Adliya is the neighbourhood where Manama's educated and professional class eats, drinks, and socialises. It sits south of the city centre, a low-rise district of villas from the 1960s and 1970s that have been progressively converted into restaurants, art galleries, design shops, and cafes over the last two decades. The streets are quiet enough to walk comfortably — a rarity in a city organised almost entirely around cars — and the concentration of independent businesses makes it unlike anywhere else in Bahrain.
The best independent restaurants in the country are in Adliya. The cuisine range is broad: Lebanese, Indian, international bistros, Bahraini home cooking, coffee shops with serious espresso. Several small galleries show Bahraini and Gulf contemporary art, and there are a handful of design and craft shops worth browsing. The neighbourhood is subdued during the day and comes properly alive on Thursday and Friday evenings — the Gulf weekend — when it fills with Bahrainis and expats alike. If you have limited time in Manama, spending an evening in Adliya gives a more useful picture of what the city is actually like than most of the formal sights.