Farah Baig discovers Kyro’s artistically flavourful menu.
With thousands of restaurants, cafes and lounges dotted across the Kingdom, we’re constantly looking for a concept that will pique our interest. Something that’s not just good, but checks several essential boxes: unique food, beautiful ambience, excellent service and a great vibe. So, you can imagine our pure happiness when we came across Kyro in Adliya, which seemed to offer all that and more!
When visiting Kyro, we were delighted to be seated on the terrace, basking in the pleasant winter sun while watching cars go by. It certainly set the mood for a fabulous lunch prepared by the team headed by Chef Amer Alhawaj who has over ten years of worldly culinary experience.
To start our gastronomical adventure, we were served two appetisers: Arancini and an Artichoke Dip. The Arancini was the perfect mix of textures and literally provided layers of flavour. The classic saffron risotto balls are stuffed with mozzarella and flaky beef that’s been slow-cooked for eight hours. To add to the depth of flavour, it’s served on a bed of flavourful Napoletana sauce, made in-house. The Artichoke Dip, which is quite easily one of the best we’ve had, is topped with pomodoro salsa and sun-dried tomato with a side of crispy garlic baguette. We basked in the pure cheesiness of the dip which prepped our tastebuds for the mains.
Chef Amer explained that all their pasta is made from scratch at the restaurant while other ingredients are sourced from around the world – resulting in a very special flavour profile. So naturally, we had to give their pasta a try! The Mushroom and Truffle Agnolotti, which is filled with four kinds of mushroom, is one of the chef’s specials and very highly recommended. We loved the pillowy softness of the hand-rolled Agnolotti and thrived on the pleasant burst of rich mushroom filling… all brought together with an absolutely delicious, creamy black truffle sauce. Next, we tucked into a plate of Mama’s Pasta which is a classic rigatoni pasta dish, tossed in a generous helping of creamy tomato sauce and topped with pine nuts and parmesan. We loved the fact that it was perfectly al dente and that we got to enjoy freshly-made pasta.
The absolute piece de resistance of our experience had to be Chef Amer’s fresh take on a crowd pleaser – ribs. Quite contrary to the usual style of ribs you find in Bahrain, Chef Amer harnesses the effects of technique and refines the ‘Signature Ribs’ while staying true to its meaty goodness. The braised short-ribs are cooked sous vide for 48 hours resulting in a unique texture with just the right amount of bite to it. This is accompanied by a generous helping of mashed potato with authentic French butter, grilled vegetables and a quintessentially Bahraini sauce that has pleasant hints of black lemon, cumin and other familiar flavours – a very welcome touch!
To sweeten the experience, Chef Amer recommended the Panna Cotta – a traditional Italian cream dessert to which he adds a hint of nostalgia with delectable raspberry and passion fruit purées, and vibrant edible flowers. We even had the pleasure of diving into the Cinco Leches Sponge Cake which is a five-milk-soaked sponge cake dusted with cinnamon and bedazzled with edible gold leaf.
We selected a range of delectable mocktails including ‘Delightful’ and ‘Passion Pleasure’, each a creative stroke of artistic genius put together by their experienced mixologist. Kyro is undoubtedly the fresh dining experience that Bahrain needed – one that makes you appreciate technique, experimental flavours and 5-star eats in a unique setting.
