations and, pleasantly and surprisingly, sophisticated too.
The Branding Iron Hot Dip on the appetisers section at BD3.300 was superb. It featured a spinach and artichoke dip with crackers. So tasty you couldn’t resist using your finger to lick up the remaining dip in the bowl … now, I never said I was sophisticated!
You can make mine Mexican any day of the week and next on the sample list were the Chimichanga, grilled tender steak stuffed in a tortilla topped with melted cheese and sauce (BD6.300) and Enchiladas, soft tortillas with chicken (BD7.100) both served with rice and beans, with combination platters available at various prices.
Beef Tacos (BD5) followed, a superb combination of tortillas with minced beef, cheese, shredded lettuce and tomato.
The menu was rich and varied and there were numerous specials available from schnitzels to homemade sausages, salmon to pasta … and that’s before my eyes were cast over the dessert section.
I was torn between the baked Alaska and the apple pie but eventually decided to try the Peach & Cherry Cobblers (BD2.800), a sweet and cleverly crunchy concoction, which hit the spot helped by a scoop of vanilla ice-cream (BD1).
My man Mark is leading a team of 15 chefs and enjoying every moment of it as it appears the South Africans and the Americans have quite a few culinary things in common. “We both love to braai (BBQ),” he explained, pointing to the list of El Rancho Steakhouse Steaks on the menu. “Currently we will be doing our own biltong (beef jerky) at brunch. I’m experimenting with a lot of new and exciting dishes – check out the Machaca (Mexican) malva pudding (South African) it’s a wow!”
Next time Mark, next time … and by the way, is there any room at the inn for breakfast next week? Our son, little Stan, loves his American-style pancakes!
