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Mondays usually pass by in a frantic blur at GulfWeekly. Any respite from furious typing and last-minute phone calls is promptly punctured by grumblings from Editor Stan and we are sent scurrying back to our keyboards in fear.
Therefore, an opportunity to take a couple of hours out to relax and enjoy the food and ambience of the Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain Hotel & Spa’s Café Venissa outlet was one I could not pass up.
This quaint establishment, which offers panoramic views of the hotel’s pool and gardens (including, for now at least, the extravagant Christmas tree) is the perfect place to sit down and sip a hot beverage, so that’s where our dining odyssey began.
Photographer Ryan, the office’s coffee connoisseur, opted for the hazelnut option. Being the proud Brit that I am, I chose the wonderfully exciting and original breakfast tea to try and wake me up at this ridiculously early hour of the day (it was approaching noon by this point).
He doesn’t offer much feedback at the best of times, but the speed at which he gulped it down indicates he liked it a great deal!
Shortly, Chef Ibrahim Ghrimil served up the café’s signature light lunch options, starting with the delicious Salmon and Spinach Quiche (BD5.500), a delicious medley of crumbly pastry and soft, succulent filling that hit the taste buds.
This was followed by the Insalata Venissa (BD7), a salad concoction featuring local shrimps, cucumber, bresaola, cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. Crispy, fresh and crunchy, this is how salad should be served.
In the much needed interval before the desserts came, Chef Ibrahim offered an insight into his philosophy while we sipped on some delicious fruit cocktails.
“We want to create dishes that are healthy, but light,” the Tunisian said. “Customers want to come here and relax and have something to eat while they have a coffee, but not a heavy meal that you’d have in a restaurant.
“So I like to use a mixture of local ingredients and influences from other countries to create small but tasty portions. Quiche is my favourite dish to make, so that will always have a place on the menu.”
With 15 years of experience, including a stint in Qatar, Ibrahim has been at the Ritz for a year and a half, initially as the head chef of the Primavera establishment before moving across to Café Venissa.
As soon as the desserts came into view, the time for talking was over and I dived into the Lemon Meringue Tart with Rasberry Sorbet (BD3.500) which featured a fantastic blend of creaminess and crumbliness with a very sweet bite.
I got through half of it before deciding that demolishing it would not be the best course of action with the Exotic Fresh Fruit Babá (BD3.500), Tiramisu (BD3.800) and personal favourite Vanilla Parfait Meringue (BD3.800) still to come.
So much for ‘light and relaxing’, I felt like I’d just sampled everything at one of the island’s famous brunches!
Café Venissa certainly achieves what it aims for; a quaint, relaxing outlet with an authentic European atmosphere and some fantastic fare to boot. It’s easy to envisage this being the new Bahrain place of choice for a lunchtime natter! But, maybe not for me on a Monday … the Editor’s watching.
