Kohnioor (which means “mountain of light”) is located on the ground of floor of Jeddah’s Ramada Hotel (formerly the Harithy) just off of Madinah Road. Having never been, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of the Indian restaurant, which shares it name with the world famous diamond.

We passed through the main lobby of the hotel, under the oversized and glittering chandeliers, before finally taking a right turn at the reception desk toward the arched entrance of Kohinoor. The restaurant’s decor is not overly glamorous, but it does has a traditional Indian charm to it. The relaxing sounds of the traditional North Indian ‘Alap’ strings almost enchanted us into the room, but we were quickly brought back to reality by the faded red carpets, making it apparent that the place’s interior hasn’t been changed since its opening many years ago.

The restaurant staff, however, do make an effort. Warm and friendly, they don traditional or perhaps stereotypical Indian attire, which add to the Indian theme, from red and yellow waistcoats to “sultan” trousers or pajamas. Pajama is in fact a well-suited word since it originates from the Persian, Hindi and Urdu word “pajama” which means “leg garment.” They managed to accommodate our group by seating us at a long table tucked into an alcove, which was not only comfortable due to its booth cushion seats, but also gave us an added element of privacy compared to the other tables.

Kohinoor describes itself as a place for “a mouth lingering dining experience with authentic homemade style Indian cuisine.” The menu is extensive, with pretty much everything you would expect from a decent Indian restaurant. Prices are also reasonable with main courses averaging SR30 and desserts and drinks SR10 each. Consequently, to get a feel for the menu, we decided to put the statement to the test by ordering a selection of dishes that we could all sample from. Unfortunately, however, the majority of the food did not impress, as it was greasy, too spicy and lukewarm — apparently, the kitchen was at the other side of the hotel.

We started off with butter chicken, chicken tandoori, a biryani, a selection of naan bread (Kashmiri and Qeema), a kaaashamber salad, a paneer dish, a variety of pakora and some poppadoms. As a fan of the lassi (yogurt shake), we also made sure to order this. The staff made sure to ask us how spicy we wanted the dishes, and wanting to keep the spiciness on a low level, we asked for medium spice. Take not that the tolerance level at Kohinoor is extremely high — we had to find that out the hard way!

Offered as a sweet or salty drink, I opted for the sweet lassi, but was disappointed, as it didn’t come out as refined as I had hoped. It was made with large granules of sugar that weren’t dissolved properly, so that with every sip I took, a few more granules would make their way up the straw, ruining the drink entirely.

The spring rolls, pakora and poppadoms came out first. For those unfamiliar with pakoras, they are deep fried mixes of onions, cheese and other mixed vegetables, which are dipped in flour batter. In other words: artery-clogging goodness! Those watching their waistline may wish to skip these, as should those not prone to spicy foods, since they also had the added ingredient of some fiery chilis. Make sure you have a lassi or a raita (yogurt salad) on hand to cool things down, since even I struggled to finish more than a few of these without diving for the raita!

The spicy poppadoms were pretty good, but not special. Made from lentils or rice that are sun-dried, they are salty and thin crispy wafers that were served with a selection of chutney. The deep-fried spring rolls, which were far from Indian, were the least impressive item we tried. And, the paneer and chicken dishes were tasty, but not as flavorsome as we had hoped for. Moving on to the biryani, this impressed some, but for me this was far too greasy. The typical yellow and white rice was almost dripping in oil, but included a surprising addition of cauliflower. The kaaashamber salad was a mixed salad that was good, but nothing to write home about.

I have to admit, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the Kashmiri naan as it was fresh and topped with nuts and fruits. Equally good was the Qeema naan, which was made with exotic Indian herbs and covered with minced meat — simply delicious if you could overlook the copious amounts of butter involved.

The dessert menu managed to garner some interest from everyone at the table and included: carrot halwa, gulab jamun, crème caramel, fruit salad, rasmalai and rasgulla. We asked for the gulab jamun, but it was unavabilable, so we opted for the rasamalai and rasgulla.

Similar to a yellow boiled potato in appearance, the rasgulla is made from chhena and semolina cooked in sugar syrup, that has a strong and cheesy taste — an acquired taste in my opinion, but many thought otherwise. The rasmalai consists of sweet creamy balls (similar to buffalo mozzarella balls in appearance), but made from cottage or ricotta cheese soaked in thickened milk and flavored with cardamom and rosewater. The rasmalai rounded off our meal nicely.

After we finished eating and the waiter cleared our plates, small scented towels were served in fancy dark ceramic bowls for five of us, leaving three guests with no towels. They eventually brought three more towels, but served them on unimpressive white tea saucers — apparently, the restaurant ran out of the more impressive dishes. Although this was not a huge faux pas, it was a noticeable one.

Overall, the dishes at Kohinoor are good at best, but a little uninspiring. Had the food come out more quickly and not left to cool on its journey to us, we perhaps would have left a little more impressed. Would I return? Yes, but probably not in a hurry.