a.k.a. sheisha cafe and other Jiddah, Saudi Arabia Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Cafe Du Lord

The minute the prayer call starts, we run. If we're lucky we get there before the door is locked and the blinds are closed. A few minutes later, and you're stuck outside for half an hour with groups of guys staring at you, some making rude comments.

Cafe du Lord is where me and the girls wait out prayertime, we have some food and smoke some sheisha - apple is my favourite flavour.

There is a wide variety of food - from soup, to pizza (vege one is pretty yum) to awesome chocolate brownie.

Favorite Dish: Seafood spring rolls - 3 BIG spring rolls with heaps of yummy sweet and sour sauce.
The vegetable and shrimp tempura-style is a really filling main - can easily feed two.

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Her'ra International Souk

Restaurant Name: Al Bilad Restaurant

Al Bilad Restaurant has the most amazing buffets.
They have brunch ones on the weekend (Thursdays/Fridays). At night they have BBQ ones.
The seafood is to die for - being a seaside town it should be I guess!!
You can sit inside in the restaurant, or outside under a canopy of trees, with lanterns for light.
They have the best desserts - great chocolate mousse, fresh fruit salad, crepes...... need I go on.
The service is really good.
Only thing is - watch the mosquitos at the start/end of summer

Favorite Dish: would have to be the white chocolate and raspberry mousse...yum

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Theme: Buffet
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Address: @ Al Bilad Hotel

Restaurant Name: Vertigo

Vertigo is a cafe with a music shop inside. As usual, there is are family and male sections. The decor is really original, bold colours with assymetrical sofas, plastic bubble swinging chairs, even the toilet seats are clear resin with daisies etc set in the seats.
You can listen to music via headphones at some of the tables.
The menus are written on records, and handed out in classic record covers, e,g, tom jones, olivia newton-john, anne murray.
The muttawa tried to close Vertigo down when it opened, due to the colour scheme and musical theme, but the Jeddah governor said 'this is what the people want' - go the governor!! Unfortunately this is why cameras are forbidden :-((
The sheisha pipes are really groovy, and the waiters are attentive to renewing the coals.

Favorite Dish: The food is probably the best I've tasted in Saudi - its fresh, well-presented in colour ceramic bowls and is yummy!!!
I recommend the gourmet vegetarian sammie - heaps of avocado, tomato, lettuce and chargrilled courgette with garlic mayo on fresh wholegrain bread. Its served with a green salad (ask them to go 'shwaya' on the dressing and yummy garlic hot chips)
Also, the chocolate brownie with ice cream is really good - crisp shell with gooey chocolatey centre - yum!
And the fruit cocktails - my favourite is called mars attack, it is apple, mint and lime.

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Address: Palistine commercial center.
Website: http://www.vertigomusiccafe.com/

Restaurant Name: Al Baik

Al Baik is a locally owned fast food chain in Jeddah. There are other branches in Makkah and Medina, but none in Riyadh.
They basically serve chicken, chips and shrimp. All is really fresh and tastes yum!
No matter what time I go there whether it's 1500 or 0200 it always seems to be packed full of people, yet you still get service with a smile within 5 minutes, and your order never seems to take more than 10 minutes to be ready.
Some of the branches have a family section - Khalediyah has a big one.
Note though that the prices were slightly increased in May 2007, but its still great value for money!!

Favorite Dish: Its a toss up between spicy chicken nuggets (come in two different sizes, with french fries, garlic dipping sauce and a warm sesame seed bun) and jumbo shrimp combo (comes with 2 pottles of coleslaw, french fries, a sesame bun and cocktail sauce).

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Theme: Fast Food
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 966 2 640-0520
Address: Prince Majid street
Directions: Mosadia, Azizia, Palestine st. etc (20 branches in Jeddah)

Restaurant Name: Fuddruckers

Fuddruckers has pasta, salads and DIY burgers. Every meal comes with free salad and drinks. And the value meals also come with a mini-brownie, corn and potato wedges.
The brownie used to be really good when they used that shell-coating chocolate stuff on the ice cream, but alas not anymore.
They even have a brunch menu which has pretty good pancakes.
Oh, and you can eat in or takeaway.

Favorite Dish: Spicy popcorn chicken - they pour honey over it, coat it in sesame seeds and give you this yummy chilli dipping sauce for it.

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Theme: American
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: +966-2-6613146
Address: off Prince Mohammad St.(Formely Al Tahlia)
Directions: Hera'a Souk is the one I go to mainly.

