JEDDAH, 12 June — In the midst of Basateen Mall, on the top floor you can find Ganache a place that, funnily enough sells pillows, caters to all tastes in food and is somewhere you can rest after a long day of shopping.
The pillows they sell are unique and therefore expensive. But if you’re got the money, go ahead. It’s a really pleasant place. I really love the entrance, which takes you into an airy sunny room.
The decor is very simple but nevertheless comfortable. The color scheme is all white, blue and black — white more than anything. The seats are a little sandy and worn out, probably from children who come with their mothers and stand on them. At the far end, I noticed some white curtains with boxes of bottled Evian water behind it. They should definitely find another place to store their water.
Ganache is a place where you can relax after you have been searching for the perfect dress or just hang out with your friends and meet them for breakfast there. Not only is Ganache strategically situated in an incredibly popular mall, but it actually serves excellent food.
I’ve personally tried their gummy waffles and I understand that their chicken cream soup is to die for. They serve eggs Benedict, omelets, pancakes and waffles for breakfast.
For lunch or dinner they offer soups, salads, risotto, pizza and as for sandwiches, you name it.
They have minestrone soup, tomato soup, onion soup and pumpkin soup. The latter doesn’t sound too appealing to me but if you happen to be a pumpkin fan, I’m sure there aren’t many places in town that can fulfill your desire.
For salads they have mozzarella and tomato, Caesar salad and salad Niçoise. I liked Cajun chicken salad and rucola and roasted pine nuts the best. They have four kinds of pizzas: Frutti de mare, margarita, funghi and vegetarian. There’s also asparagus, mushrooms and saffron and cheese risotto’s which are all satisfactory and delicious.
For main courses you can have spaghetti bolognais or Napoli, steak tower, stuffed breast chicken, an amazingly good fettuccine with pesto sauce, penne ala checca, fillet minon, veal zurichoise or a hamburger with sautéed mushrooms. They also have a section on the menu called antipasto that includes beef carpaccio, avocado vinaigrette, bresaola and napawelli.
What people love the most about Ganache is that it serves the absolute best sandwiches, cinnamon cheesecake and date cake. They usually always order them for when they have gatherings or parties in their homes. I’ve tried their sandwiches and I especially liked the tuna. Someone said that all were really good except that the feta cheese sandwich is too salty and the cheddar cheese sandwich is too buttery but in my opinion, the more butter the better.
As you can tell, I was really impressed with the place for there aren’t many nice and casual cafes in Jeddah and it’s nice to see that things are changing and that people are responding to such great places. My biggest disappointment in the place was that when I got my luscious waffles I was both disgusted and shocked that the strawberries on the side had an oniony taste as though they had been cut up with a knife that had cut onions and not been properly washed. That is unhygienic and very unprofessional. I hope they start taking this into consideration and buy some knives to be used only for cutting up fruit called sandria. The annoying thing was that the fruit in it also tasted oniony and because it was cut up so tiny it got stuck in the straw.
The place is wonderful, I’m saying that much. They only have these minor problems that could turn some people off. Otherwise it really is a place full of panache.
Ganache can be found in two other branches, one is on Arafat Street in Al-Hamra District. The other is on Prince Abdullah Street in Al-Rawddah District, where you can buy all their pastries, sandwiches, cakes, coffee etc... Basateen mall branch is the only one where you can actually sit and enjoy your order.