Aromi restaurant of The Waldorf Astoria Jeddah — Qasr Al Sharq and Jeddah Hilton has various top-rated, mouthwatering dishes in its iftar buffet.
The restaurant is located on the second floor of the hotel, where I was welcomed by Gaurav Shimon, the restaurant manager of Aromi. After being seated at my table, I was introduced to Executive Chef Yvan Marclay from Switzerland. He informed me that the iftar buffet has no particular theme and that it is a multicultural gastronomic journey, featuring Ramadan’s most distinctive delicacies from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.
There are six menus that are served throughout the week and according to Chef Yvan, Mashawi and Kharouf are the most popular dishes on the menu. He is helped by his assistants Firaz from Lebanon, Redwan from Sri Lanka, Mauro from Italy, Faisal also from Lebanon and others.
There are usually 35 different types of salads, cold appetizers and cold mezzeh, two types of soups and a vast selection of breads. There are 13 main dishes while the desserts comprise 20 different varieties, including the famous Hilton cakes and a selection of Ramadan delights. There are Saudi, oriental, Moroccan and Indian stations serving popular dishes from those regions.
Most of the dishes are not hot and spicy, so if you love mild food, this is the place for you. But if you are a spice lover, one can always add some chili, right?
The chef informed me that Aromi has been awarded the best restaurant for the past three years. Iftar costs SR 300 per person and reservation is required in advance.
For breaking the fast, dates, water, laban, Arabic coffee and various fruit juices are available on the table. Each table is served by a courteous waiter who takes care of the diner’s requirements.
After breaking my fast with Zamzam water, I went on to try some of the delicacies on offer.
In salads, I tried out the Caesar salad, Waldorf salad with crunchy green apples, and Scottish smoked salmon with Mutable, which was fabulous. Cold appetizers included a seafood salad, BBQ chicken salad, Indian chana chat, glass noodles with crab and corn salad, a selection of fresh garden greens with various dressings, such as, Italian and French balsamic, lemon, olive oil and Thousand Island yogurt.
Cold mezzeh items include hummus, fattoush tabouli, Shankish, Mohamarah, Potato Harra, Fassoliah bil zeit, haloumi cheese salad, labna with cucumber and assorted mixed pickles and Makdous.
Seafood chowder and Quaker soup with chicken were the soups of the day.
Main dishes include fresh spinach leaves with lamp stew, Chicken Alfasi, stuffed vine leaves with lamp chops and baby marrow, fish with teriyaki sauce, lasagna bolognese, slow-braised beef oxtail, butter vegetables and Ouzi with Mandi rice. The Moroccan station had Couscous Tfaiyah, Chicken Tajine and seafood pastila.
All salad ingredients were fresh and crispy. I also tried the BBQ chicken salad and the Scottish salmon salad and chick peas. For the main course, I had stuffed vine leaves with lamb chops and baby marrow. This was one of the best stuffed vine leaves I have ever had. I also tried the sesame honey meat balls, which were soft and juicy. In fact, all the main dishes were superlative.
For desserts, I tried Umm Ali and various cakes. A cake filled with nuts was exceptionally tasty and mouth-watering. Their fresh cut fruit platter consisted of water melons, pineapples and oranges.
The Indian station served sesame honey meatballs, shrimp manchurian and grilled baby chicken in hot garlic sauce. The Saudi station had fish mocharmal, Masoop Malki, three kinds of Mutabak and Harees. There was also a sushi bar. The oriental station had Kebah el Laban and shawarma chicken. The hot mezzeh and foul medames station had Saudi sambosak with cheese and meat, Formosa and foul medamas.
Some of the other dishes include Ouzi with biryani rice and mandi, Kayssa Ablama with yogurt sauce, hammour lemon butter, laban Umno, pasta with shrimp, oven fry kofta with potato and tomato, oriental rice and mix nuts, lamb tagine served with dry fruits, Thai crab balls in lemon grass sauce and BBQ short ribs.