Restaurant Name: Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal has beautiful decor and a warm family atmosphere. All thw aiters speak good english and provided good service.
There is a mixture of Chinese, Mongolian and Indian dishes - plenty are vegetarian.

Favorite Dish: The waiter bought poppodoms with raita and mango chutney for us as soon as we had finished ordering.
We had ginger chicken and chicken tikka marsala with garlic roti and plain white rice.
Then carrot halwa. I had sweet lassi to drink which was the best I've had in-Kingdom.

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Theme: Indian
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: +966-2-2324222
Address: Al-Khaldiyyah Dist
Directions: Al Rawdah St. (formally Prince Abdullah)

Restaurant Name: Java Lounge

The restaurant is divided into downstairs, which has tables for large groups and a 'bar'. And upstairs has alcoved and non-alcoved tables.
The decor is really cool - the alcove walls are silver with blue and purple lighting. The rest of the lighting is muted. The chairs are all soft and comfy, and the tables big enough to fit all the fashionably oversized plates on.
Service was excellent - it should be for an 18% service charge.
The toilets are really cool - but why have the guy’s ones upstairs, and the girls' downstairs?
My verdict on javalounge is: awesome restaurant, but best saved for a really special occasion.

Favorite Dish: I started with a smoked salmon and sweet potato salad, it had curried yoghurt dressing and heaps of crunchy coz lettuce. My mates had: shrimp spring rolls - all were different lengths and served in a glass (an original touch), and calamari breaded and fried, served in a bread case thingy.
Mains we had: lebanese chicken salad rolls (served with guacamole, sliced tomato and garlic sauce, wrapped in lavash bread and grilled like panini). And t-bone steak with mushroom sauce that apparently 'melted like butter'.
Desserts: I had raspberry cheesecake. The others had java teardrop (raspberry and mango layered sorbet), and white chocolate ice cream profiterole tower (it was ginormous).
The food was amazing, and the portion sizes were big, but then so is the price!
The drinks were good - but pricey, anyone out there wanna pay SR 30 ($US 9) for a non-alcoholic cocktail?

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: most expensive
Prices: US$41 and up  » Currency Converter
Phone: +966-5-9599940
Address: Palstine commercial center
Directions: Junction of the Falistine street with Al Andalus.

Restaurant Name: Casper & Gambini's

Casper & Gambini's is a Lebanese restuarant chain, they have brances in Lebanon, Kuwait, Dubai and Jeddah.
They specialise in healthy choice gourmet sandwiches, salads, daily specials, homemade desserts & specialty coffee.
They offer a low-calories menu, but basically all the food is healthy and comes with salad and veges.
The Jeddah restuarant is the chain's first stand-alone franchise, and has 3 split-levels. The 'library' level is nice on sunny mornings for brunch.

Favorite Dish: For dinner we had the chargrilled vege sandwich and low-cal tuna salad which were both yummy.
For brunch we had the big breakfast (veal bacon, omelette with emmental cheese, blush tomato and pesto mushrooms) and pancakes served with fresh fruit and maple syrup.
Drinks - pina colada chiller and mango chiller, and to finish almond milk steamer (divine).

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: +966-2-6652552 ext 406.
Address: Al Hamra Dist.Al-Andalus street
Website: http://www.casperandgambinis.com

Restaurant Name: Benihana

We went here last night for the first time. Japanese is always cool if you've got a few people.
First of all, there is a counter menu with the conveyer belt thingies, and then there are boothes with frosted glass sliding doors for the family section.

Favorite Dish: We shared a few different kinds of sushi to start with - eel, fried salmon skin, tuna, shrimp, salmon and californian.
Then we ordered the 'traditional combos' one each of calamari/steak/lobster, steak/lobster, shrimp/steak. With that, we each got a bowl of miso, a salad for two, then teppanyaki style veges, steamed/fried rice, and all the meat/seafood we divided between everyone.
Then came ice cream and green tea.

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Theme: Japanese/Sushi
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: +966-2-6686014
Address: Sands Hotel

Restaurant Name: Balsamico

I've only been to the family section downstairs which is divided into 2 sections: inside has tables and chairs, and outside, where there are long sofas with big low tables. Outside, there are waterfalls which are a nice accompaniment to the lounge-style music.

Favorite Dish: We started with a selection of breads and dips. Me and friend shared 2 pizzas (funghi and margerita) both were very flavoursome and yummy.
Didn't stay for dessert, but the fresh juices were really nice.
All-in-all, great decor and location, but the food wasn't as good as some of the other places in town.

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Tahlia Street, Jeddah
Directions: beside the Sands Hotel