JEDDAH: Dose cafe is bringing an exciting twist to coffee to add to Jeddah’s growing cafe scene.
Dose provides coffee lovers with one of the widest choices of flavors found in Jeddah, such as the trendy pistachio and rose lattes.
They have created new and exciting flavors, such as their crunchy coffee, which is topped with cereals to add an interesting twist.
The cafe offers coffee-to-go in flasks big enough to serve five people. They serve cold brew, KitKat and pistachio flavors.
To help beat the Jeddah heat, they have added soft-serve ice cream to the menu.
With its comfortable interior, a grand structure with funky lighting, Dose has become a favorite spot for friends to gather and socialize.
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Where We Are Going Today: Dose cafe
Where We Are Going Today: Dose cafe
- The cafe offers coffee-to-go in flasks big enough to serve five people
Where We Are Going Today: ‘Kumar’ Indian restaurant in Riyadh
Kumar in Riyadh offers a delightful culinary experience that celebrates Indian cuisine.
Upon entering, guests are greeted with a warm and inviting atmosphere with traditional decor and a friendly staff.
The menu is extensive, featuring a variety of dishes that cater to different palates, including vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.
Each dish is crafted using traditional recipes and high-quality ingredients, ensuring that the flavors are both rich and genuine.
As I browsed the menu, I felt excited to explore the flavors of India. I decided to start with the aromatic biryani, which was perfectly spiced and fragrant. Each bite was a delightful experience, bursting with flavor.
The succulent kebabs were another highlight —grilled to perfection and seasoned just right. I also indulged in a rich curry that left my taste buds dancing; it was comforting and packed with authentic spices.
The restaurant also offers a selection of flavorful curries, which are perfect for those who enjoy spicy dishes.
The service at Kumar is commendable. The staff are attentive and knowledgeable, ready to recommend dishes based on guests’ preferences. This personalized touch enhances the dining experience, making it feel special and tailored.
For those who enjoy a vibrant dining atmosphere, Kumar often features live music or cultural performances, adding to the overall experience. This makes it an excellent choice for families, couples, or groups looking to celebrate a special occasion.
Find more details on Instagram @kumar__ksa.
Where We Are Going Today: ‘Lou’ burger in Jeddah
- Chicken lovers are not left out, with options like the classic chicken burger, featuring a crispy fried chicken breast and melted cheese and the spicy chicken burger, which brings just the right amount of heat
RIYADH: Located in Al-Khayat Center on Al-Andalus Street, Lou is quickly gaining attention for its stripped-down approach to burgers.
With a small menu and focus on quality over quantity, it’s a spot that caters to burger lovers and adventurous foodies alike.
At the heart of the menu are the burgers, made with fresh ingredients and well-balanced flavors. The house special features a juicy, smashed Canadian beef patty topped with melted cheese, crisp vegetables and signature sauce on a soft brioche bun. It’s a straightforward yet satisfying combination that hits all the right notes.
For those seeking something more extravagant, the truffle burger takes the classic up a notch. The addition of creamy Emmental cheese and a rich truffle sauce elevates the experience, delivering a luxurious, earthy flavor.
Chicken lovers are not left out, with options like the classic chicken burger, featuring a crispy fried chicken breast and melted cheese and the spicy chicken burger, which brings just the right amount of heat.
The sides are also worth exploring. The chicken bites, stuffed with gooey cheese and served with a tangy buffalo sauce, standout. These can be paired with a side of crispy fries or even kimchi for a more adventurous twist.
Desserts at Lou shouldn’t be overlooked. The so dark brownie, a rich and sticky treat drizzled with milk and white chocolate, is perfect for chocolate lovers.
Meanwhile, the upside down cheesecake brings a creative touch, featuring a creamy filling paired with a berry jam topping that balances sweetness and tanginess.
With appetizers under SR15 ($4) and burgers under SR40, Lou is also a good choice for those looking to enjoy high-quality burgers without breaking the bank.
While the focus is on the food, the casual setup complements the experience. Lou prioritizes flavor and simplicity, making it a great spot for a quick bite or takeaway.
For more details visit @lou.jeddah on Instagram.
Where We Are Going Today: ‘Shrimp Shack’ in Riyadh
- Shrimp Shack’s menu also offers a range of Shack boxes filled with different fish and shrimp rolls, either fried or boiled, as well as some slider options
A feast for the whole family or just for you, Riyadh’s Shrimp Shack is not just a great meal but an experience that will leave your bib dirty and your stomach happy.
With locations around the city and late closing hours, diners can come in, grab a booth and chow down on a seafood boil spread with friends and family.
Or you can take the bucket to-go if you want to plop down in front of the TV where no one can see how messy of an eater you are about to be.
