country Essentials · 12 foods
Bahrain Essentials
A considered first route through Bahrain: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Bahrain foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
12 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
United Arab Emirates
Machboos
مجبوس
Bahraini Machboos combines loomi-spiced rice with fish or meat on a family platter.
Bahrain
Muhammar
محمر
Sweet rice coloured and flavoured with dates or sugar is Bahrain’s Muhammar.
Bahrain
Bahraini Halwa
حلوى بحرينية
Halwa Showaiter is a glossy saffron-and-rose confection cooked in copper pots.
Bahrain
Malgoum
ملقم
Thin bread wraps a savoury filling in Bahrain’s named Malgoum street snack.
United Arab Emirates
Harees
هريس
Wheat and meat are cooked until smooth in the Bahraini porridge Harees.
United Arab Emirates
Luqaimat
لقيمات
Fried dough dumplings finished with syrup are served warm as Luqaimat.
Djibouti
Arabic Coffee
قهوة عربية
Small cups of cardamom coffee accompany Bahraini hospitality and sweets.
United Arab Emirates
Karak Chai
كارك تشاي
Sweet spiced milk tea is an everyday Bahraini café order.
Bushehr, United Arab Emirates
Mahyawa
مهياوة
A salty fermented fish sauce adds a distinctly Bahraini savoury note to bread and rice.
Lebanon
Butter Shortbread
غريبة
Buttery shortbread cookies called Ghraybeh crumble softly and are served with tea.
United Arab Emirates
Balaleet
بلاليط
Sweet spiced noodles topped with egg are a familiar Bahraini breakfast.
Bahrain
Baid Tmat
بيد طماط
Eggs cooked with tomato and aromatics make the simple Bahraini dish Baid Tmat.