Serena Beach Resort and Spa in Mombasa presented an inaugural gourmet seafood dinner with an array of dishes showcasing a unique dining experience.
With its beachfront location, the culinary festival that celebrates the ocean, was held at the Jahazi Grill, where guests were served fresh seafood sauced with causal flavours by the beach.
The exciting eight-course culinary event with diverse and captivating flavours featured sustainably caught and harvested seafood, making it a unique gesture in the midst of an alarming rate of marine pollution.
The Friday event themed, “Celebrating the Ocean”, appreciating the land and sea experience, was attended by over 50 seafood lovers and is geared towards creating awareness about conservation, sustainability, and replenishing of the ocean, including marine forests such as mangroves, sustainable beaches, and the entire marine ecosystem.
According to the hotel’s General Manager, Alphazard Chege, Jahazi Grill at the resort has over the years carved a niche on the coast as one of the best seafood restaurants, and thus the event was an opportunity for them to showcase their culinary prowess.
“We brought together our top fine-dining chefs from our various units to reward our loyal Jahazi Grill clients with a choice dining experience complemented by carefully chosen wines from around the world,” said Chege.
Chege says, “The gourmet seafood dinner celebrates the essence of coastal cuisine, a journey of tastes straight from the ocean to the dinner plate, with each dish freshly prepared for our esteemed guests.”
He says the hotel, surrounded by deep water teeming with marine life, boasts a long history of expertly cooked fresh catch.
Nevertheless, according to the manager, the fine dining event, which took at least two months of meticulous planning, sought to use the ingredients in season at that particular time from farms, and each dish had a story to tell, from the forgotten grains, to how the hotel team sustainably sources their seafood and vegetables.
The GM highlighted that the turnout was exceptionally good, citing that over 50 clients attended the event, and they all left full of praise and compliments for the experience.
“Many want to know when the next edition will be. It cost our guests Ksh9,000 per person for the evening, which included an eight-course menu, each paired with a special wine, as well as smooth jazz entertainment to compliment the evening,” noted the GM.
Roy Kinyua, Regional Executive Chef, Serena Hotels Africa, noted that the hotel participates in a variety of initiatives in an effort to conserve the marine ecosystem, including Turtle and butterfly conservation as well as a ‘Walk-In Chess Board’ on the beachfront to create awareness about flip-flops effects on marine life.
A ban was placed on plastic water bottles and plastic straws at the hotel, all replaced by glass bottles and paper straws. They also participate in scheduled beach clean-up exercises, collecting trash off the local beach and recording findings that contribute to a long-term study on marine pollution.
“Over time, due to poor management, massive overfishing, wasteful discards, and a few bad practices concerning the poor fishing methods, seafood has been depleted and some species endangered almost to the level of extinction; hence, there is a growing need to create awareness of the importance of ocean and seafood sustainable sourcing initiatives in the culinary world,” says Kinyua.
A chef de cuisine urged coastal hotels to take on the responsibility of championing eco-friendly practices significantly in the realm of sustainable, delectable seafood.
The guests were encouraged to try different things from the small bites, mains, and dessert selections on offer.
Kinyua added that the idea of the menu is in an effort to use the best and finest seasonal local / land and sea ingredients, expertly prepared, cooked, and presented with passion by the resort’s production associates / chefs, and food pioneers.
As guests enjoyed the soothing jazz music and night sea breeze, the accommodating waiters began serving the starter of the nighttime menu, a mouthwatering offer of “mangrove oysters”, freshly shucked with Tamarind Mignonette, served in a tiny black-clay bowl, with popcorn laid and the oyster in the middle with a dash of caviar on top, immediately giving guests a feeling of “expertly cooked fresh catch”.
“We opted for the idea of Tamarind, an edible fruit locally produced in Mombasa, because of its tangy flavour, which goes so well with mangrove oysters, which aligns with our mission to offer our clients an experience they won’t forget,” said Kinyua.
Served as afterwards was a “Curvier Octopus Sous-Vide” with olive oil, ginger lime, and green tomato jam, which was presented to perfection with red orange, automatically making it enticing, not to mention one of those rare experiences of well-cooked rather than “chewy” octopus.
Next on the table was “seafood chowder”, a creamy soup with citrus leaves, coriander, and yellow corn, leaving a lime aftertaste, making it even more succulent.
Followed by “crab flambee”, which was minced crab meat filled in crunchy filo pastry cigar accompanied by peas bisque. This was by far the favourite dish of the night, as the pastry had this amazing crunch and the pairing of the bisque made a great combination.
Next was a seared Belly of Red Snapper accompanied with carrots and Lemon Grass Velouté and Mousseline Potatoes with the best velvety texture.
Other options included “giant prawn medallions”, accompanied with vegetable quinoa and seaweed essence, and a “Baby Rock Lobster” with wild rice, charred Braised Leeks, and Mango butter sauce. Kinyua says finally for dessert, was a sugar cane juice with ginger mixed together and frozen to a smooth texture in the mouth, which are not normally found in restaurants, and a mille-feuille, gently layered with plantain banana and coconut cremieux.
The resort projects to host this vibrant tapestry of food experience after every six months in the future in an effort to celebrate, showcase, and appreciate the diversity of ingredients available in the ocean.
“This first Jahazi Grill fine dining tasting and wine pairing menu experience was great; hence, we are looking into hosting it every six months in the future with a selection of meticulously designed dishes,” said Kinyua, adding that the hotel is on a mission to revive precious seafood biodiversity.
The dinner celebrates the incredible tastes of sumptuous lobsters, succulent prawns, delectable local catch, and aromatic crabs, promising an unforgettable dining experience for foodies.
“We are committed to hosting the seafood festival twice a year to showcase a wide range of fresh catch served by our great chefs,” he said.
By Nuru Soud
