1 cup fine semolina

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

3/4 cup milk - roughly 12 tbsp

2 tablespoon melted clarified butter (ghee)

8 to 10 cashews chopped

1 tablespoon raisins

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Happy Diwali. 

Another post on restaurants in this city in Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. These are my personal take and would help fellow Indians to know a little bit of these restaurants before they want to try them. You can read the earlier list here. These are in no particular order.

I have linked some of the listed restaurants to its FB page that might be helpful to you. 

When I crave for chicken biryani and I know Palace restaurant is not my taste, and I do not want to cook - F took me to this restaurant which has a dine-in option. I liked the ambience and the vintage tables, the curtains and the tiles. The staff were also quick in service. So that's the first impression alright. But what was coming was not alright. As I went there craving for biryani, I was shocked to see the quantity of the rice. It was served in a little bigger than soup bowl and that was way less than Palace and charged a bomb.  Taste-wise, they are not to my liking but can satiate the cravings in this land. The second time around we tried some Chinese and I decided I will never try them again or even go there for that matter. It is not good for the price they charge for food that is served the cold and sometimes incorrect order. Owing to the very few options we have, I do not write off any restaurants with the first try. But Ocean, I will rather not give any more chances.

Food: OK

Ambience: Good

Quantity: Poor

Quality: OK

Value for Money: Bad

This is a global brand and I am glad there is one in Yanbu. I am including this in the list of restaurants because of obvious reasons! Common let me increase the number of good restaurants in my city. This city is relatively new, thanks to the industry haven that the country has tapped here. So we have people from around the world and that has brought in a few of the best food chains and hotel chains and I hope a lot more eat outs come here. 

Holiday Inn is close to where I live and so a lazy weekend morning we just hop to their restaurant and devour their breakfast buffet. This place makes me feel very relaxed just as their name suggests and I enjoy the meal every bit. It is not too crowded and you will find friendly faces. The buffet spread always includes both Arabian and Indian and sometimes Pakistani. I got lucky last time when we had Kerala beef masala. Wish I could have met the chef and thanked him.

Food: Good

Ambience: Good

Quantity: Buffet so enjoy!

Quality: Good

Value for Money: worth it

This was the first restaurant I had been for dinner and I heard so much of this place - all good points and so I had huge expectations. It is majorly Pakistani cuisine and trusts me, I would not dine in maybe a take away is better. I am not sure why a restaurant with that stature would provide plastic cutlery and plastic cup for water. One of my biggest pet peeves is poor service and definitely the plastic spoons and forks..really??? The food is moderate and its a haven for the single men and families, coz both the times we went, we had to wait for a table. Guess people opted to overlook the plastics spoons and rejoice the food. I cant. 

Food: Moderate

Ambience: Dull

Quantity: Good

Quality: Good

Value for Money: OK

I enjoy Indo-Chinese cuisine especially the noodles and momos. Yanbu's only Chinese place that serves bad Chinese food so far is Shangri-La. It is located in a beautiful locality and has a very strict timing of their own interests. They are closed whenever we go and so had just a couple of chances to eat. Once we had to return as it was fully occupied. I prefer food to be served course wise. Soup with starters, appetizers and then the main.  

First time I went there and we placed the order for soup, they insisted to order all so the kitchen can work on it. But they brought everything to the table and it was cold. It was overwhelming and killed my appetite. So second time around, we refused to order everything together and still, the food was cold and tasteless. What surprised me was the whole lot of people who come here and the rush for tables etc. F explained that probably we Indians are looking for spicier Indo-Chinese, unlike other nationalities. Maybe true. If you are for bland food then you might like this place.

Food: Moderate

Ambience: Good

Quantity: Good

Quality: Moderate

Value for Money: OK

I would not include Al Baik, KFC, Herfy, McD, and all those joints. They aren't in my "restaurants" list. I have no clue why people throng at Al Baik. To me to dine-in is an experience of food in a very friendly atmosphere, where our tastes and preferences are considered rather than treat us like a bunch of starving people who needs to eat and leave making the place for the next set of customers.

Updated 31st July 2016:

This is again a Pakistani restaurant that serves amazing curries and flat-breads. The location is not very inviting for it is amidst all the garage and workshop areas. Dine-in option for the family is there but we have always opted for take-away. So the days I am lazy to cook or we are out shopping, we grab some bread, kebabs and curries. The quantity is also very generous that I will have some leftover for the next day too. Their bread also stays soft, unlike other places that go hard once it gets cold. 

This is Closed down for long. 

Now, this is a small outlet that does not have a dine-in option but they serve the best Hyderabadi Biryani in Yanbu. It is not the best you must have had, but the best you could get in this city of Yanbu. On Fridays, they serve only mutton biryani and I love it. They also have some tea time snacks like Iranian biscuits etc. I heard raving reviews about their tea and so the next time we went to pick our biryani packs, F got me a cup of tea. It is done exactly how I want my tea to be prepared, milk and water or tea boiled but their sugar quotient was too high. Quantity and quality are good and there is not much choice or menu card etc. They sell what they cook that day. And it is known for Biryani as far as I know. 

I will add more as time goes. You can check this post for few more restaurants. 

