Dandydish

I loved this place. Good food, good service and a pleasant atmosphere. The place in discussion here is the Chilli Grill that has opened up in the Rawdah district in Jeddah. When a colleague and me started off from work for lunch, we were unsure about our destination. The only thing we were sure about is that we wanted to go someplace new and were in mood for something light. It would be wise to mention here that my friend N is a hardcore non-vegetarian. I have seen him eat veggies maybe once or maybe never in the one year period that I have known him. It was him who suddenly remembered having seen this place opposite the Swedish embassy when he was there a couple of weeks back. When we parked and got out of the vehicle, a huge banner at the entrance of the restaurant greeted us. Lunch deal with all the options clearly mentioned caught our attention. I usually like to order my own food from a menu but the options mentioned in the list was not bad and so we decided to go in and opt for t...

Ever since we moved to the Kingdom, there’s been one major issue - not being able to find a good Thai place to eat! We’ve certainly seen names of Thai dishes adorning menu cards of different restaurants, but any place that doesn’t serve Kang Kung (morning glory) or any of the traditional Thai curries should think twice before calling itself a Thai restaurant. After many disappointing Thai meals, our yearning for good Thai food bore fruit! Pattaya Restaurant was recommended to us! A good friend from the US who’s been in this city for over 3 years favoured us. The fact that this gentleman has worked in Thailand for a good 2 years purely confirms his authority to comment on Thai food. So this weekend, wife and I decided to try out some Thai fare at Pattaya. Pattaya Restaurant is situated off Sari Street in Salama district. The first look at its signboard and we knew we almost found a treasure. In addition to English and Arabic, the name was written in Thai too. We’ve been around Pattaya a...

I am a sucker for coffee, but am equally fussy about it. Just any coffee wont do, I have my own list of do's and dont's and stick to it like how fevicol sticks to wood. I may not be the biggest fan of arabic coffee ( Gahva arabia), but we do get a regular supply of the same at work, thanks to some dedicated colleagues who took it upon themselves to make sure that there is a steadfast supply of the same at work. However one of the local guy ( and a fun one at that) went one step ahead and got us waffle cups with chocolate lining to enjoy this drink. This is how the end product looked and was really really nice. Thanks M for adding chear to an otherwise dull day. Cheers!

During our stay in Dubai for more than 4 years, we never felt that the Shisha was an integral part of the culture in the emirate. Of course there are places that serve some fab shisha in Dubai but you dont find it in every nook and corner. It was either the run down places in Karama or the chic places in madinat Jumeirah and a few exclusive coffee shops. When we moved to Jeddah, everyone around seemed to be hooked on to this magical pot and pipe device. Barring the Starbucks and Costa coffee shops in town, it is almost impossible for any cafe to have a decent clientele without having shisha on their menu. Picture this, 2 men who wanted to smoke shisha, 2 wives who wanted to eat some good food. Difficult combination you may say, wrong I would reply. The automatic answer to this simple dilema was Bert's cafe located in the Stars Avenue mall. Bert's, which advertises as the contemporary cafe from Paris, has been a favorite hangout almost from the time we set foot in the kingd...

A colleague at work got this fab looking stuff to work today, just like that, no ocassion. The source of these delights is secret ( dont know why:-)

What happens when Indians want to eat good Indian food away from India? Well, the answer is rarely exciting. More so in Jeddah, where restaurants claiming ‘authentic Indian food’ are experts in doling dishes that are as close to Indian food as pizzas are to the Chinese. But when a friend served us some malai kofta (bought from Shezan restaurant) for dinner at his place this weekend, we were left wanting for more. So plans were made to hit Shezan as soon as it opened the next day:-) Well, the lazy weekend morning forced us to postpone the lunch plan to dinner, but we were there nevertheless. Shezan restaurant, located in Faisaliyah district in Jeddah, looked gorgeously traditional with its beautiful green-minarets. Despite the old exteriors, this stand-alone restaurant appealed to us. We were told later that they have three more locations within Jeddah itself. Once inside, we were ushered to the family seating area on the first floor where we were allocated a corner table fo...

What better way to start the blog than to share some experience with friends at a great place, good company, good food and some great shisha. What started off as an planned event for almost 15 of us, turned out to be a private party of the four who managed to get out of the weekend slumber and have the courage to drive in the heat. But the spirit of finding the place combined with the determination that this trip had to be a success overpowered the lack in numbers. A great deal was spoken about this place, and after a drive of about an hour to the outskirts of the city, we reached Dhahban. Right off the flyover waited the most serene and beautiful sight I have seen in quite some time. There are 3-4 places here, but we went to one that was recommended by our local colleague. ( i dont know the name of the place as all the signanges were in arabic, but once you get to Dhahban these places are hard to miss) Once inside, we were welcomed into one of the many shacks that are neatl...