Winter has finally come. In Jeddah, that means people leave their air-conditioned homes en masse to enjoy the temperate evenings that come often accompanied by a cool breeze. What better way to enjoy those moments than with some good company and superb Middle Eastern food? You have to gather family or friends yourself, but Montazah Al-Nakheel will take care of the latter.
Montazah Al-Nakheel, Arabic for Palm Gardens, has almost become legendary in Jeddah. Established in 1986, Nakheel has been able to remain a favorite despite new restaurants mushrooming all over town. Conceivably, what keeps this place attractive is its outstanding food with no frills, in addition to it being one of the scarce places in downtown Jeddah where one can relish a night outdoors with friends or family while listening to the finest classical Arabic music or watching football on a big screen in both the single and family section.
As the name reveals, Nakheel is made up of several big gardens — one for singles, another for families, and a third garden for singles or families depending on the demand. The complex includes a large playground, indoor wedding hall in the shape of a pyramid, and another lounge for private parties. Both single and family sections have big royal couches and tables, making the place ideal for large groups. A major disadvantage is the abundant shisha, the smell of which is quite dominant, as the place is largely covered by a tent. This makes Nakheel less suitable for children and people concerned about their health.
Starting as a café and shisha place, Nakheel now focuses on Middle Eastern food and a middle to high-class audience, although its true commoner atmosphere accounts for all market segments flocking to the restaurant. Appropriately, the owner’s philosophy is to provide a public place for everybody serving “Arabic common food” — a blend of Hijazi, Saudi, Egyptian, Moroccan, Yemeni, Lebanese, and Syrian dishes — and they do a truly good job at that. The Lebanese Mezza (appetizers) are all excellent. The hummus is as smooth and creamy as should be, the falafel — arguably the best in town — is crispy and not at all oily, and the manageesh (Lebanese bread) with labneh (strained yogurt) very tasty. The tabouleh — a finely chopped parsley and mint salad with bulghur wheat, tomatoes and onions generously seasoned with olive oil and lemon — has the exact right amount of acidity, making it a very refreshing accompaniment for the main dishes.
Speaking about the mains, Nakheel specializes in grilled meat and chicken Egyptian style, which is similar to, say Lebanese, except that it uses other spices and is presented in a different way. However, this is only one of the areas the Nakheel cooks are experts in. The restaurant has employees from 22 different countries, and every cook works in his own field of specialty. The barbecued meat is prepared by Egyptians, whereas a Lebanese cook is in charge of the yummy mezza, and a Yemeni prepares the ful (mashed fava beans with spices). The restaurant states that their food tastes the same as 20 years ago, as there is a low turnover of staff and the chef is still the same. Some employees even have taken their father’s place after these retired!
Apart from the grilled meats, popular dishes are falafel, ful and mutabbak, a thin layer of pastry stuffed with meat and herbs, or, for those with a sweet tooth, banana, dessert cheese or clotted cream. Two other items famed in Nakheel are mantou and yaghmous, which originated in Central Asian cuisine. Both are dumplings stuffed with spiced meat and differ only in the way they are cooked: While mantou is boiled in a pot with water, yaghmous is tossed to the wall of the oven it is baked in. It was the owner himself, a talented hobby cook, who found a way to improve the mantou and yaghmous, in addition to the ful, and all three have become favorites among Nakheel’s loyal clientele.
Special attention deserves the Um Ismail plate, a mouthwatering dish of fried eggplant coated in batter served with tomatoes, lemon, and pepper. Add some tahini — a sauce made from ground sesame seeds — to this for a perfect combination of flavors in one bite. The dish was developed by the owner and called after one of the waiters. Today, some 300 to 400 Um Ismael’s are ordered daily, and the dish spread to Qatar and other places in this region.
In an attempt to meet the wishes and expectations of the growing expatriate communities in Jeddah, Nakheel has embraced a number of “continental” dishes on its menu. The crabs stuffed with shrimps and served with french fries, have a creamy, rich texture that would certainly please some sea-foodies longing for delicacies that remind them of home. However, all the rest of us might as well just stick with the chefs’ specialties of straightforward Middle Eastern food.
All orders come with a generous quantity of freshly baked Arabic bread. The ful, in addition, is served with delicious tameez, or Afghan flatbread, sprinkled with seeds. Those with a healthy appetite may want to accompany their meal with sahlab, a drink made of milk, walnuts, cinnamon, sugar and starch, though no guarantee is given that you’d still have a bite of all the lovely food available after gulping this down. Indeed, this is a heavy, albeit wonderful, drink that could easily fill you up. The best way to conclude the feast is with Um Ali, a very popular Egyptian dish. Its name is derived from an Egyptian tradition to call a wealthy person “Abu Ali”, or “Ali’s father”. No rocket science is needed to understand why this milky treat with nuts, raisins and dough is called “Ali’s mother”.
With 200 tables outdoors, Montazah Al-Nakheel seats up to 1,500 people.
Since a couple of years, Montazah Al-Nakheel has another, smaller branch in the Andalusian part of Red Sea Mall, called Ara’ek Al-Nakheel. Plans to open branches in other cities are under way.
Expect to pay around SR100 per person.
The restaurant opens from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.
The crowd comes after 9 p.m.
