If there is one restaurant that is still in its soft opening stage, but already has everyone in Jeddah talking, it is Maison de Zaid or Bayt Zaid in the Rawdah district.
After a failed attempt one day when we arrived even before opening time and then chose to eat elsewhere when the wait was too long, my friends and I managed to visit Maison de Zaid last week for breakfast. Now, the restaurant opens at 9 a.m., and we got there soon after 9:20 a.m. only to learn that the café was already full. Considering it was a weekday, this took us by surprise. However, we were determined to try it this time, and decided to sit it out until we were offered a table.
After a half-hour wait, we were escorted to a delightfully bright table close to the windows. Our waiter was very polite and friendly and brought us a bread basket with butter and jam, and helped us by suggesting some of their more popular dishes. We opted for the Arabic platter, vegetable and vheese omelette and their famed banana caramel French toast. For drinks, we ordered beet juice, a ginger zinger and a latte.
The food arrived soon enough, beginning with the Arabic Platter. This consisted of three separate dishes; shakshuka, traditional foul and falafel with halloumi. This was all accompanied by a variety of flat breads.
Shakshuka is a dish made of eggs, tomatoes and onions that is quite delicious. Personally I am not a fan of eggs, but I could easily have devoured the whole dish. “Foul” is a typical breakfast here in Saudi Arabia and is made with fava beans. At first sight, I was not particularly happy to see it on the platter as I have not really developed a taste for it yet; this version of “foul,” however, was unlike anything I had tasted before. It was full of flavor and tasted very fresh. The falafel and halloumi rounded off the platter nicely, both items complementing each other.
There were four of us, and since the portion sizes were quite generous, we would have been satisfied with just the Arabic Platter. But this is when the omelet was brought to us. It was light and fluffy. We had asked for extra cheese, which made it perfect. There was a nice pile of crunchy potato wedges accompanying the omelet, which were excellent in themselves. Full of flavor, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside — just the way I like them.
A word here about the drinks. We were unanimous in feeling that the juices were blended perfectly, with just the right combination of ingredients. They were fresh and healthy, and I would definitely go for beet juice again on my next visit.
We soon polished off the omelet. By this stage we were feeling quite full, but were still looking forward to seeing the much talked about French toast. We were not disappointed. The French toast is three large triangles of bread soaked in their magical egg recipe and then fried to perfection. The toast is caramelized exquisitely and then drizzled with caramel sauce and surrounded by banana slices. The dish was also beautifully presented.
Overall, it was an excellent breakfast in very good company; the perfect early morning meet-up with friends. I couldn’t fault any of the food and loved every single dish. Portion sizes were quite large, considering we were four friends with healthy appetites who ordered only three dishes.
Prices were surprisingly reasonable at SR51 per person. It is hard to come by such great value for money. I would definitely love to go back again, but next time I will try to reach the restaurant at 9 a.m. sharp. Unfortunately, they do not take reservations, so you have to take a risk and be prepared to wait for a table. Weekends are even busier, so I suggest you hold back until the craze calms down a little before venturing there. I just hope that Maison de Zaid keeps up its amazing quality as time passes; it is sure to become a firm favorite of Jeddawis very soon.
Maison de Zaid is on Abdul Maqsud Khojah Street in Rawdah. It is open daily from 9 a.m. except Sundays.
— Sabaa J. Ali is a British Pakistani expat who has been living in Jeddah for 14 years. She is founder and editor of Jeddah Blog, a blog dedicated to the amazing city of Jeddah. She tweets @jeddahblog.
• life.style@arabnews.com
0 التعليقات:
إرسال تعليق