BAH: Mama Maya
Dare to try their Exotic Salmon?
We opted for a la carte dinner instead of buffet.
The first evening in Manama, Bahrain brought my BFF and me to Adliya, one of the four centres of nightlife in the city. We decided to go to Mama Maya, a three-storey restaurant, which was founded in June 2016. Despite its young age, it has garnered quite a few positive reviews online.
We opted for a la carte dinner instead of buffet.
Flatbread
First came the flatbread, which were soft and chewy. I suppose they'd go well with curry, though I don't think the restaurant serves that.
Vegetables & Pickles FOC
While waiting for our order to come, one of the servers brought us some fresh and pickled vegetables, seemingly from the buffet line. Perhaps the restaurant has a policy of minimising food waste, but I was totally surprised that all those were given free of charge. Anyway, that was my virgin experience with pickled beetroots, which turned out to be a tad too salty for my liking. I enjoyed the fresh tomatoes the most as they were particularly sweet and juicy. Pika's advice: I'm not sure if the above-mentioned always applies. If not, perhaps you'll have a higher chance getting the vegetables for free during dinner time. FYI, we reached the restaurant after 8.00pm.
Hot Mezze Platter BHD 4.500 (~S$16.00)
Taste: 8/10
Undecided which Middle Eastern appetiser to get, we went for the mixed platter. Served piping hot, all four varieties were tasty. Clockwise from top left in the picture are meat sambousek (Lebanese savoury pastry), cheese sambousek, kibbeh (Lebanese meat croquette) and cheese spring rolls. I relished the kibbeh filled with minced lamb, onions and spices the most.
Mix Grill BHD 5.500 (~S$19.55)
Taste: 7/10
What's a trip to the Middle East without skewered meat? Served in a tall, ornate box were beef and chicken chunks, as well as the ground version of each, making it a total of four varieties. They were pretty good, save for the fact that the ground chicken was quite salty. The meat came with a lot of carbohydrates: seasoned flatbread and fries with mayonnaise.
Exotic Salmon BHD 7.900 (~S$28.05)
Taste: 6.5/10
As one of the most expensive main courses, the salmon dish that came with Basmati rice was exotic indeed - too exotic for my tongue, in fact. The sauce, which was primarily made of coconut milk, was heavy with an odd aroma I could barely describe. I couldn't bring myself to like it at all, scraping it away from the salmon. To be fair, the fish was one of the best I've had - beautifully broiled with a melt-in-the-mouth quality, thus I still gave it a decent score. Furthermore, the mango cubes were ambrosial.
Melon's Rating
Taste: 7/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
While there's no dessert menu, the restaurant serves a small selection of cakes at the display counter. We were too full to try any.
Mama Maya
Road No. 3825
Blk. 338 Bldg. 123
Manama
Bahrain
(Daily: 7.00am - 1.00am)
*Prices quoted are nett prices.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
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