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In February, two Bahraini friends with an appetite for good food and a zest for life unveiled a cosy café in the Royal University for Women in Riffa, providing students with delicious meals and a comfortable place to unwind.
Not long after, Butter, the hidden treasure that can seat around 60 patrons, was opened to the public. Diners soon began flocking to the venue to sample the restaurant-style café’s modern and traditional takes on home-cooked recipes.
It was a match made in heaven for owners Shaikha Shaikha bint Isa Al Khalifa, 29, from Saar, and Asma Al Yaquby, 30, from A’ali. Shaikha always had a passion for cooking and baking while Asma loved to sample her tasty dishes.
Shaikha said: “The concept came about two years ago when Asma and I decided to start a restaurant.
“We thought of opening at the university as one of my friends studied there and would often spend a lot of time there.
“We wanted to create a place where people would feel happy, love to stay and feel comfortable. Many students, for example, are stuck studying late hours on campus and need a comfy place to work and relax. We made sure to accommodate them by keeping plugs for lap tops and chargers around the venue and on the floor.
“Aside from comfort, good food is very important to us, and we delight in seeing our customers enjoying it.
“Our menu features a medley of cuisines such as local breakfast treat Balaleet and sweet potato chips for starters.
“We are always adding new things to the menu as we aim to have eight of everything such as eight salads, pastas and sandwiches. I have had amazing feedback about our breakfast and our desserts are also loved by all. I love breakfast and make sure that it’s served all day. We just want people to be full and happy.”
The venue, which is open six-days-a-week from 9am to 9pm, is manic around the hours of 11am and 4pm with queues at the counter and seats full of smiling faces diving into best sellers such as the chicken enchiladas or Butter’s spicy signature scramble.
On the last Saturday of every month, a group of 18 girls that love to read get together at Butter for their ‘book club’ meeting. There is a sign board with information on the reading list and other details as well.
After dining there, it’s easy to see why others have fallen in love with the place. Its interior looks like it’s straight out of a Pottery Barn catalogue with warm earth tones, leather sofas and fun knick knacks displayed on shelves.
The restaurants slogan ‘You and I, we know the secret to life…It’s Butter’, is framed for customers and an assortment of desserts are plated up on a counter for diners to choose from.
My friend Maraim and I started our culinary journey with refreshing mini-jugs of peach ice tea featuring slices of peaches in the drink.
The popular sweet potato chips with creamy cilantro dip made its way to the table along with cheesy jalapeno fries and a BBQ jalapeno chicken pizza, which is not on the menu. It took all our energy not to fill up on the sweet potato chips and once we tucked into the pizza, it was hard to stop.
For mains, we sampled a spicy chicken enchilada bursting with flavour and a saucy penne al funghi which was creamy and delightful.
After a taste of the savoury, it was time for a triple decker brownie, a carrot cake and date bites. We gobbled up the sweet treats and washed it down with a cup of chai karak.
People say that everything tastes better with butter. But from now on, I will be saying that everything tastes better ‘at’ Butter.
For details on delivery and book club information, contact 17002700 or follow the venue on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @butter_bahrain.
