Reem Center at East Riffa is well known for the remarkable array of cafés and eateries that titivate the place. The latest addition is the Bossy Kitchen that was opened on 5th January 2015, which had its journey from being at Market 338 in Adilya to the spacious and tastefully stylized new restaurant in Riffa. As the BTW team met the owners of BK, Mr. Mohammed Al Khalifa and Ms. Aysha Al Oraifi, they were busy attending their customers personally seeing to their requirements and suggesting the best to suit their palette.
“I always had the passion for cooking and Mohammed had all the creative ideas with fitness and nutrition”, said Aysha. “So we thought of bringing the two together and create bossy kitchen.”
“Our dream started off in December 2012” Mohammed remembers. “We opened our stall at Market 338 where we used to provide food from around 05:30 in the evening. But we always had people waiting for us from 05:00. Since working with a single oven at home, it used to be difficult to keep up with the rising demand. And with time we developed into successful home business and decided to lay our emphasis on the healthy way of eating”.
Aysha added in the experience of introducing Quinoa, the protein rich grain from South America to Bahrain. “It is rare to find Quinoa used in any cuisine in this part of the world and we bought it in through Bossy Kitchen. More than running a café business it is our wish to have people introduced to the value of nutrition in a tasty way.” If you are looking for Caesar salad or the Greed Salad at BK, you are at the wrong place. As she quotes with a smile “Salads doesn’t have to be boring”. The healthy salads served here is a treat for the eyes with multi colored flavorsome ingredients giving it the marvelous taste and the crunch.
The beauty of the menu at BK is the entire vegetable basket being incorporated into its dishes in the tastiest comportment possible. May it be the brussel sprouts or the egg plant or the pumpkin, they give a tough competition to the all time favorite chicken dishes. “The new concept that we have for BK is, from farm to table. We are proud of the fact that none of the raw materials that we use in our cuisine come in a plastic bag.” Mohammed explained. He also appreciated the hard work his wife does every day for the perfection of every item in the menu. “She comes here in the kitchen at 7 in the morning and starts with the preparation of every single piece required for the day’s dish.”
“We try to make sure that all entities are as fresh as possible.” Aysha chimed in. “The pasta that is being used here is fresh handmade. The sweet potato used in the Gnocchi comes fresh from the farms. Along with using local products for ingredients, we also try to incorporate the authentic Bahraini taste to the modern day cuisines and keep them interesting.”
We were impressed at the fact that all beverages available at BK are cold pressed as Mohammed enlightened us about the goodness of not using blenders to extract juices. “When fruits are crushed using blenders, some of the nutrients are lost. But when cold pressed the goodness remains intact.” He continued. “But this process would require more amounts of fruits than that when using a blender but our customers get all the goodness of the drink they ordered.” The medium used for mixing the cold pressed juices at BK is the refreshing coconut water. The varieties include apple infused coconut water being the best seller to other special concoctions prepared for detoxification and immunity all served to be enjoyed using straws made of bamboo. It shouldn’t go unsaid that the cold pressed beverages of BK were one of the most sought drinks at the Bahrain Challenge Triathlon last year. “Our menu caters to all the different lifestyles including the vegan and the gluten free.” Aysha added in.
The couple who loves to travel adds their food experience from the places they visited to the dishes in BK. Successfully experimenting with the spices around the globe along with special mixes hand made by Bahraini women and sometimes special blends from her mother’s kitchen, Aysha creates nothing but perfect taste and texture to fit all appetites. Along with Aysha’s magic on the plate, it is the ambience of BK that adds the extra zing to dining in here. “After getting our space here in Reem Center, we had the shutters closed for 9 months. Everyone in our family including Aysha’s brother, my sister and our friends joined us to build every bit of this place”. Mohammed added proudly showing us around the restaurant. It was fun and thought provoking to see every bit of the eatery built with a remarkable blend of kitchen wares and the traditional designs of Bahrain. Even the music played at the place goes with the timing of the day and mood of the crowd. “Just like having a baby, it took us 9 months to open this place; exactly the way we had dreamt of. So this is our baby and we are proud of it” Aysha said with the smile of maternal love. As the masterchef of BK kitchen and creative head bid us farewell, along with the taste of the food they plated for us, it was the whole hearted hospitality from team BK that filled our hearts to be cherished until our next visit.