Life in Saudi Arabia, Part 2

MMMMMMMM GOOD!


Part two of Life in Saudi Arabia! The food. I remember my first venture to the region: Oman in 2008. The last day of my visit our hosts took us to what amounted to a Lebanese casual diner named Automatic. Automatic is a chain that is located all throughout the Middle East. The food was incredible. Kababs, Tabouleh, Hummus, etc. Little did I know, but it was only the beginning…

I am going to dive into one restaurant here in Saudi because the description will take time. Just to curb any curious minds, we have everything here. Last week my neighbor knocked on my door and asked if he could borrow 50 riyals ($13.50). I panned my sight line past his head and noticed a Pizza Hut delivery man standing by his car waving at me. McDonald’s, Hardees, KFC, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Subway, Starbucks, Applebees, Steakhouse, and many others adorn the strip malls, waiting to destroy another culture of its health. Indian and Pakistani restaurants are everywhere, and the food is amazing, although I am told that Dubai has better Indian food. Seafood is top notch here because all the fish is caught in the Arabian Sea (Just a note, but talking to my friend Nigel yesterday he said that you can see the bottom of the Arabian Sea when sailing! This is because it’s not only shallow, but also clear blue. I have yet to take on the Arabian Sea, but have been invited to partake of some wake boarding by a couple of guys at the Shoaibi Group. More to come on that…). So the point is that food is abounding here, but my Lebanese experience takes priority with this entry.

My first trip to Saudi Arabia was in the early part of 2009. Martin Pearson picked me up at the hotel at 8am and we drove together across the causeway and into Saudi Arabia. We met in his office for a while and then toured the building, meeting the people I would soon come to know as co-workers. Around lunch time he asked, “You hungry Matt…want to get a bite to eat? We just head to a little Lebanese restaurant down the street.” I was game, and thus began the love affair with the food at Wassan’s.

When you walk into the restaurant, the first thing that is striking is that it’s feels like a cafeteria. There are 3 rows of tables, 6-7 tables deep, and they are crammed together. People are in groups, chowing down on their meals, talking and laughing the whole time. To the immediate left as you enter Wassan’s is the cash register. No fancy exit/entry cash register; just a stand with a chair behind it and a guy working an old register. There are little containers of toothpicks and hand cleaner on the stand around the cash register. Behind the cash register is a raised counter that stands about 5 feet tall. This stretches all the way along the left wall of the restaraunt.  On top of this counter are huge natural juice mixers. The menu has about 25 types of juice available, from lemon and apple juice, to mixed drinks and ice drinks. About halfway down the counter top, the juice machines end their reign and an opening presents itself. This is where all juice exchange happens for both take-out customers and the wait staff helping tables. The counter top ends at the back of the store to a staircase that heads up to the family section of the restaurant – remember, only men eat in the main section. Women and families eat separately. The counter then starts up at the back of the restaurant and reaches around all the way to the right front of the restaurant. In the back right corner is a huge brick oven where the bread is cooked on the spot and the vegetable plates are prepared. Then the chicken and rice stands take over down the right wall, and finally immediately to the right as you walk into Wazzan’s is the shwarma meet; lamb on the left stake and chicken on the right stake. The counter here is lower – about 3 feet so the meat plates and sandwiches can be served to take-out customers and waiters.

At Wazzan’s, there is always a lot of activity; 5-6 waiters are always moving about the floor delivering fine food to the patrons. Upon entering, 2-3 of them wave their hands at you to sit in their area. No WAIT TO BE SEATED sign. You go with a waiter and he seats you, wipes down your table, and hands you a menu that opens left to right, back to front. English and Arabic are on the menu, but we’re definitely reading in Arabic direction. While pondering what to order, a plate of vegetables is brought out. Lettuce, cucumber cuts, tomatoes, carrots, olives, and peppers. These are finger food snacks that are a part of every meal.

About 1-1/2 minutes later your waiter is back, pen in hand, ready to take down your order. The menu has appetizers and main courses on it, as well as the long juice list. Any questions will be met with some stilted English, but you can manage as long as they don’t get frustrated with you. I go for the chicken shwarma plate every time. I used to hit up the kababs, but they got old and aren’t as awesome. The chicken shwarma plate is a plate of sliced chicken from the shwarma stake, which is basically a 20 pound slab of chicken meat rotating across a hot fire. The cook sharpens his knife and slices slabs of meat off the stake, pours it onto a plate, adds some onion slices, a little garlic dip and some tomatoe pieces, and presto, a shwarma plate. When my plate is delivered, I also get a few pieces of fresh dipping bread. These can be used to dip in Hummus or Muttabal (one has egg plant and the other peas as a base), or just to jam shwarma meat into and make little sandwiches. Finally my lemon juice and water appear to wash it all down. In total, this type of lunch that you see in the pictures below runs about $8, which isn’t cheap, but is a nice meal.

Nice chicken shwarma meat with some dipping sauce on the side

Check out those bread pieces...piping hot from the oven...and some nice olives (special treat that day)

In the evening, another delight awaits. A few nights a week I’ll treat myself to a take-out meal from Wazzan’s. I drive down to the back parking lot from home (about a 10 minute trip) and head into the same entrance, only this time I head right for the cash register. “Asalam alekum…marhaban. 3 chicken shwarma and 1 big juice. Shukrun.” For a whopping 17 riyals ($5) I get 3 nice wrap sandwiches and a large pomegranate juice. Again, not the cheapest meal in the world, but better than any fast food restaurant in the US, and healthier. When I turn over my moolah I am given two receipts: 1 for the three shwarmas, and 1 for the lemon juice. Then the wrestling starts. I take the shwarma receipt over to the counter where the meat is cut (remember that is on the right side of the room) and lay it down on the counter. Two cooks are working behind this counter, cutting and wrapping shwarmas: one cuts the lamb, the other cuts the chicken. Now when I head to this counter, it is highly likely that at least 4-5 other people, minimum, are waiting for their sandwiches as well. It is a madhouse. People come up and push into the front of the counter and start talking Arabic with their receipts. When that receipt is laid down, you keep track of it so you know when they’re looking at your order. Wait for eye contact and then raise your hand and tell them it’s your order. I have received my sandwiches before others in line, and I’ve been cut in front of criminally. All part of the cultural experience right? With sandwich in hand, it’s off to the juice counter and the same process again, although this can take even longer because they may have to squeeze fresh juice if they’re out. Once everything is in hand, it’s back to the car and onto home where I eat those sandwiches while watching some TV.

I’ve become a regular at Wazzan’s because it’s easy to get to and the food is healthy and affordable. The waiters know me and usually help expedite my take-out orders now, so I’m fighting less in line. It’s become a nice break from the workday. A couple of the waiters are talking to me in Arabic to try and help me learn. It’s like watching a snail race for them I’m sure. Eating is such a big part of life in this culture, so the restaurant is always full, especially late at night (10-11pm). People are with friends, eating and talking. It’s a really nice atmosphere to be perfectly honest. I took my neighbor, Mark, to Wazzan’s a few weeks ago and we had a blast talking about politics in Europe and the US. He’s looking to get me out to an Indian restaurant in the near future. I can hardly wait.


Stay tuned for the next phase of Life in Saudi Arabia…