Dining out was never the same, at least until the world is done with the whole Covid situation.
But for a lunch at Paul, who wouldn't?
The British Kabayan ( well almost, Inshallah) followed the minimum health standards when dining out so everyone can enjoy our meals safely.
So, as promised, here is my Blog about dining at Paul in City Centre Mall Bahrain during the COV 19 era. For those who do not know Paul ( the Baker) is a French chain with very smartly uniformed Phillipino staff. The décor is great and with less seats for COV 19, it's spacious.
There was one person on each table and I had a table for 4 in the corner!
The menu is varied and the food well presented- and really it should have featured in my last blog on the most reliable places to eat in Bahrain
The thing I like most about Paul in City Centre is its location with large glass windows and , having been here 11 years, someone always passes who recognises me and drops in for a chat.
The staff are always very gwapo and now they have new uniforms, and attentive and the food is healthy and tasty ( sarap for my Pinoy readers)
Paul is definitely one of the places I will be going back to during Ramadan-talking of which next week we have our annual Ramadan special where we explain about life in Ramadan in Bahrain and the hot spots to eat out in the COV19 Era.
I mentioned Paul and friends in the title and I was reminded after the last blog by one of my readers, a Mr. Gardiner from Turkey ( a former long term Bahrain inmate ) that I missed Al Abraaj from my list of the best places to eat in Bahrain. Keith reminisced in his email about "Al Abraaj - wonderful hommus, mutabbel, (sic) kebabs - Roma, and many others. There are compensations here, with yummy scoff, but we still miss what was available in Fantasy Island."
A marvelous night out with JJ, Bill and the Bapco Scholars, Huda and Basma at Al Abraaj back in 2016
If anyone else wants to add their favourite, email me or add a comment- Thanks Keith!
Keith also reminded me with his comment about Al Abraaj being one of the things he misses about Bahrain that I have two blogs in draft - one about what I will miss about Bahrain and one about things I will not miss! I am saving them for when I finally leave !
Finally, I mentioned in my last Blog that it is hard for a restaurant to be consistently good- but in the last week I have found three that are consistently bad! Now that takes some doing. At Water Garden city I decided to try out the Indian Restaurant after it was recommended by a friend. I sat for 15 mins and they did not even bring a menu. I moved down the row of restaurants and asked for a menu at another restaurant - and they said they were not allowed to give me a menu. So I replied "well if I don't have a menu I cannot choose what I want to eat! "and left - for Paul- where they happily handed me a paper menu to choose from.
Finally I took an Indonesian friend out to lunch at Oak at RWU corner in Riffa and yet again the service was awful. We had to go upstairs as there was a sandstorm blowing , and the outside seating was closed. They took the order but then we had to wait nearly an hour for our starter, which arrived with our main course.
Being sat upstairs meant we looked down on the lighting above the kitchen which was covered in dust and as usual the place was freezing cold with sand blowing in through the door covering everything in dust. We also watched others come in after us served their pizza before us ( friends of the owners no doubt). When we left the chef was sat chatting with someone rather than serving the customers, as happened on a previous visit. That time we complained about the cold and were given a blanket!
Hardly surprising that 6 or 7 restaurants at Royal Women's University Corner have closed ( Nino, Moyah, Sultan of meat, Coco Lounge ) and I am amazed that Oak keeps going. Apparently, on our last visit, the one delightful Pinoy waitress told us that the owners of Oak have bought one of the other restaurants that closed at RUW corner and are converting it to a new concept. I only hope the service is better than OAK.
One of my favourite breakfasts ( Eggs Benedict) available at Paul, Dome and Delilah's
The amazing thing about Bahrain , as Keith mentioned, is the "Yummy scoff" and with so many restaurants to choose from , the social media, word of mouth and blogs like mine you have to be consistently good every time to stay in Business. If you ignore customers, refuse to give them a menu, have slow service, keep the AC on artic cold then the few customers that dine out in the pandemic will simply go elsewhere and tell everyone else!
Well that's all from the restaurants of Bahrain this week- more soon- meanwhile stay safe and don't forget your masks!
Special thanks to Keith for his contribution and if you would like to send me your favourite memories from Bahrain just get in touch- it looks like I will be here for a while longer! Thanks also to Chester for advertising this blog on The British Kabayan Facebook page and for his behind the scenes work on what to include in future blogs!
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Bon appetit 
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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