Seeker, what do you search?

A conversation with friends, a meeting with foreigners,
a communion with yourself, flavours familiar yet unknown.

For a moment, let us forget what we have lost
and focus on what we have created.
Culture.Balance. Exchange. Distinction amongst the ordinary.
A meeting of minds. A palate of performance.

Clay brings you an exceptional culinary experience in the form of
Nikkei, a Japanese-Peruvian cuisine. Fresh ingredients delivered via intricate
techniques and nuanced flavour. Food inspired by the elements.

Open yourself up to sensation in our calm, atmospheric dining area, centred
around an open show-kitchen. Relax at our terraced bar, framed by views of the
Bahrain sky. Rich, earthbound Peruvian tones engage with intricate, ornate
Japanese patterning. The world lights up at your feet.

Discovery need not require travel — only the willingness to open
your eyes to something new.

Encounter Nikkei.

Nikkei
‍ORIGIN | Japanese 日系

Nikkei refers to the Japanese diaspora.
Those of Japanese ancestry who choose to live outside of Japan.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Japanese heard of a country across the Pacific. Peru. Thought to be full of gold and rolling with opportunity, this land was also blessed by rich soil and a tender-hearted climate. The call of mirrored mountains and the yearning for a new life enticed Japanese in their hundreds to cross the seas to arrive, exhausted, on the coastal plantations of a foreign land.

Peru welcomed them.The land offered abundance and sustenance and some ingredients that closely resembled the Nikkei’s own. So began the relationship. Aji peppers and Andean potato met miso, soy and wasabi. Fresh fish bathed in citrus. Cultures asserted themselves while their food commingled. And now, Peru is home to one of the largest Nikkei communities in the world.

And Nikkei has taken on a new meaning. It not only refers to Japanese-Peruvians, who call Peru home, but to the cuisine that emerged from the blend of these distinct cultures, developed over years of experimentation, collaboration and expression.

From culture, distinction.
From concert, creation.

Inspired by clay.

‍Our name, drawn from clay food pots in Peruvian fires, inspires the main dining area.Peruvian-Japanese cuisine lives here. In the late 19th century Japan’s diaspora combined Peruvian ingredients with Japanese techniques to produce a style of food called Nikkei. That heritage is embodied in Clay.

Although over one hundred years old, Nikkei is still unfamiliar to many. It is our privilege and responsibility to bring you its exciting and distinct flavours. Experience Nikkei food prepared with knowledge, care and experience in our open kitchen. The room steeps with flavour. The eyes explore.

CLAY

ASH

Inspired by ash.

After the fire has fragranced the air a settled comfort sets in and the bar calls. Contented drinks and laughter. Formalities aside this area is for the relaxed, the conversational, the entertainingly social, the comfortable style, the view, the glinting of the lights. Listen in for the end of night.

Clay brings you an exceptional culinary experience. Fresh ingredients delivered via intricate techniques and nuanced flavour. Food inspired by the elements.

We look forward to hosting you.