Villa Mamas

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Dinner for 4
Price:  55 BHD (yes, you read that right)
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Rocket and pomegranate salad, 2x Eggplant explosions,  Kofta on mashed potatoes, tangy chicken, baby chicken on rice, royal thali
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:No

Kofta on mashed potatoes

Villa Mamas is a pretty happening food spot in Bahrain.  They specialize in Bahraini inspired dishes taken to a new level.  It's very popular so making reservations online at their website is recommended.  Their menu is also available online for pre-perusal.

Eggplant Explosion

The prices are definitely up there, but we were having a good meal with friends so we kind of went a bit crazy.  Someone wanted more of the eggplant explosion, which everyone thought was the best dish we had that night, so we ordered another.  The rocket (arugula) salad was delicious as well.  Actually, everything tasted great, though a bit on the sweet side with the dishes we ordered.  The kofta patties on mashed potatoes were also great.

Baby chicken on rice

The main dishes, while tasty, were a bit disappointing.  Two of the dishes (the thali and the tangy chicken) had white chicken meat that was cooked to a very chewy consistency.  The other dish (baby chicken on rice) was fall off the bone tender and lovely.  I honestly wanted to give this place an excellent, but due to the chewy chicken we had I've had to downgrade to a Very Good.  That along with the astronomical prices of the dishes.  If I ever eat there again, I would go for some lamb or fish dishes, along with more eggplant explosion!

Tangy chicken

Royal thali

Estekanah

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  2.800 BHD
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Mahyawa stuffed with eggs, cheese and tomatoes, coffee
English Menu:Yes
Smoking: No

Ah Bahrain!  I have the privilege of living, working, and especially eating here for the next month!  This time my wife will come to visit for two weeks also, so I'm looking forward to taking her to the best places I've found here.  Yesterday I arrived in the morning and by lunch time I was feeling peckish.  I walked over to the newish mall (since I was here last year) called the Juffair Mall.  It's fairly small, but packs several restaurants I shall want to try eventually.  On the first floor was Estekanah which bills itself as a "traditional" restaurant, by which they mean Bahraini/Gulf foods.  The perfect spot to start my reviews, especially as they took credit cards.  I had not yet pulled any cash out yet.

I didn't want to eat too much so I went for the mahyawa at the waiter's suggestion.  According Wikipedia, mahyawa is a fish sauce native to Iran.  They use it with bread to make various mini pizzas that are reminiscent of crepes and chapati.  I had mine stuffed with cheese, eggs and tomatoes, but you can stuff it with a number of different ingredients.  Also I naturally needed to stay awake until bedtime so I had a coffee.

This place was really tasty!  I would love to return, and maybe I'll come back with my wife.  The waiter said I should really try their biryani next time.  I look forward to it!

Rice Bowl

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Lunch
Price:  6.820 BHD
Payment:  Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Okra with meat, khobiz (flatbread), arabic coffee with dates
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Today I found myself in a mall around lunch time, specifically the Al Seef mall.  I took my time walking around the mall several times to scope out all the food options.  I hate to waste a good meal, and malls are tricky as they have lots of good looking restaurants, but often the food is not that great. Luckily I spotted a good candidate called the Rice Bowl that had lots of probably local families eating there.  As I flipped through the menu I spotted "Bahraini" dishes and I was sold.  I'd never had anything specifically Bharaini before, and though I suspected it would probably be similar to Kuwaiti food, I had to take the opportunity to try it.

I was going to order way too much food and take some home for a breakfast, but one of the dishes I wanted to try turned out to be unavailable (machboos:  rice and chicken ground together into a paste or something) so I ended up with a more normal sized meal and had no leftovers.  I went with the Okra with meat dish as the others seemed to emphasize fish, which I am not as fond of cooked.  I also ordered a basic flatbread and arabic coffee.  The coffee came in a carafe with dates, which were a delicious sweet complement to the rather bitter coffee/cardamom concoction that is arabic coffee.

The Okra with meat turned to be Okra with Lamb (always a good thing in my book) and while the flavors weren't powerful, they were complex.  I did feel the need to add just a pinch of salt, but I get the feeling that it was probably very authentic as nothing in the gulf local cuisine seems to be very strongly flavored.  Actually the Okra dish could have just been an Indian curry dumbed down for local tastes, but they probably consider it their own by now (see:  half of what passes for Japanese food).

Overall I was very satisfied and wish I could return to try more of their dishes.  As usual they have tons of different cuisines (restaurants here tend to have at least 5 different regional cuisines on the menu no matter what), and it all looked good.  The prices are bit higher due to the fancy mall location, but it didn't seem ridiculous.  The arabic coffee pot I ordered added another 2 BHD to the bill, so it would have been much more reasonable otherwise.  I'm giving the Rice Bowl a Very Good rating.