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AS a child of the 1970s, when arguably the best music was topping the charts, there was a catchy little tune called You Can Do Magic by American outfit Limmie & Family Cookin’ that had us all boogieing-on-down at the school disco.
Here in Bahrain families are forgetting about the cookin’ and flocking down to the recently-opened Lumee Saar Kitchen for a taste of Chef Simon Fernandes and his team’s culinary magic.
The St Chris mums have been in full natter mode ever since the restaurant opened at Saar Mall, building on its success at Lumee Street Café at Al A’ali Complex, the popular café-cum-deli where the GulfWeekly team recently met up en-masse to celebrate reporter Kristian’s birthday and that of my daughter, Immy’s, which both fell on the same day.
Now I know what the fuss was all about. Lumee Saar Kitchen’s dining experience is brought alive with a generous à la carte menu. Customers can also choose anything from the open deli displaying fresh daily specials such as salads, juices, pastries and bakes infused with multi-cultural influences.
Additional menu sections dedicated to poultry, meat and seafood have been added to the new branch’s menu featuring unique dishes. Accounting for everyone at the table, vegetarians can also choose from a special section.
Lumee Saar Kitchen’s concept extends from its menu to its venue resembling a comfortable yet contemporary home. Customers are welcomed into an outdoor veranda leading into a dining area and lounge connected by an open kitchen that allows for customers to watch the chefs in action. Walnut wood panels cover the walls nailed with vintage shelves, unique artifacts, vertical gardens and frames bustling with Lumee’s signature personality.
The place was truly buzzing at teatime last Wednesday as I was joined by the good lady wife, Kathryn and a ‘starving’ Stan Jnr, fresh from his karate lesson, and shown to our table by assistant manager Rajeev Pillai.
I’m sure I recognised him from a previous Eating Out review and I definitely remembered Chef Simon dishing me up a superb steak once at the Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain’s Plums restaurant.
The multi-award winning cook started his career in India, moved to Bahrain rising up the ranks to Sous Chef before joining the launch of the Residence Inn by Marriott in Kuwait City. He returned to the kingdom to start his adventure as Lumee’s head chef last September and what a joy it is to watch this master back in action here.
The big attraction nowadays in Bahrain, which I touched upon in last week’s Eating Out review, is the growing demand for ‘sharing plates’ and Lumee Saar Kitchen does not disappoint with an impressive collection of cold and hot dishes for tables to dive into.
My top taste tips for starters are the Caramelised Onion Hummus (BD2), slow-roasted onion pureed with chickpeas, topped with crazy caramelised onion bites for a Middle Eastern staple mezze masterstroke, and Spicy Vine Leaves (BD2) which come with a sting in their tails!
The Crispy Fried Calamari (BD3) was spectacular and mixed superbly with the Rocket with Mixed Berries Lumee Salad (BD2.500), a healthy choice if ever there was one!
Talking of healthy options, even the toasties won’t make the weight-watchers worry too much. Try the charcoal grilled Chicken-Mayo & Cheese Toasts (BD3) with root vegetable crisps, a clever alternative to fries.
Chef Simon was smiling as he conducted proceedings around the grill and prepared three sizzling medium rare Angus Beef Fillet steaks, with accompanying smoked onion and whole grain mustard sauce. A reasonable price too at BD8.500, you’ll probably pay a lot more elsewhere and I guarantee it’s unlikely to be bettered. This man knows his meat.
We were almost full to bursting but the Lumee team requested we sampled one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes and we didn’t want to disappoint. The Chicken Tah Chin (BD4.500) is a clever tasty concoction featuring upside down layered Iranian rice steamed with chicken, yogurt and saffron topped with pistachio and zereshk.
Please try to leave some space for desserts too. The Sticky Dates-Walnut Pudding with butterscotch sauce (BD2.500) is sensational and the Crispy Balaleet Dome (BD2.650) is a delightful combination of custard ice-cream topped with warm saffron-salted caramel.
For drinks, there is an array of teas and coffees as you would expect but the range of fresh laban shakes, no-sugar-added cold pressed juices is also impressive. The stand out beverages, however, are the Sharbat Lumee lemonades made with honey at BD2.200 – sweet!
Lumee Saar Kitchen is a delightfully relaxing, laid-back neighbourhood destination which is living up to its glowing reputation.
Customers can drop by daily from 8.30am–11.30pm with breakfast served from 8.30am to noon and lunch and dinner from 12.30pm to 11.30pm. Weekend Lunch Feasts are available every Friday and Saturday, which we’ll have to sample another time!
For more information call 17694848 or visit @LumeeStreet on Twitter and Instagram or drop a message on facebook.com/lumeestreetbh
