Festive fare with flare

LA Mer’s chef de cuisine, Angad Sawant, is cooking up a heart-warming fishy festive feast for Christmas Eve, proving that turkey isn’t always the star of the show.

The 32-year-old from Mumbai is thrilled to be celebrating his first Christmas with the Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa and aims to make it a memorable evening with an under-the-sea-inspired six course menu for all to enjoy.

Head chef Angad said: “Being a seafood restaurant and tapas bar, we offer fresh catches and tasty seafood throughout the year. People love our seafood so why not for Christmas Eve dinner?

I wanted to share all my culinary experiences on a plate and what better time than during this joyous occasion. This set menu has something for everyone.”

Seafood for Christmas is unheard of for my husband Sam and I as our dining table is usually filled with a mixture of traditional fare such as a giant turkey, mashed potatoes, corn and stuffing.

When we received an invite to put the chefs handy work to the test we were more than happy to…and after tasting the scrumptious set menu we didn’t want to leave.

The 80-seat venue, situated at the far end of the hotel surrounded by the Gulf’s lapping waves, oozed class and an inviting ambience with decorative mood lighting and candles.

The assistant restaurant manager guided us to our crisp, cream covered table which featured a minimalistic setting. Although we couldn’t enjoy the restaurants panoramic views, the sounds of the waves crashing into the pier reminded us that we were dining by the sea.

My colleague Jalal Muradi and his lovely wife Zainab also joined us on our aquatic journey. As I read through the menu I began to drool in anticipation.

Perhaps that’s also because I had skipped lunch to truly savour the courses. Chef Angad talked us through the planned meals explaining that he wanted us to try a bit of everything, hence why some of the portions will be sample size.

I knew then and there that I should have worn a looser fitted dress to hide the food baby which was going to be making an appearance that evening.

The chef and his team of five whipped up one delightful dish after the other. The evening started on a high note with a beautifully presented amuse bouche which was a truffle egg sitting with a beef crisp.

I scooped up the creamy truffle from inside my cracked egg and nibbled on the crispy piece of beef. A big basket of seaweed bread made its way to our table with sides of butter to have with prawns, pistou, rouille pourer which is a cross between a soup and a stew.

This French dish is light, packed with vegetables, mussels, clams and a pesto base. The bread was devoured even before the soup reached the table.

Seeing that it was a hit, we received a fresh batch with our bowl of healthy goodness which was flavourful to the last sip. Up next were the scallops.

I’m a bit of a scallop snob as not every restaurant does it right. Cook it too much and it tastes rubbery. It takes a skilled hand to plate up a buttery, perfectly cooked slice.

We were presented with a curry roasted scallop with oyster mousseline and white asparagus in an orange carrot emulsion. I was wondering how Sam would feel about scallops as he isn’t much of a seafood fanatic.

Unlike my editor who repeatedly tells me how much he loves seafood. He’d say: “I see food and I eat it!” Ha! Sam demolished it and why wouldn’t he?

The dish was so delicious that even I wanted more. The second starter was chicken liver terrine with kumquat chutney, lambrusco jelly and crusty fig bread.

I glanced over at Sam once more as I knew this would be another challenge for him. As a child he used to have chicken liver pâté smeared on toast but stopped when he found out what it was.

He looked down at his plate and with one swift motion scooped up a bite and swallowed it whole. He then grinned at his achievement.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t get enough of the rich and silky terrain. If the liver becomes overpowering with flavour, cut the sharpness with the tasty fig bread and jelly. Still it was a winner of a dish. Next was the lobster and Jerusalem artichoke risotto
with clam Arancine. Arancine are stuffed rice balls which are coated with bread crumbs and then deep fried. By a round of applause and clean bowls, we all agreed that it was by far the ultimate dish of the day!

I didn’t need to eat anything else because my tummy was full of cheesy, lobster happiness. If you aren’t a lobster fan then have at the pan seared salmon with a yellow buttery pepper sauce, asparagus, smoked salmon in squid ink tortellini and a French sauce called vierge made from olive oil, lemon juice, chopped tomato and chopped basil.

The salmon was divine. There is also a ‘Flavours from the Land’ section. Diners have the choice of eating a souse vide turkey roulade with duxelle of mushroom, celeriac, Brussels sprouts, roasted garlic and cranberry sauce or a classic
beef wellington sitting on a bed of truffle mashed potatoes, baby carrots and beef syrup.

The turkey was juicy with its side of cranberry and celeriac. The wellington pastry was fluffy and the truffle mashed potatoes were tasty.

At the end of the meal I ended up getting a Santa Claus shaped belly that shook like a bowl full of jelly when I laughed. My turkey was cooked so to speak and I was ready to hit my pillow with sweet dreams of a French-inspired gourmet meal.

However, there was still the dessert portion. Well if I must! This dessert is the embodiment of Christmas. The white meringue pillow was filled with a milk chocolate mousse that you had to crack to get into and it was surrounded by sweet marron glace and mandarin coulis and topped off with an edible golden leaf.

A marron glacé is a confection, originating in southern France and northern Italy consisting of a chestnut candied in sugar syrup and glazed. It was delicious to the last bite.

Hats off to the chef for making it a night Sam and I will never forget. This Christmas Eve dinner is priced at BD34 net per person inclusive of a selected beverage and it starts from 7pm to 11pm on Saturday.

To book a table, contact 17636363.