Bahrain is privileged with an array of restaurants and cuisines. Fernanda Langhammer headed to Oliveto, where she encountered an elegant ambience and an emotional connection to the food.
If I have to pick a cuisine that brings me utter happiness, I would have to say Italian. We will all have a different answer for that but, for me, maybe because of my roots and the many Sundays preparing fresh pasta with my mum, it will always take my heart. I am also from a coastal area, so finding a place that beautifully mixes these two food memories with the necessary care is not an easy mission. But Oliveto, with its high-quality ingredients and impressive menu, filled my tummy with beautiful food and happiness.
Chef Antoni Mancini is the maestro of the place. With many years of experience under his chef ’s jacket, he is from Bari, a city in the Puglia region of Italy, well-known for its rich oceanic delights. The meal my dining companion and I experienced was a glimpse of Oliveto’s offers. With around 30 new dishes being added to the new à la carte menu (don’t worry, best-sellers won’t go anywhere), we had a taste of what to expect.
I have to confess that I usually avoid going to Adliya restaurants; parking is always a struggle. However, Oliveto has a massive private parking space for its guests’ comfort – that’s a big plus for me. The entrance is imposing, with an impressive wooden door that takes you to the reception area, which is ample and invites you into this sleek yet very welcoming eatery. If you continue straight, you will find the door to the outside area with olive trees and a surprising element: a pool in the middle of the terraced space.
But our dining experience happened in the inside dining room, which also boasts an iconic décor element: a white piano. There are different seating arrangements with sofas and tables. The ceiling caught my attention with dark geometric panels and two mighty conic chandeliers – a feature that gives the place a touch of uniqueness.
After choosing our table close to the window with the pool view, it was time to start our culinary journey. The first dish served gave us the right first impression; it was as delicious as visually pleasant. The Ciambotto & Cialleta is a rock fish soup made with sterilised seawater, Evoo (which stands for extra virgin olive oil, an ingredient that plays a crucial role in Mediterranean cuisine) and bottarga essence (a salted and cured product of fish roe). It is composed of clams, mussels, fish pieces, lobster and shrimp – each marine ingredient cooked to perfection, keeping its distinct flavours. Soda bread toast with fresh tomato and bell peppers with a tangy touch added a crunch to this delicious warm liquid that took me back to my childhood summers eating my grandad’s seafood soup.
The Insalata dello Sceicco Baderina followed, a kaleidoscope of mixed hearty pulses, green apples, celery, corn, radish, pomegranate and toasted pine nuts coated in a rocket leaves dressing finished with a sour cream sorbet. The nourishing salad was absolutely delicious, and I kept returning for more throughout the lunch; the crunchiness of the ingredients and creamy sauce made it a memorable bite, something that you don’t hear people saying much about salads, but you have to bear in mind that I am a veggie enthusiast.
It was time to embrace the mains. We started with Risotto alla Perla, a seafood rice dish made with lobster bisque, cooked in Italian bubbly and algae with sea bass pieces and adorned with clams and mussels. Each spoonful was rich in flavour but not an overpowering fish taste, more like a creamy oceanic symphony, which I truly appreciated. The Polpo alla Pugliese was another beautifully plated dish with rock Adriatic octopus grilled in sea salt and finished with Evoo, thyme flowers and mild chilli. The octopus pieces had a spot-on texture, firm yet delicate – I loved the sauteed onion and green onions touch – it helped elevate the natural juices of this seafood delicacy.
But we had more than seafood; the Trenette alla Gricia was a delightful pasta dish in old Roman style bathed in a creamy pecorino cheese sauce and smoked veal guanciale with crushed black pepper. A dish that reminded me of a classic carbonara – the perfect marriage between comfort and flavour. The Fassona in Cassetto, an Italian take on Beef Wellington, is tenderloin wrapped in pasta sheets and porcini and morel mushrooms, oven-baked and served with beef marrow sauce and a delicious fried potato croquette that I devoured. The meat was tender and succulent, ending this feast in grand style.
As with every outstanding dining experience, we ended our pranzo (lunch) with sweet treats. We had the Mela Stregata, apple confit served in caramelised whole apple on a bed of crushed almonds and cinnamon, floating on custard sauce. I love apple desserts and this was a fine example of letting the fruit be the star of the show. It was not too sweet, keeping the apple’s characteristic flavour – yum! The other dessert was Cioccolato Tartufato, a sticky chocolate mousse topped with vanilla ice cream. The richness of its texture made it unique and the best companion to an espresso.
I have been living in Bahrain for the past 13 years and the first time I visited Oliveto (it opened its doors in 2004 and then, after a fire, it reopened in 2012) was a few months ago when I was celebrating my birthday, and I was blown away – I absolutely loved it. I can’t believe I took so long to dine there; I was really missing out. But now that it has entered my life, I am planning many more meals there to explore the menu, enjoy the outdoor space and be taken down memory lane with dishes that have brought back childhood food memories of visiting my grandparents at their beach house in a fishing village and my mum’s delicious pasta dishes. Chef Antonio, you will certainly see more of me!
For more information or to make a reservation,
please call Oliveto on 1771 6747 or WhatsApp 3991 9093.
@olivetobahrain