Le Chocolat (Calzones)

I've been to Le Chocolate for dessert, breakfast, lunch (pizza) and now dinner, to try their calzone.  For starters, my wife and I ordered the Greek salad (2.2BD) to share.  There is enough salad to probably feed 3 people with no problem.  The fresh vegetables and feta cheese makes for a delicious salad.  The calzone was highly recommended by a friend, so that was are real motivation for going, otherwise, I would have ordered a pizza.  The calzone comes with cheese and beef pepperoni for 3.8BD.  The calzone was good, but to be honest, I would enjoyed it more if I would have ordered it with all the vegetables I had on that salad.  I also would have preferred to have my own, vice sharing it with my wife.  However, we needed to save room for dessert.  So, for dessert we had the red velvet cake (1.9BD), another highly recommended item.  The cake, like all of the cakes, was delicious.  The moral of this story is, you can find a great meal at Le Chocolat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

Greek Salad

Calzone 

Red Velvet Cake 

Bluefield Burger

There is another burger restaurant that recently opened up in Juffair.  The Bluefield Burger Company is located in the new shopping complex across from the Diva Hotel. Bluefield is an American chain; however, their claim is that their dishes are inspired by Mediterranean flavors.  A group of folks from work went and tried it out for lunch, and came back with great reviews.  So, my wife and I went for an early dinner.  One of the guys said the chili fries (2.5BD) were really good, so we ordered it for an appetizer. Though I was warned the fries were actually chips, I thought the chips were actually American style fries.  This was not the case, the chips were actually potato chips with some chili on top.  I wasn't overly impressed.  However, I was impressed with the rest of the meal.  My wife ordered the Feta Cheese burger (3.6BD) on a sesame seed bun.  The burgers come with fries, but we substituted for a salad instead.  The burger was really good.  The feta cheese was actually some kind of feta sauce and the salad was really good, loaded with fresh herbs.  I ordered the lamb and steak burger with pita bread (3.6BD).  The pita bread was actually the thin arabic bread.  The lamb burger was seasoned perfectly and had a yogurt sauce, giving it a unique "greek" style taste. It was very good.  Overall, a really nice place.  I  hear the desserts are good too! 

Feta Cheese Burger

Chile Fries

 

Lamb Burger 

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Lola's Cupcakes

Across the street from the Copper Chimney, there is a new cupcake shop called Lola's.  The place offers a large selection of cupcakes, to include: Vanilla, Chocolate, Banana, Carrot, Black Bottom, Red Velvet, Rocky Road, Chocolate Milk, Passion Fruit, Blueberry, Cookies & Cream, Black Forest, Lemon, Coconut, Vanilla Milk Chocolate and Strawberry.  The cupcakes cost 1.2BD each.  My wife and I ordered the Carrot and Chocolate.  The Carrot was very good; however, the Chocolate was a little disappointing.  The Chocolate was too dry, like a cotton ball.  Taste wise, I think Haute at the City Centre is the better tasting cupcake. 

Vapiano

If you're at the City Centre and you're looking for some good pizza, then I highly recommend you visit Vapaino's.  They offer great pasta, pizza and salads.  My favorite meal is the Insalata Mista salad and Pizza Capricciosa.  The salad is a garden variety and we order it with the balsamic dressing.  The pizza comes with ham, black olives and artichokes.  We substitute the ham for pepperoni.  The meal comes with complimentary bread and they have olive oil and vinegar at the table.  The pizza runs 4BD and the salad is 3.2BD.  Add a couple drinks and you have a great meal for only 9BD. 

Insalata Mista Salad

 Capricciosa Pizza

Cake Boutique

On my way to the Citi Centre, I noticed the new shops opening up across the street at Seef Corner.  One of the new shops is the Cake Boutique. We also have some friends that recently had a birthday party and purchased the cake from the Cake Boutique, and the cake was amazing.  So, my wife and I headed over to the shop to check it out in more detail.  The Boutique offers the typical variety of cakes and desserts, running about 2BD per slice.  The whole dessert cakes run about 20BD (which is a normal price around Bahrain.  They had a red cake birthday cake with Teddy Bears (see pic below) and they said that cake runs about 50+BD. We spoke to the Manager and she said as the shopping complex starts filling up with vendors, they are going to expand their menu to include coffee and offer dining in the shop. We walked out with a piece of red velvet cake. 

Iskenderun Grills

I had some visitors this week, so of course, I had to take them to Iskenderun Grills, over by Expedition Ave. The introduction was simple, some moutabel (eggplant) and bread for appetizer, lamb chops and lamb tikka for the main.  Needless to say, they loved it as much as everyone else who's visited the restaurant.  A great meal for a few BD, you can't beat it. 

Moutabel

 

Lamb Tikka 

Lamb Chops 

 

Fuddruckers (Breakfast)

When it comes to the best breakfast for the buck, or should I say BD, I vote is for Fuddruckers.  My wife and I are weekend regulars at the Juffair restaurant.  I order the western omelet and my wife orders the breakfast platter.  The western omelet comes with an order of potatoes and Texas toast.  The breakfast platter comes with two eggs to order, potatoes, beef bacon and toast.  Both meals include a drink (I get an iced tea, my wife gets a coffee with hot milk) and are only 2BD each.  Breakfast for two for only 4BD, can't beat it. Oh, and it taste delicious. 

