If you are looking for a taste of local/regional food, and don’t have much time to spare, look no further than Saied Restaurant. Located right in front of the Gulf Plaza building on Madinah Road (after King Saud Mosque if you are heading toward Madinah). Saied dishes up delicacies from all over the Arabian Peninsula, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
This isn’t a particularly fancy restaurant, but the dishes are as local as they can get, the food is good, and it is a place you really have to try at least once if you live in Jeddah. Saied serves all sorts of traditional Arabic dishes from Chicken Madghout, to Mandi, Sleeq, as well as meat dishes like Kabuli and Zurbian. Both of which I tried on my visit and were fantastic.
The interior is much like that of Al-Baik — with simple chairs and tables for dining, most of which remained empty on my visit, as most people seemed to be ordering takeout. An open plain kitchen can be viewed from the counter where the cook can be seen working with large metal pots filled with steaming rice and meat.
On Fridays they have a special meat with rice and hummus dish, which I’m tempted to go back and try. Salads like Yoghurt salad, and Sesame salad are also available.
The Kabuli and Zurbian were as expected — soft, melt-in-the-mouth meat that just peels right off the bone, I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. The rice was soft and flavored with cardamom and several other spices. The servings are large, so make sure you’re hungry or with a large group of people, and try a bit of everything, it’s the best way to find out which type of cooked meat you prefer.
I also tried some of the sambousa and manto, along with one of their desserts: Trumba. Other sweet dishes like kunafeh are also available. The sambousas served were deep fried and pretty standard. I had a feeling they may have been pre-packed, whereas all the kabsa and rice dishes seemed to be prepared fresh. As for the manto, which are steamed dumplings (similar to Chinese dim sum but perhaps slightly thicker) filled with meat, they are delicious and a must try.
Although the logo of Saied appears to be that of a comical goat and chicken, visitors from abroad may be relieved to know that I was assured by the cook that all the meat used is 100 percent lamb. The lamb dishes really are great here, so if you want a change from the norm, check out Saied, it’s a meat lover’s dream.
Address: Madinah Road near King Saud Mosque in front of Gulf Plaza Building.
(Rashed Islam is a food critic who hosts Jeddahfood.com)