The star of the show, however, is the boiling station. Diners can choose between jumbo shrimp, medium shrimp, crab, lobster, or the Shack mix to mix and match, along with their choice of spice level and sauce/seasoning: cajun, lemon pepper, garlic butter, Shack mix, and more.
The shrimp is cooked perfectly and tastes very fresh, but the spiciest option is not that spicy, and sometimes the Shack mix sauce lacks a bit of flavor.
And while the potatoes are a great addition to any boil, these ones are usually a little undercooked and tougher than you might want your potatoes to be.
They also have a frying station for those who prefer their seafood battered and fried — calamari lovers will especially enjoy this section — and a keto station with the low-carb version of all the boiling station offerings.
Shrimp Shack’s menu also offers a range of Shack boxes filled with different fish and shrimp rolls, either fried or boiled, as well as some slider options.
Their rice, corn, and fries are all delicious and the perfect side items to accompany your meal — one might even say your meal is not complete without them, but do not fret, for the corn is included!
Your kids can enjoy this meal as well with their own little baskets and rolls.
Find more details on their Instagram @shrimpshacksa.
Where We Are Going Today: No substitute for Tanjiah’s Moroccan flavor fix
- Any Moroccan chef worth their salt will surely be judged on the quality of their tajins, and two soon made their way to the table — lamb for myself and smoked kofta for my companion
With thousands of five-star Google ratings, I was surprised to find Tanjiah in Riyadh’s King Fahd district almost empty, even on a weeknight. After finishing a fantastic meal delivered with excellent service in an environment that could give Marrakesh’s riads a run for their money, I’m even more surprised.
Stepping in from the noise and commotion of Riyadh traffic, we were greeted with quintessential Moroccan zellij tilework adorning the floors and walls, ornamental lanterns hanging from the ceilings, cushions, and draped curtains creating enclaves of privacy for families. In no time at all, a bowl of harira soup was delivered to the table, full of meaty heartiness with a rich tomato base, perfectly complemented with a sweet side of chebakia pastry. The sweet-savory combination was an irresistible theme of my favorite Moroccan dishes, I realized, as I tucked into an excellent chicken pastilla pastry topped with spices and powdered sugar.
Any Moroccan chef worth their salt will surely be judged on the quality of their tajins, and two soon made their way to the table — lamb for myself and smoked kofta for my companion. The lamb, topped with prunes and cashews, was marvelously tender. The kofta lived up to its name and was too smoky for my liking.
Tanjiah, I have to admit, stepped in as a substitute for another Moroccan favorite in the city, which sadly shut its doors recently. Although the fare at this other establishment was nothing short of incredible, it seems that it couldn’t survive the fierce competition in the food-loving capital. Perhaps the tired decor and slow service didn’t make up for the stellar kitchen for most diners.
Tanjiah has none of these faults. Staff are friendly, service is quick, and the interior is impeccable (we sat beside a calm-inducing babbling fountain). I would encourage anyone to try it for their fix of Moroccan flavors.
Recipes for success: Chef Clet Laborde offers advice and a tasty cheese balls recipe
- The executive chef of Sushi Samba Riyadh offers advice and a tasty cheese balls recipe
DUBAI: French-Brazilian chef Clet Laborde discovered his passion for cooking while preparing snacks and sandwiches for events during his hospitality studies. “I enjoyed learning the ways that we do things and how we work in the kitchen that is very different from hospitality, from being a bartender or a server or a waiter,” he told Arab News.
Encouraged by a mentor who recognized his potential during a culinary competition in Brazil, Laborde pursued formal training at the renowned Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France. He went on to work with legendary chefs Yannick Alléno and Alain Ducasse in France, before expanding his horizons in Brazil and Peru.
In January 2023, the chef moved to Saudi Arabia. “I really love this country. It is very nice. It is a safe place. It is a very good country to live in with the family and kids. So I am very happy to be here,” he said. He is now the executive chef of Sushi Samba Riyadh, where he crafts dishes that blend Japanese, Peruvian and Brazilian flavors.
Here, the chef discusses mistakes, his favorite cuisines, and offers tips for amateur chefs.
When you started out, what was the most common mistake you made?
Organization is the most important thing in the kitchen. A very big mistake that is common in the beginning is that you don’t have everything ready to make the dish. We call it the “mise en place.” So, you don’t need to run around or be desperate to cook something very quick because you forgot something.
Seasoning is another thing that comes with time. Every person — and every country — has a different palette. I’ve had the opportunity to work in Europe, Brazil, Peru and Saudi Arabia, and the palette of each country is completely different. So, you need to adapt the seasoning. A common mistake in the beginning is that we tend to put too much salt, or not enough.
What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?
