Where can you go in Kuwait to find authentic Kuwaiti food? Established over 15 years ago and housed in a fifty-year-old building, this restaurant is full of pictures and artifacts preserved from the last fifty years. The heavy wooden doors and window frames are original, as well as the thatched reed ceilings. The waiters and waitresses wear traditional attire: dara’a (long dress) for the ladies and wizar (plaid cloth wrapped at the waist) for the men. In the cooler months, Shatea Al Watiya provides a seating area outside surrounded by trees where shisha is served. Dakoos (made from tomato paste or crushed tomatoes, garlic and salt) is served as a sauce accompaniment to the meat/fish and rice meals. Kuwaiti favorites include Jerish (wheat cooked with lamb, onion, tomato and mixed spices), Marquog (wheat flour dough cooked in thick tomato and onion stew with eggplant, carrots and potatoes), Machboos (chicken or lamb fried and served on top of saffron rice), and Mutabaq (hamour or zubaidi (fish) served on top of seasoned rice).
Shatea Al Watyia is located in the old Behbehani complex behind the Catholic Church. Call 2242 2077. Hours of operation are 10:00am-11:00pm, daily. Follow them on Instagram @ShateaAlwatyia.
