Bahrain Going Out
Food and Drink
Things to know: Alcohol is widely available for non-Muslim adults over the age of 18 in most top-end restaurants and hotel bars in Manama. Drinking alcohol in public outside these establishments is prohibited.
National specialities:
• Machbous: steamed fish or meat served with rice.
• Muchammar: brown, sweet rice served with sugar or dates.
• Baba ghanoush: smoked aubergine, pureed garlic, yoghurt and sesame paste.
• Shawarma: lamb or chicken carved from a rotating spit and wrapped in flat bread.
• Sambousa: crisp pastry cases filled with meat, cheese, sugar or nuts.
National drinks:
• Arak: grape spirit flavoured with aniseed.
• Gahwa: coffee, usually spiked with cardamom.
Tipping: A service charge is often added to bills in hotels and most restaurants, otherwise 10% is appropriate.
Nightlife
Within the capital city, Manama, 'nightlife' generally refers to eating out with friends in some of the city's excellent restaurants, particularly in the Adliya district. Pick up a copy of the Bahrain Hotel & Restaurant Guide for an exhaustive listing. There are also several fashionable nightclubs, mostly attached to hotels, which offer a mix of world music, house, R & B, hip hop and even the odd samba club. Live shows are advertised in the 'Nitelife' section of Bahrain This Month and in the English-language newspapers.
For something more 'highbrow', the Bahrain Internation Exhibition Centre (www.bahrainexhibitions.com) features traditional music recitals and the five-star hotels often host quality acts from abroad. All top hotels have attractive bars featuring happy hour and live jazz or piano music.
Shopping
Manama is a great place for night shopping: just stroll through the labyrinthine streets behind Bab al-Bahrain to discover how locals spend their evenings bartering in the clothes, textiles and gold souks.
Shopping hours: Sat-Thurs 0830-1230 and 1530-1930. Some shops are open for a few hours on Friday mornings in souks.
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