Food Review: Wa Bento Shop at Andalus Garden

Wa was recently opened by Chawan, a Japanese tea house founded by Budoor Steele.

There’s a lot of Japanese restaurants in Bahrain but not a lot of them offer an authentic dining journey quite like Wa. Wa was recently opened by Chawan, a Japanese tea house founded by Budoor Steele. Wa, translates to harmony, which is an essential cultural concept of being Japanese – it emphasizes harmony in unity and community over personal interest.

We recently visited the restaurant to check what the hype is about and get a firsthand experience of authentic Japanese cuisine. To those who are not familiar with bentos, the term stands for a single-portion boxed meal usually composed of carbohydrates, a protein and an assortment of pickled or cooked vegetables. Wa is spot at Andalus Garden specializing in this boxed goodness.

The restaurant serves a different bento on a weekly basis. According to the founder, Budoor, the content of their bentos depend upon the seasonality of ingredients as they want to make sure that everything is fresh and scrumptious.

During our visit, we had the mix seafood fry, braised chicken and potatoes, and Kyoto style pickles. It also came with a side of Misoshiru soup and a salad.

We also indulged in the Katsudon (a popular Japanese comfort food of breaded cutlets) as well as the Shrimp Tempura Udon Noodles with a broth cooked in yuzu.

For dessert, we savoured the Matcha and berry cheesecake. Each bite was amazing!

The restaurant’s kitchen is headed by Chef Kikuta Fumio, who hails from Niigata city, Japan. Chef Kikuta’s love for cooking started when he was a high school student; and his passion definitely translates to the dishes he served us.

P.S. The restaurant is quite hard to find if you’re a first-timer around the area. We advise you to look for Makeshop Café which is located at the ground floor of the building and go up the stairs just beside it. From there, you’ll see Chawan Tea House which is just a couple of steps away from Wa. n