Breakfast Platter 

 

Western Omelet  

PF Chang's

I've been to PF Chang's a couple time now, but on this trip, my wife and I wanted to try all the popular recommendations I've been getting from others.  So, we ordered the Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps (3.75BD), Dynamite Combo (4.95), Chicken Noodle Soup 4.25BD) and Beef Lo Mein Noodles (5.5BD). The lettuce wraps are made with tofu vice chicken like we normally order.  The wraps were good, but I think the chicken wraps had more flavor and were overall better than the vegetable wraps.  The Dynamite combo (shrimp and scallops) were very good.  I actually liked the scallops the best, however, they come deep fried with a heavy sauce.  These things are very popular, in fact, there was one of these dishes on just about every table at the restaurant. The Chicken Noodle Soup was a surprise.  I was expecting something like a Campbells Soup, but this soup was like an Asian melting pot of soups.  It came with noodles, chicken, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes with a taste of lemon grass.  It was like pho meets tom yum soup.  Very good.  The beef noodle was a standard beef noodle, nothing over the top, but it was good.  We had two Black Ice Teas to drink (1BD ea).  Be careful with the Ice Tea.  The black tea is very strong tasting and may be too much to drink. Overall, a great meal with a lot to take home for lunch the next day.  Overall, I would say the Soup was the big winner on this trip. 

Vegetable Lettuce Wraps

 

Chicken Noodle Soup

Beef Noodle and the Dynamite Combo

Tea Club

I've reported before on the Tea Club at Amwaj, and how they have the best Buffalo Chicken wrap and Milk Chai.  We'll, I have some good news to share.  The Tea Club, in my opinion, has the best cheese steak in Bahrain.  My wife came upon this treat a few weeks ago, and had to take me back to try it out.  You may recall my disappointment with Tony Lukes, ever since they changed their buns, well, the Tea Club has it right.  The picture doesn't due it justice, but the "Steak Sandwich" as it's listed on the menu, comes with nice heaping of steak, onions and melted cheese on a nice soft bun.  The cost is 3.9BD, but it really is delicious.  Both the wrap and the steak sandwich meals push the limit for just one person to eat, so you'll probably have enough to take some home for take-away. Likewise, the Milk Chai (3.0BD) is enough for two people to share.  

Milk Chai

 Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Steak Sandwich 

Johnny Rockets (Breakfast)

There's a new Johnny Rockets open in Juffair, and they serve breakfast  My wife and I visited and were pleasantly surprised.  They offer eggs to order, and omelet, pancakes and french toast meals.  My wife ordered the Fried Egg Sandwich (1.95BD) and I ordered the Omelette (2.95BD)  The sandwich was a basic fried egg, beef bacon and melted cheddar cheese.  The omelette came was filled with vegetables, chicken sausage and was oozing with cheddar cheese.  The plate also came with toast, beef bacon and potato's; and I walked away very full.  The meals didn't include a drink, so we added a coffee (850 fills) and an ice tea (800 fills), for a total bill of 7.21BD.  The new Johnny Rockets is a little smaller than the others, but they still have Elvis playing in the background and the staff is super-freindly. If your looking for an American style breakfast, at a reasonable price, head over to Johnny Rockets. 

Fried Egg Sandwich 

The Omelette 

 

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Kabuki (Japanese)

To preface this review, I lived in Japan for almost 7 years, so my expectations were pretty high when learned of the new teppanyaki restaurant in Juffair. When I drove up to the restaurant, they had a whole guarded parking lot for Kabuki patrons.  This is nice, especially during high traffic periods on American Alley.  Kabuki offers both teppanyaki and sushi.  My wife ordered the Teppanyaki Angus Beef (9.9BD) and I ordered the Yosei Teisyoko (beef/chicken combo) for 10.9BD.  The meals came with a salad, miso soup and a dessert to share.  We both had an ice tea and the total bill came to 24.4BD.  The staff was very friendly and the food was good; with maybe the exception to the fried rice. Overall, a good experience. However, for the price, I was definitely expecting more. 

 

 

 

 

Pizza Express

My wife and I returned to Amwaj for pizza at the Pizza Express at the Lagoons.  Pizza Express is one of our top pizza spots in Bahrain.  The menu has changed a bit since our last trip.  For an appetizer, we ordered the Polenta Chips (1.8BD).  I thought they were pretty good, my wife didn't care for them.  We decided to order two pizza's, the Calabrese (4.45BD) and the New Giardi Roma (4.9BD with extra pepperoni (650fills).  Both pizza's were delicious.  Pizza Express also provides a bottle of oil and a spicy oil, which compliment the pizza very well.  Pizza Express also lets you, and/or your children, go up and make your own pizza.  We opted not to, but thought it was nice for those that did.  Add a couple ice tea's and the total bill was 14.8BD.  A little pricey compared to some of the fast-food pizza places, but the pizza was great!  

Polenta Chips

 

New Gioardi Roma 

 Calabrese

Macaroni Grill

On a previous trip to the Macaroni Grill, my wife ordered the Classic Italian dish.  It looked incredible, so on this visit, I had to try it for myself. The plate includes very generous portions of pasta, meatballs and sausage, topped with mozzarella.  I'm a big fan of a lot of sauce, so this was really good.  The sausage was decent, but I think some people may have an issue with it since I don't think it's pork; however, I really liked the meatballs.  I was saving the best for last (the meatballs); but I was too stuffed to finish them.  Remember, you get a loaf of complimentary bread with the dinner.  There is plenty of food to take-away the leftovers.  Overall, a very good meal at a cost of 4.9BD.  

 

Pizza Hut

It was the Meal for Two special at Pizza Hut.  The special comes with an order of garlic bread, a medium pizza, a single plate to the salad bar and two drinks for only 4.7BD.  Of course, we had to order another plate to the salad bar and added some pepperoni to the Vegetarian Pizza, so the total bill came to 6.6BD.  Not bad, considering that was enough food for lunch the next day.