Aryaas

Located amidst the Gold Market on Yanbu, this is a haven for the south Indians and those who love street Indo-Chinese food that we were had in India. We went to dine-in the week they opened and it was fully occupied with no space to even walk. Family sections are not private enough but they were doing their bit to cater to the customer. We only dined there once and opted to take away as it was much relaxing to have at home. I am yet to try their breakfast spread which I see from their menu is truly south Indian with all idli, vada, dosa etc.

Ginger

This was the much awaited Indo-Chinese restaurant. Located beside the New Al Raya complex, this is a small place with family and single section. We went only once just after they opened and unfortunately, they had no momos :-( Their menu had a lot of typos that were very glaring to my eyes. :-P We opted for taking away as usual and they kinda mixed up the orders. I shall forgive that as beginner's error but have to give them another chance as I heard that their soups are good. Quantity is great, we did have some leftovers that I used to top homemade pizza. :-)

Cumin - Indian Cuisine Restaurant

They had their name board up during Ramadan 2016 and we kept going there only to return as they weren't opened. Slowly we just gave up checking only to get reminded by one of my readers who suggested I try that place. We did not waste any time, off we went for weekend lunch and it was the best food I had in a long time! Everything served was delicious! The chef is from Calcutta and the owner from Mangalore and their food is so perfectly spiced and served hot. There was nothing I could complain about except that their seating arrangement that kinda feels claustrophobic. their four-seater table is good for two because the quantity is really good and would fill up the table. :-) We brought home the leftovers and had for another meal.  A must try place for everyone who loves to enjoy Indian food.

Unlike in Al Khobar, where I have been more than a couple of times and I can vouch has the best eat out options, Yanbu has fewer options. I so wish all of KSA is like Khobar.  Yanbu has very limited "good" restaurants and a few that you can visit again. Honestly, I had planned to have a dedicated post for each of the best restaurants, but unfortunately there isn't much. So here I am listing the restaurants that I have tried and my personal thoughts about them.

In my earlier post I had mentioned about a rule to avoid cooking and washing dishes on Fridays - Kitchen Closed on Fridays. But that never lasted for more than a few weeks. You know why? There is hardly any place I crave to go to eat out here. Until last time I was here, I was ready to eat anything but cook on a weekend (Friday is the weekend in this world). That should explain my weight gain.. But this time, I am more careful about it and mostly cook both the days of the weekend even though I complain that its not fair that I don't get a day off.. Trust me...when I think of the effort to go and eat something that I don't enjoy and pay for it too.. I would rather cook some food and make myself better at it.

If you are not aware, most of the dine-in restaurants in the Kingdom have two sections, Single and Family. And in the Family section, you have rooms with curtains or doors. This way each family have their privacy. Some take-away counters have a woman only section where F sends me when there is a long queue at the men's section.  Also some of them have more than one branch and it is not the same kind of service provided. 

So here are the list of restaurants in the order I frequented most:

This place serves mainly Pakistani. They also serve Chinese and Arabian food that includes soups, meat, seafood and lentils. All these are accompanied with kubz. No other Indian breads are served. We always opt for a take-away from here owing to the not so good dine-insection for the family. Their food is the closest to Indian food that I get here. I will not recommend their biryani, or for that matter any of their rice. I feel they all are so bland or not for a south Indian. The best they have is mutton biryani and their "Famous Chicken Tikka" which is a must try. They are quick in delivering, we just call them and place the order and go and pick it up before they close for the prayer.

Food: Good

Ambience: NA

Quantity: Fair

Quality: Good

Value for Money: Good

My first cookbook ever was a Lebanese cook book. I love their cuisine ever since I had from a Bistro in Bangalore. Ostorah was close to the Pizza hut corner we used to frequent and the for some reason I felt the name didn't suggest that it was a restaurant. I thought it was some furniture shop or something. But when I got to know they serve middle eastern food, I so wanted to go there. So following weekend we tried it and it was so good. I enjoyed the service, the ambience and the food. For me the food has to be fresh and hot and that's exactly how they serve. They have breakfast menu too which I have not tried yet. Their kebabs in platter and their salads are all good.

Food: Great

Ambience: Good

Quantity: Good

Quality: Great

Value for Money: Fair

I go here when I  want to indulge on a burger with guacamole and potato wedges...I avoid dining in here too often because I do not want to fall out of love for this place. Peak hours are always crowded and most of the time has a waiting period where you are not left hanging. They have good customer service and I am so impressed with that.  Their salad bar is unlimited but I hate to keep walking there to refill. But hey, avoid the salads! You go there for their steaks and burgers... Forget salads!

Food: Good

Ambience: Good

Quantity: Fair

Quality: Good

Value for Money: Good

  

As the post is too long a read, I am going to add the other set of restaurant reviews in another post. 

However I so wish some Malayalee opens a restaurant that serves South Indian Cuisine... Hopefully Waiting!  

Have you ever cooked without measuring? To me cooking without measuring is the most satisfying experience, especially when it turns out finger-licking delicious. A sense of pride and accomplishment with a motivation that Yes, I can do. But now with blogging in my mind, I tend to be over-cautious making notes etc. And even if it is my own recipe, I go back to referring my notes while cooking. So yeah, to be able to churn out food without referring any notes is a talent.

But it comes with practice or it is inborn talent.  I so admire both my mom and umma who can cook for 2 or 10 without referring any notes etc. They do it with eyeballing.. and it turns out every time close to perfection and it is labelled as their signature dish. How do they do that?