By Johara Al Mogbel

If you follow us on social media, you might have noticed that the food department isn’t, er, the fanciest.

But occasionally we do get the urge to dress up, and sit in a place where we can cross our legs and just stare at people. We tried out restaurants for all three meals, plus some tea, and here’s what we think.

1. The French Bakery

We love bakeries. And we love it when restaurants implement a rustic vibe for decor. With that in mind, we figured The French Bakery would be the perfect choice for breakfast. We tried the club sandwich, pancakes, and the French toast, as well as a mixed plate of their petit four.

In terms of presentation, their use of stone slates was a huge win and they used fresh fruit garnish. The food wasn’t up to hype though, there’s a lot of room for improvement. Which is a shame because otherwise this would be our favorite stop.

Ambience: 8/10
Fanciness: 7/10
Nourishment: 4/10

Location: Takhassusi St. opposite Panorama Mall

2. Acoustic Tea Lounge

Talk about town nudged us towards this artistic food concept. A transplant from the east coast, Acoustic Tea Lounge was making waves with their dessert menu, which featured western desserts with an Arabian twist. Our orders: onion rings, halloumi bruschetta, margherita pizza, tandoori chicken wraps, fajita and penne arabiata.

Everything tasted enjoyable and the restaurant was certainly a place to be hoity toity, as it was so quiet and relaxing. And the art added a reasonable air of pretentiousness about the place. Only thing we’d change is the cookie cutter furnishings, very Best Westernish air about them. Oh, we came back to try the breakfast, and the cereal French toast was delicious.

Ambience: 6/10
Fanciness: 7/10
Nourishment: 8.5/10

Location: Tahlia St., by Fauchon
Instagram: acoustictealounge

3. aZenGrill

The newest kid in town, aZenGrill is an Asian fusion restaurant with a purportedly Michelin star chef. And situated in the new Boulevard Burj Rafal Kempinski, it can’t get any swankier.
We booked, we showed up, and we swanned in in our Salvatore Ferregamos and were promptly confused by the menu. Way too many options, and not enough of a clear direction over what cuisine is which. We tried the aZen burger, the Singaporean noodles, the roasted duck, the kimchee and the tempura prawns.

For the price, everything was slightly bland except for the burger and the mashed potatoes, which were absolutely delightful. The service was decent and they give you a hot towel when you first walk in. And their matcha ice cream is quite delicious as well. All in all, we’d definitely come in again for the burger.

Ambience: 7/10
Fanciness: 7.5/10
Nourishment: 5/10  
8/10 for the burger, ice cream and mashed potatoes.

Location: Kempinski Burj Rafal
Instagram: azengrill

4. Scaramouche

Scaramouche was a given on our list. Situated in the pricey Harvey Nichols, and with an air of exclusivity about it, we figured we couldn’t get any fancier, quick Sophia Webster purchase included. We decided to go for tea, as the food wasn’t really recommended. We tried the hot chocolate, café latte, and the iced coffee as well as the chicken tortellini and the vanilla cake. The drinks were really good, served in a tea set reminiscent of the Mad Hatter’s tea party, which we approve of. The tortellini though, was a bit confused, and we weren’t fans of the vanilla cake as it had jam in it. We’re so-so on the food, but we need to give it another try.

Ambience: 8.5/10
Fanciness: 8.5/10
Nourishment: 4/10

Location: Fasaliah Mall, Harvey Nichols
Instagram: scaramouche_ksa