Al Basta Market is meant to be a mixture of a local farmers' market and Market 338, setting up a location for local vendors and farmers to sell their products every weekend until May, ultimately to support Bahraini businesses and sellers within the Southern Governorate. It's a "HEY WE DO THINGS TOO SO BUY LOCAL EVERYTHING" kind of thing. It's nice. I like the idea. The fact that it's centered around the Southern Governorate is interesting, and a concept I haven't seen before. If we can do that for all the areas, wouldn't that be interesting? Also, it might lead to some type of weird competitive prejudice, where people only go to the Riffa one and never the Muharraq one, and vice versa. So... I don't know...
Okay, so Al Basta has been marketed well, and that becomes apparent when you get there and realize there's no parking available and you can't see past the crowd.
Once you walk into the market, though, you realize you're standing in a tiny box of stalls. It really doesn't help that you can barely walk past anyone, and standing in one place feels awkward because you're in the middle of traffic.
There are 13 stalls, two ladies making khanfaroosh and kabab, and benches in the middle for the families to sit. The stalls were occupied by:
- Home Bakes:
she makes different flavored bread, I've heard good things, but I can't have carbs for a while so I can't say. Don't judge me. Also she had chai haleeb, thankfully.
- Al-Humood: I think that's how you spell it, they have pillows, some camel-themed knickknacks, and dates and things.
- Ndawi Designs: TShirts and mugs with humorous Arabic things written on them.
- House of H: I don't like the fact that the name is just a shorter House of Harlow. They had a few necklaces and bracelets on display.
- Banana Sweets (which apparently translates to Malikat ilBasboosa?): I don't know... Basboosa with banana flavor? I DON'T KNOW.
- Neshat's Dried Fruit: Dried fruits... and some homemade jam.
The rest were stalls by local farmers with vegetables, fruits, eggs, achaar, and plants. Tamkeen had a stall too.
Overall: Personally I think the biggest problem with Al Basta is the utilization of space, or lack thereof. It didn't feel comfortable to be standing in a congested box. Don't even get me started on the mess of having to order the kabab/khanfaroosh, we stood there for a long time without knowing who to ask and how much to pay. For a while we could barely move at all because there were video cameras and TV crew interviewing a minister and his posse. IN THE BOX.
I didn't hate Al Basta market, I just... meh...
I feel like if the stalls were replaced with just tables as booths, they would give the atmosphere and themselves more breathing room, and could probably bring in more vendors. Also, the benches that occupy the middle of the market should be put outside, on the walkway in front of Dome. This way, people can buy food and then eat it more comfortably outside, without the pressure of blocking other people's movements, and without the awkwardness of almost having your kid stepped on.
My top 3 vendors: I saw many people walk out with plants, so I'm guessing that stall was a big hit, and then Home Bakes since they had a nice variety of their flavors, tea with milk, and even little bags of cookies with frosting so kids can decorate the cookies themselves. The third best vendor is Nashat's Dried Fruit, because it was really simple (just bags of dried fruit or jars with jam), she offered samples, and a bag of dried fruit is just a practical gift for a lot of people. I got my mom some dried fruit and now she loves me a little bit more.
Since it's just their first weekend, there's obviously still time for improvement. Unless... you know... there isn't because everything's set in stone... I don't know. I'll probably head there next weekend to see the new vendors.
[Note: I didn't take pictures because it felt so awkward and busy, so all these pictures were taken from @AlBasta_Market]
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March 2:
THINGS HAVE CHANGED.
Sort of. It's still Basta. It's just bigger. Bigger Basta. Big Basta.
It looks like the people over at Al Basta took feedback seriously and utilized the time between weekends (so... the week) to really take advantage of the space that they have, and they expanded the Basta space. Fantastic.
Now it no longer feels like you're in a box of claustrophobia. It's actually nice, and what they did with the extra space is add a seating area, WHICH IS GREAT 'CAUSE THE BENCH IN THE MIDDLE WAS AWKWARD.
It's great. That's what I'm saying.
Also, the seating area is made into sort of a food court since they added Ammar Time and King Karak, so more food is always good. I think it's great they seem to genuinely want to improve.
In terms of vendors, there isn't much of a difference. The usual stalls for the Southern Governorate and farmers, and then a few area-based businesses. Here are some stalls that stood out:
- The TShirt Shop: A boutique that specializes in men's t-shirts, with most collections imported from Arab designers. With all the choices, you'll definitely find one t-shirt you love, at least.
- Hala Shop: An online store that sells through Instagram, they have a nice selection of nail polish, accessories, and flats, among other things I'm sure.
- Wafa's Sweets and Gifts: A vendor that specializes in (wait for it) sweets and gifts. I'm pretty sure the sweets are the gifts. Home-baked goods, and she even makes her own lollipops. I tried the watermelon lollipop (even though I was lead to believe it was strawberry), and it's not bad; a little sweet for my taste, and I'm not a fan of the sugar thingi on the outside of the lollipop, but still not bad.
All in a all, a welcomed improvement.
Find the people involved (links open new window/tab):
@AlBasta_Market on Twitter & Instagram
@TShirtShopBHR on Twitter & Instagram
@HalaShop on Twitter & Instagram
@WafasSweets on Instagram
[We actually took pictures this time. Yay!]
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