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My buddy Geoff Thornley is a man on a mission when it comes to cooking meat, he’s a master of the grill and is the first man on my invitation list whenever we throw an outside party because I can comfortably leave him in control and concentrate on what I do best … which, obviously, to regular readers of this page, is to consume.
He’s an Aussie and I think it is part of his DNA to dish up delights. I’ve a Bahraini friend too who often pitches in and when the two of them are in action it’s like watching poetry in motion, a combination of Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli bursting into a rendition of Nessun Dorma.
Geoff’s more your Pavarotti in size and stature compared to Bocelli Hussain and for the big man to utter these immortal words: “I may not BBQ ever again!” you know something momentous has truly happened.
We had discovered the delights of Brasa De Brazil, a gem of a restaurant up the escalators to level one in Seef Mall’s West Wing.
I’ve driven past the outlet’s signage on many occasions but this was the first time the Szecowka family and our regular eating out friends, the Thornley family, had ventured inside this trendy and comfortable dining destination which sports an image of my favourite Brazilian footballer, Neymar, at the entrance.
Business was booming at the mall on Friday teatime and after failing to find a parking space outside I set off to one of the multi-storey car parks and idiotically chose the one furthest away from our destination.
But it proved to be a blessing in disguise as the trek from one end of the mall in search of Gate 10 helped build up our appetite for the feast that was in store for us.
The salad display and numerous side dishes were dazzling to start with. In fact, restaurant manager, Tauseef Ali Mumtaz, says some customers chose to dine on these delights alone and I’m not surprised, although they would be missing out on a masterful meaty masterstroke, but I’ll come to that later.
I started with a bowl of warming tomato soup before swooping on a selection of the salad sides. And, what a choice! There was an assortment of sushi rolls, Brazilian eggplant salad and even a teasing Brazilian beef steak salad, alongside Penne pasta with beef bacon and a rather tempting Ratatouille and numerous other entrées.
They could have rolled the drums and placed a skewer through my melting heart when the main courses were presented in majestic style … one after the other.
Chicken pieces arrived at first, one wrapped in beef bacon, and an exquisite morsel marinated in green herbs. Then luscious lamb chops and a slice of leg of lamb were presented before it was time to beef up proceedings with tenderloin and Angus beef Picanha, all individually dished up on the table by a delightfully helpful and informative waitress.
Delicious duck cuts were followed by my own pièce de résistance, superb slices of turkey. I have never tasted such a fine bird. The dish was a soft, mouth-watering masterstroke performed by head chef Mahmood Dalgic Abu Nayef and his team in the kitchen where the cuisine is prepared in full view of the diners through a glass partition.
I suppose it’s just a coincidence that a man from Turkey would know his turkeys. He admitted that basting the bird regularly with his ‘secret recipe’ was the answer to dishing up the perfect cut in what, in normal circumstances, often turns out to be a dry disappointment.
Geoff may want to skip future BBQs to eat here but I think I’m already in need of an early Christmas present of a dish traditionally served up back home in the UK over the festive period.
For those with room still left in their stomachs, and by this time the children were waving the white flag, there was venison, hammour and shrimps and a sensational slice of grilled pineapple to end this culinary adventure.
Mr Mumtaz tempted me with a slice of red velvet and chocolate cake to accompany my coffee but not before insisting we sampled Brasa’s signature Brazilian Crush, a stunning combination of orange, pomegranate and ginger.
A glorious dining experience and astonishingly great value too at BD15-a-head, with drinks charged separately, seven meat cuts at BD10, or the salad bar alone with its entrées, main courses and desserts for a mere BD6. Children under five eat free and those between five and 10 eat for just BD6.