Overall, the food was exceptionally delicious and finger-licking good.
— [email protected]
The restaurant is located on the second floor of the hotel, where I was welcomed by Gaurav Shimon, the restaurant manager of Aromi. After being seated at my table, I was introduced to Executive Chef Yvan Marclay from Switzerland. He informed me that the iftar buffet has no particular theme and that it is a multicultural gastronomic journey, featuring Ramadan’s most distinctive delicacies from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.
There are six menus that are served throughout the week and according to Chef Yvan, Mashawi and Kharouf are the most popular dishes on the menu. He is helped by his assistants Firaz from Lebanon, Redwan from Sri Lanka, Mauro from Italy, Faisal also from Lebanon and others.
There are usually 35 different types of salads, cold appetizers and cold mezzeh, two types of soups and a vast selection of breads. There are 13 main dishes while the desserts comprise 20 different varieties, including the famous Hilton cakes and a selection of Ramadan delights. There are Saudi, oriental, Moroccan and Indian stations serving popular dishes from those regions.
Most of the dishes are not hot and spicy, so if you love mild food, this is the place for you. But if you are a spice lover, one can always add some chili, right?
The chef informed me that Aromi has been awarded the best restaurant for the past three years. Iftar costs SR 300 per person and reservation is required in advance.
For breaking the fast, dates, water, laban, Arabic coffee and various fruit juices are available on the table. Each table is served by a courteous waiter who takes care of the diner’s requirements.
After breaking my fast with Zamzam water, I went on to try some of the delicacies on offer.
In salads, I tried out the Caesar salad, Waldorf salad with crunchy green apples, and Scottish smoked salmon with Mutable, which was fabulous. Cold appetizers included a seafood salad, BBQ chicken salad, Indian chana chat, glass noodles with crab and corn salad, a selection of fresh garden greens with various dressings, such as, Italian and French balsamic, lemon, olive oil and Thousand Island yogurt.
Cold mezzeh items include hummus, fattoush tabouli, Shankish, Mohamarah, Potato Harra, Fassoliah bil zeit, haloumi cheese salad, labna with cucumber and assorted mixed pickles and Makdous.
Seafood chowder and Quaker soup with chicken were the soups of the day.
Main dishes include fresh spinach leaves with lamp stew, Chicken Alfasi, stuffed vine leaves with lamp chops and baby marrow, fish with teriyaki sauce, lasagna bolognese, slow-braised beef oxtail, butter vegetables and Ouzi with Mandi rice. The Moroccan station had Couscous Tfaiyah, Chicken Tajine and seafood pastila.
All salad ingredients were fresh and crispy. I also tried the BBQ chicken salad and the Scottish salmon salad and chick peas. For the main course, I had stuffed vine leaves with lamb chops and baby marrow. This was one of the best stuffed vine leaves I have ever had. I also tried the sesame honey meat balls, which were soft and juicy. In fact, all the main dishes were superlative.
For desserts, I tried Umm Ali and various cakes. A cake filled with nuts was exceptionally tasty and mouth-watering. Their fresh cut fruit platter consisted of water melons, pineapples and oranges.
The Indian station served sesame honey meatballs, shrimp manchurian and grilled baby chicken in hot garlic sauce. The Saudi station had fish mocharmal, Masoop Malki, three kinds of Mutabak and Harees. There was also a sushi bar. The oriental station had Kebah el Laban and shawarma chicken. The hot mezzeh and foul medames station had Saudi sambosak with cheese and meat, Formosa and foul medamas.
Some of the other dishes include Ouzi with biryani rice and mandi, Kayssa Ablama with yogurt sauce, hammour lemon butter, laban Umno, pasta with shrimp, oven fry kofta with potato and tomato, oriental rice and mix nuts, lamb tagine served with dry fruits, Thai crab balls in lemon grass sauce and BBQ short ribs.
Overall, the food was exceptionally delicious and finger-licking good.
— [email protected]
