We’ve all had to make changes to our lifestyle and adapt our daily routines to stay safe this year. The thing we missed the most was the experience of dining out in a beautiful location, in good company and, naturally, tucking into some scrumptious food. So, you can imagine our pure delight when restaurants across Bahrain reopened this October. To celebrate in style, we chose to dine in absolute splendour in a breathtaking location – Bay View at Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay.
My colleague, Anuradha, and I began our gastronomical journey with a selection of afternoon tea items starting with five finger sandwiches. While we thoroughly enjoyed the full selection, the smoked salmon proved to be a favourite while the cream cheese and cucumber sandwich was light and fresh – the perfect option for vegetarians.
We were then served a delectable array of desserts, beautifully presented in true Four Seasons style – living up to the saying ‘We eat with our eyes first’. The sweet delicacies included a Pumpkin Pie with Tahitian Vanilla Cream, Golden Hazelnuts Praline Choux Buns and Spiced Caramel William Pear Tart. The selection of desserts provided us with a colourful journey through tastes and textures. It’s notable that they weren’t overly sweet, but rather take you through a medley of mellow and rich flavours so you can truly enjoy the chefs’ creations. The tart base and filling for the Pumpkin Pie were just perfect while the creamy texture and flavour of the Choux Buns will have us going back for more.
While the afternoon tea alone is a feast, we carried on with two salads: Burrata and Asparagus Avocado. We were delighted to know that the Burrata is from the Italian district of Puglia, the same as our host, Pierpaolo! We enjoyed the cheesy goodness of the burrata coupled with refreshing arugula pesto, tangy watermelon and fresh cherry tomatoes which complemented the creaminess of the burrata perfectly. The Asparagus and Avocado Salad was quite the contrast in terms of flavour – the combination of seasonal herbs, zaatar, feta cheese and dressing meant that it was creamy with a sharp flavour of the herbs and pleasant saltiness too.
For our next course, we tucked into a Wild Mushroom Pizza. We strongly believe that the right cheese and perfect crust is key to a good pizza, so the thin crust which was crisp on the edges, Brie cheese, caramelised onions and rosemary made it a hit in our books.
We’d also been hearing the buzz around Bay View’s latest sandwich – the Spicy Korean Chicken sandwich for a while now. The sandwich, served with a side of fries, is the perfect balance of flavours and textures making it live up to the hype. It combines a crispy fried chicken fillet, pickles and avocado topped with Gochujang sauce which give it the ultimate balance of flavours – savoury, sweet and tangy with a pleasant flavour of sesame too!
To end our meal on a high note, we tucked into the Mixed Nuts Crusted Seabass which was served with a wild arugula velouté. The fish was perfectly cooked and complemented the flavours of the pistachio and other mixed nuts perfectly.
The entire experience at Bay View was the perfect welcome back into the world of dining with the tastes and textures forever etched onto our mind and soul. The Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay did it again and it’s definitely not the last they’ll be seeing of us!