Wyndham Garden Manama’s quaint Italian restaurant, Trattoria, tantalises Farah Baig with its delectable Italian fare.
Italy has contributed some of the greatest cuisine to the world of gastronomy. So, it’s no surprise that Italian cuisine has achieved a global presence and grown to be a favourite for most people. That being said, Italian food is best when quality ingredients take centre stage and are put together in an uncomplicated way.
This month, we were delighted by the promise of a “truly authentic Italian experience” in the heart of Juffair at Trattoria Italian Restaurant – a cosy venue with an extremely welcoming team.
To start our feast, we tucked into the Anguria alla Greca, a refreshing salad combining cool watermelon, lightly salted feta cheese, roasted pine nuts for added texture and a drizzle of balsamic reduction for a sweet finish. A good burrata relies on a simple balance of flavours and high-quality cheese. So, we were pleased when we cut into their burrata and it released a stream of cool stracciatella and cream. The Insalata Caprese con Burrata’s tomato slices, fresh Rocca leaves and flavourful pesto brought the dish together perfectly – something that is hard to come by in Bahrain when searching for a good Burrata.
A visit to any Italian restaurant would be incomplete without sampling their pasta, risotto and pizza. Trattoria has quite a few choices but some stood out to us. The Tortellini Aifrutti di Mare consists of seafood tortellini made in-house and a rich Promodoro sauce topped with generous parmesan shavings. Penne All’arrabiatta is a classic combination of penne tossed in a thick tomato sauce, chili, garlic and extra virgin olive oil – a dish that showed the restaurant’s ability to bring the best of Italian flavours, even with a simple dish. There was a wonderful depth of flavour in the sauce – rich and tomatoey with the perfect amount heat from the chili.
The smooth Risotto al Funghi has to be one of the best I have tried to date with its decadent truffle butter and Porcini mushrooms. Their oven-baked Frutti Di Mare topped with fresh seafood had a pleasant kick to it with its chili flakes and served as an excellent warm up for our maincourse.
To start with our mains, we enjoyed the Costolette di Agnello – a generous serving of thick lamb chops, baby potatoes and other vegetables topped off with a flavourful jus. This was followed by the Branzino alla Livornese – fresh sauteed vegetables topped with a fillet of seabass and served with a side of green pea mash. We appreciated how perfectly cooked the lamb and fish were, both moist while the lamb had an even pink colour all the way through.
There’s always room for dessert, so we looked forward to the sweet selection in store for us. The caramelised pear tart was an unusual and refreshing dessert with its light pie crust, while the Tiramisu being a classic mesmerised us with its luscious layers of marscapone. The Espresso Pannacotta had to be our favourite though. The dessert was creamy and coated the palate so you could enjoy the freshly brewed coffee flavour while savoruing the added crunch in the granita topping.
Trattoria is sure to be one of our favourite Italian restaurants with its ability to bring us the best of regional Italian dishes with their finest ingredients artistically combined. We’ll be looking forward to several business lunches, their Italian Nights every Thursday and, of course, Christmas Eve Dinner. Ciao!
