On Friday we headed over to the Bab Al Bahrain Souk again. This time we found parking directions and didn't get lost in the crazy streets around and through it which made for a much less stressful trip there, to say the least.
We parked and got to walk into the main entrance area instead of coming in from side, so that was nice. The entryway has this really awesome ceiling filled with coins and metal discs hanging from it. The I ❤️ Bahrain sign is also at the entrance and of course we had to get a picture.
We walked around for a little bit, wandering through all the different shops and street vendors and then I set out on a mission. I was determined this visit to find the alleys and streets that held all the spices. Since finding out about moving to Bahrain I've been envisioning all the amazing spices and herbs I'm going to get to add to my pantry! We found it. And I wish I had smell-O-vision so I could get across how amazing it smells! It's this mix of cinnamon and anise and saffron and other things I've yet to put a name to. It wasn't overpowering or anything like that, it just smelled GOOD! One vendor even let us try some ground black lemon-- it was delicious! Citrusy but in a savory, not super strong way. It was odd but really good.
The bundles of what look like sticks are actually giant cinnamon sticks! I've never seen such huge cinnamon sticks in all my life. There were some the size and width of my forearm! It was crazy!
After walking around a bit more we decided to stop for dinner. We had heard of a place called the Haji Cafe and it's supposed to be one of the oldest cafes in Bahrain. We lucked out and parked near it so we saw it as soon as we walked out of the parking garage and could easily navigate back to it.
It's nestled in an alley between some shops on the edge of the souk. There are two different entrances; one for families and one for men only, and they offer outdoor seating. We decided to eat outside and it wasn't too bad, heat wise. They had fans blowing from the roof and it was covered (though the sun was down by this point so it wasn't unbearable anyway) so it was outdoor dining with some indoor niceties.
There isn't a menu here, the waiter just asked if we wanted lamb, chicken, meat, or a mixed grill and what we wanted to drink. We chose the mixed grill and waited. It wasn't long before our waiter brought out plates and plates of food... tomatoes and cucumbers, onions, peel stalks sliced up, hummus, curry sauce, fresh tandoor baked bread, and our mixed grill plates filled with tandoori grilled chicken and vegetables, chunks of marinated steak, and a type of lamb kofta. We dug right in! It was absolutely phenomenal. This is true Bahraini food.
Bahrain had an incredible array of foods to choose from. There are restaurants representing pretty much any cuisine you can think of. But we love trying local flavors and this is supposed to be it. And it was delicious! I have no clue what the meat was marinated in, but we couldn't get enough! It was tender and flavorful and incredible.
After we finished they brought us cups of chai (delicious) and we had seen some people from another table go look at the tandoor oven so we asked if we could see it and they happily obliged! Y'all know I love cooking and food and have had some pretty cool culinary experiences in my life... this was up there! It was so awesome. There were about a half a dozen men in the little kitchen area- some kneading and making the dough, others patting it out, others slapping it on the inside of the oven, and someone pulling it out. I got to get right up in front of it and it was HOT! You could feel the fire just radiating-- I don't know how those guys did it but they were sticking their whole arms in to slap the bread against the interior walls of the oven. It was fascinating!
After I snapped some pictures one of the men offered me a special cheese stuffed bread and it was so good. It was crazy hot and fresh-- it literally came right from the oven. Such a cool experience! Next time we go back I'm asking if I can slap a piece of bread in there!
After that we got in the car and headed for the hotel. We were in a bit of traffic and just chatting and Christopher said something about gold city- a part of the souk where all the gold and jewelry are located. We ended up driving right past it and there happened to be parking right outside of it so we parked and headed in to look.
It is huge. Two floors of jewelry stores with all different kinds of jewelry, gold bars and coins, gemstones, and the like. It was awesome! It's our anniversary so we actually did a little shopping and looked for something special to commemorate our current milestone (16 years together today-- which marks the time where we've officially been together longer than we haven't been!). We didn't find what we were looking for but we did find out they'll do custom jewelry from any design you want! So that's pretty exciting!
After that we headed back to the hotel and crashed. It was such a fun night and we're excited to take anyone who comes to visit down into the souk. It's definitely an experience not to be missed!
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