The best tip that I can give is don’t get stressed out. If you make a mistake, you can always change and adapt the dish without destroying the idea behind it. For example, when you put too much salt in something, the most effective thing to kill the salt is to put a raw potato in the dish. Let’s say you are doing a stew, and you put too much salt, just put a raw potato inside. The raw potato is going to absorb all the excess salt, so your dish is going to be perfect again. Everything can be solved, everything can be adapted.
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
I have two. The first is soy sauce — a good quality soy sauce can improve a dish a lot. The flavor helps you not use salt, and it can give flavor to the dishes very subtly. The other ingredient is mushrooms. They are very earthy products, but the mushroom has umami — a flavor that comes from the earth that is something very delicate in the palette.
When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food?
I'm very critical and my wife — who’s also a chef — is too. So when we go out to eat, we see all the details in every dish. I think everybody that has this career will be the same. We are always looking to learn — even if that’s learning what not to do.
What’s the most common issue you find in other restaurants?
The seasoning. Like I said before, it’s something very personal — some people like to eat food that is more salty, less salty, more sweet, more spicy… But, in the kitchen, we always need to have a base flavor. When we add salt, it’s not necessarily to make the food more salty, but to increase the flavor of the product. So, if we don’t put enough salt, like on a steak or on a fish, the fish is going to be bland, so we’re going to lose this good flavor of the product.
What’s your favorite cuisine?
Peruvian. I lived in Peru for 12 years. The cuisine has a mix of cultures and flavors that you’re not going to find anywhere else. My favorite dishes would be ceviche and pollo a la brasa. We have both on our menu here. La brasa is a very traditional dish that the Peruvians eat normally every Sunday — like how the Italians sit together to eat pasta on Sunday, in Peru they eat chicken la brasa with fries and salad. It’s very traditional and it’s delicious.
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
Stroganoff. It’s an Eastern European dish. It is very quick. You can do it with salmon, you can do it with chicken, you can do it with steak. It’s very versatile. You can do it with just vegetables too. All you need is paprika, ketchup, cream and the protein that you want. Everything sauteed together, and you serve it with rice. In 20 minutes, you have the dish done.
What customer behavior most frustrates you?
Fake allergies. It is very common. I understand that some people have very specific allergies, like nuts, peanuts, seafood or shellfish. But now, you have people saying I’m allergic to mango, I’m allergic to kiwi. I prefer them to be honest, and say, “I don’t like mango. Can you do the dish without mango?” We either say, “Sorry, we cannot,” or we can give you another option, and we can work with it. But don’t try to give allergies that don’t exist. It’s something that’s very stressful in the kitchen — to try to adapt to allergies that you know don’t exist. But you cannot say no to the customer.
What’s your favorite dish to cook and why?
There’s a dish I always make at home for my kids and my wife. They love it. It’s a flavor that can bring us back to Peru. It takes time, but it’s not complicated. You need to marinate your chicken for 24 hours minimum, and after that, you put your chicken in the oven, and it’s done. So it’s very easy to do, but it takes time. But it’s very easy and very tasty.
What’s the most difficult dish for you to get right?
A traditional French dish — fish in puff pastry. The whole fish is cooked inside the puff pastry. So to have the perfect cook of the fish, to not be dry, or raw, with the puff pastry cooked perfectly, is very difficult. It’s a dish that needs a lot of attention to detail and decoration.
Are you a disciplinarian? Do you shout a lot? Or are you more laidback?
I’m not laidback, but I don’t shout. I think the image that a lot of people have about me because I am French, is that I will shout. Some French chefs are very nasty with the employees. I’m the opposite of that. I lived this environment when I was in France. I know how it is to work for a person that screams at you, hits you or denigrates you in the kitchen in front of everybody. That’s something that I am against. I always try to have a healthy environment for my chef and for my team. Here in Sushi Samba, I have 56 cooks under my responsibility. I know all of them. I tell everyone, when you arrive in the kitchen, you need to say hi to everybody. This is what makes the bond within the team — everybody cares about everybody. My team knows that my door is always open to them. And if I have any issue with a cook or any problem in the kitchen, I never call the person out in front of anybody. I take the person out of the kitchen, we go to the office, we sit down, we talk and we try to solve the problem instantly.
Chef Clet’s Brazilian cheese balls (Pão de queijo) recipe 
INGREDIENTS:
Tapioca flour: 500g
Water: 100ml
Sunflower oil: 80ml
Milk: 180ml
Salt: 2g
Eggs: 2
Parmesan cheese: 250g
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a bowl, mix the tapioca flour, salt, and grated parmesan cheese.
In a separate container, combine the warm water, milk, and sunflower oil.
Gradually add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing well.
Add the eggs one at a time, stirring until the dough becomes smooth and homogeneous.
Form small balls of approximately 30g each and place them on a baking tray.
Bake at 180°C for 25 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Enjoy with salted butter or cream cheese.
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