JEDDAH, 19 February — I’ve never seen a restaurant make so many different impressions on people. Some hate it, some love it, and some are completely neutral while others can’t stand the sight of it.
All seem to agree on one thing though which is the décor. It’s fancy and expensive looking.
Yet they could have paid a little more attention to the ceiling, perhaps used a more attractive way of holding it up other rather than staples. I would describe it in two words, “Very Busy”. They have Persian carpets on the walls, carpets on the floor and dark wooden paravans all around the tables.
They have more than a few chandeliers. Whoever decorated the place must have thought he was Goldfinger. Gold, gold everywhere it’s not even funny. The atmosphere is Persian naturally but somewhat dull. At first glance, it looks rather impressive.
The service was a bit on the slow side but lucky for me, I was in good company! When the manager mentioned that they were out of a few items on the dessert list, I commented and he wasn’t the slightest bit apologetic. I told him that it was rather shocking that they didn’t have falouda, considering that it’s a traditional Iranian dessert. He didn’t seem to care; he explained that the chef couldn’t seem to get it right.
Well that’s a minus in my book. As for the real food, it was delectable. I found the chelo kebab-e- soltani highly pleasing. It’s basically two skewers of kubideh and barg, marinated and charcoal-grilled.
The meat was so tender, so juicy. I absolutely adored the kebab-e-daryach, which is a mixture of marinated jumbo shrimps and lobster served on skewers. It was so delicious and mouthwatering especially with the saffron buttered rice; buttered to perfection. I loved every bite. The chicken kebab was also very tasty. I even found the chicken salad, “salad olviye” very nice.
It tasted like a potato salad with chicken pieces and creamy mayonnaise. The Iranian mixed salad was also good. I thoroughly enjoyed my Persian yogurt drink as well as my Iranian tea after the hearty meal.
I was genuinely surprised to hear that many have commented that there’s nothing special about this restaurant’s Persian food. I wonder what they ordered although the Chef has been recently changed. For dessert they serve only a fraction of what’s actually on the menu. They serve crème caramel, seasonal fresh fruit and ice cream. I liked the ice cream with nuts.
It reminded me of the Syrian bouzza except it had very small pieces of crushed ice in it.
Saying that they need to work on their sweets is an understatement. Other than that they’re worth the visit. They have daily specialties and a family feast as well — all for a good price.
Al Khayyam is in Jeddah Hilton. Their Tel. number is (009662) 6590000.
