Bus Stop Lounge – Where the good times roll
If you have visited Sharm in the last 20 years, you would remember the iconic Red London Bus fronting the renowned nightspot Bus Stop at Sanafir Hotel. Now-a-days the bus has long since gone but the name hasn’t and in recent years the successful Sharm brand known for its catch phrase ‘let the good times roll’ has branched out with a Bus Stop venue in La Strada Mall in Nabq.
Tanja the Manager warmly greeted us and suggested as we were dining to sit at one of the comfortable tables at the front of the venue. Bus Stop Lounge has a large outside terrace with tables, inside there are high booths and also high stools around a floating central bar – so there are lots of seating options depending on your party and whether you are dining or just there to enjoy the ambiance and have a cocktail.
The venue is decked out in red, white, black and chrome colours with Bus Stop memorabilia and some pop art of Marilyn Monroe (the star of the famous film Bus Stop), which make the large interior cozy and inviting. There were only a couple more occupied tables at our early dining time of 8.00pm, but the venue didn’t feel like it was empty. The clever layout of the tables, lighting, soft music and stylish décor create this friendly and casual ambiance.
Bus Stop is a multi-tasking venue, there is something for everyone. You could say that it is a lounge bar, night spot, sports bar, games bar, cocktail bar and of course last but not least a restaurant diner. This may seem a lot to fit in, but where some multi-tasking venues get it wrong, Bus Stop hasn’t and each area of interest doesn’t overshadow another. We felt comfortable ordering food, whilst others played on the pool table, drank cocktails and used the free Wi-Fi and tablet stands. All I can say is it flows and even the several large flatscreen T.Vs didn’t overpower us, as there was nice lounge chill out tunes playing in the background.
We were tempted to order a cocktail from the extensive menu, but decided on a chilled glass of white and a beer to go with our shared starter of mozzarella cheese sticks. As with the varied entertainment the venue offers, the menu has something for everyone. It is not fine dining or a restaurant style menu, more of a casual menu with lots of home style favourites, mainly targeting the predominant UK tourists in the Nabq resorts.
There is an all day English Breakfast where you can choose individual items like extra rashers of bacon, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, salads, mains and deserts. The mains are good pub food classics like chicken tikka marsala, traditional fish & chips served with mushy peas, English style pies, sweet and sour chicken, steak plus more. We decided on a mixed combo platter and the sizzling spicy chicken.
The portions were over sized, which of course means great value for money – you definitely won’t leave hungry from here. The combo platter is perfect for sharing and I would recommend it for a group to share whilst watching the footie for example. It had crisp onion bhajis, chicken satay sticks, filled potato skins, nachos, spring rolls, coleslaw and dipping sauce. The sizzling platter of chicken came in a rich tomato sauce, with black olives and melted cheese sprinkled on top. It was very nice and came with a serving of home-style French fries and/or white rice.
Bus Stop Lounge is a welcome addition to the Nabq bar/restaurant strip. Not only does it offer great food but also all round entertainment for all of the family. The venue is open from 10.00am – 2.00am. On Sunday you can enjoy a three course Sunday roast dinner for great value. There is also the daily ‘Beer and Burger’ special between 5pm – 7pm. If beer is not your beverage then you can take advantage of the 7pm – 9pm Happy Cocktail Hour, where all cocktails are half price. After you have dined then why not stay a little longer and get into the groove on Monday nights with ‘Twist and Shout’. Thursday nights is ‘Hot Shots’ where between 12.00am – 2.00am you get a shot with every drink purchased. So as you can see Bus Stop Lounge Bar is a real multi-tasking treat with really a little bit of something for everyone and where the good times continue to roll.
Tags:Bus Stop, dinner, fish, Nabq, night
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