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YOU can’t help but love Thailand. Since moving to Bahrain and enjoying a couple of divine holidays in this tourism hotspot, situated just a four-and-a-half-hour flight away, the Szecowka family members are busy saving our fils for a return trip.
Maybe this summer, maybe next … but, in the meantime, we can get a taste of the joys of the country’s cuisine at what has been judged at the recent 2017 Food & Travel Bahrain Awards as the ‘best’ Thai restaurant in the kingdom, one of many awards it has on display.
The Gulf Hotel Bahrain has recently been celebrating the flying visit of the chef who helped launch its Fusions restaurant, as featured on this page, and, coincidently, the Royal Thai has its opening executive chef back at the helm.
And Chef Tawatchai Chuto has returned full-time to the fray and has been busy in recent months conjuring up some classic dishes alongside some modern Thai food triumphs.
The Royal Thai never fails to impress. It’s situated in a grand pagoda in the grounds of the hotel’s tropical gardens and provides scenic views overlooking the outdoor swimming pool.
The authenticity of this exotic setting is further enhanced inside the restaurant as guests are greeted with enchanting Asian décor and service to match the cuisine.
Now, regular readers may recall, I once wrote a whole review outlining the outstanding service received at one dining destination from a young stand-in ‘captain’ of the waiting crew and I was very temped to do the same having met a marvellous Bahraini recruit learning about the hospitality sector from the sharp end.
Rayyan Ahmadi was a charming, conscientious and knowledgeable young man, fresh from a Swiss college, and at 23 is carving himself a great career and I would return to this restaurant simply as a result of the outstanding service he provided.
It makes a difference, it really does. And, of course, so does the food. The restaurant has recently introduced its Thai Friday Nights, a special promotion with live cooking counters serving satays, carvings and a selection of main courses with an all-you-can-eat menu.
The starters are sensational with a refreshing shredded green papaya salad to get diners in the mood, neat rice-paper rolls with prawn and vegetables, seafood salad with spices and herbs alongside a tantalising Thai chicken salad.
You can’t fully enjoy a Thai culinary tour though without a steaming bowl of Tom Yum Talay, a soup guaranteed to clear the head and stuffy sinuses! It was simply superb.
To ensure authenticity, many of the ingredients are flown in weekly, including the traditional fruits such as rose apple and dragon.
Main dishes with a delightful zing included chicken green curry, stir-fried beef with chili and onions, and a perfect Pad Thai Noodles with chicken and prawn.
The restaurant is renowned for its spectacular seafood menu which regularly offers visitors a huge choice of temptation with lobster, crab and snow fish, for example, that can be fried, steamed, curried and spiced to perfection by the culinary team.
Friday night was no different with the fresh fish counter featuring local favourites safi and chan’ad which I chose alongside the number one hammour and slices of chicken and beef for Chef Tawatchai to perform his culinary magic in the kitchen.
The 58-year kitchen king helped launch the Royal Thai in 2003 and his cooking and restaurant opening adventures have taken him from Phuket to Myanmar and, fortunately for us, back to Manama in August of last year.
For dessert, as well as the exotic fruits, the sticky rice was terrific and the Foi thong, made from egg yolks boiled in syrup, is as delicious as it is beautiful, with the appearance of fine golden threads.
The Thai Friday Nights special mix of traditional and modern cuisine costs BD15 net, inclusive of two selected beverages. For more details call 17746421/2.
See Chef Tawatchai’s interview with Stan by scanning the QR code or by visiting www.gulfweekly.com or our Facebook page.
