For years, I have been a regular customer to witness this restaurant grow from scratch and have bought many guests to experience the beauty of the local tradition, culture and cuisine.
The name of the restaurant in Arabic is Medina and is strategically located along the Al Yarmuk street. It’s easy to spot the restaurant at first glance because of its distinctive Arabic inspired architecture from the exterior.
The spatial arrangement of the restaurant is completely based upon the courtyard layout, the male and family sections are also segregated. Its a 2 story building with all the modern amenities and decent parking spaces.
Numerous antiques, painting, luminaires and vintage cars have been designated throughout the restaurant to depict the lifestyle of the citizens of Saudi Arabia. There are options to seat in majlis style or a typical chair and table.
Some of the dishes ordered were as follows –
- Kabsa with Fahm Chicken
- Meat Kebab
- Normal Jareesh
- Kabsa with grilled chicken
- Creme Kunafa
- Meat Pie
The ordered dishes were professionally packaged in foils before serving the customers in order to preserve the freshness and aroma.
Now moving on to food critics, the kabsa with faham (half grilled chicken) and the full grilled chicken was excellent as it had the right proportion of spices which made it taste pretty well and the meat was cooked to perfection which made it very soft and tender to eat. Rice seems to have been cooked well as they were long grain and fluffy. It was sad that they did not have salatah Harr to complement the kabsa.
The jaresh was similar to oats porridge with caramelized onions on the centre and it had threaded pieces of meat with a few cardamom notes. I would definitely recommend this dish to try out if you want to experience the local delicacies.
The lamb kebab was satisfactory and complimented well with the bread basket. It was accompanied with french fries and typical salad.
The meat pastry was crispy and nice as the meat filling had an amazing flavour. It was beautifully topped with black seed (Ajwain) and brushed with butter.
The cream kanafa was excellent as it was freshly made with cream and it was hot while opening the packaging. An amazing crispy and creamy texture could be observed.
Overall an incredible dining experience of witnessing the beauty of Arabic cuisine in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. I would definitely recommend the Faham Kabsa, Jareesh and meat filo pastry. To top it all up a complimentary coffee table has also been allocated for guest to enjoy.
Follow me on Instagram to get more insight about my dining experience @zohaibshaikh94
Restaurant Website – http://www.madina-ksa.com/
Recommended Dishes – Faham Kabsa, Jareesh and meat filo pastry
Taste – 4/5 Presentation – 3/5 Price – 3/5 Ambience – 5/5