Sing with us, for these are a few of our favorite things…
When it comes to Riyadh, the first thing that pops into our mind is: food! Riyadhis love to eat and are constantly on the lookout for the best restaurants around to try. Is there a better way to spend life? I don’t think so. After thorough research and help from YOU, we at Destination have found the spots to hit for your cherished favorites:
1. FAVORITE GAHWA – SWEET COMBINATION
In Riyadh, we go cukoo for coco when it comes to our gahwa-time snack. Nothing can top chocolates when it comes to our favorite gahwa-sweet combo, because chocolates taste good and make life worth living; simple as that. Our favorite picks include, Twix, Patchi Chocolates, Aani & Dani, and Bateel. The gahwa from Camel Step is becoming a local favorite, too.
Location: Abi Bakr As Siddiq Branch Rd., At Taawun, Riyadh (Click )
Tel: +966-534007676
Instagram: camelstep
Facebook: camelstep
Twitter: camelstep
Website: camelstep.com
Location: Takhassousi Boutique, Patchi Building, Takhassousi St. (See Map)
Tel: +966-11-4834464
Website: patchi.com
E-mail: takasosi@patchi-sa.com
Instagram: patchichocolate
Location: Takhassusi St., Ar Rahmaniyah (See Map)
Tel: +966-11-4186006
E-mail: info@aani-dani.com
Website: aani-dani.com
Instagram: aanidani
Location: Kingdom Centre (See Map)
Tel: +966-11-2112042
Website: bateelonline.com
E-mail: info@bateel.com
Instagram: bateelgourmet
2. OUR FAVORITE SHAWARMA SPOTS
You’re not a Riyadhi if you have never tried this restaurant. The combination of their mouthwatering shawarma with their rich mixed fruit juice does wonders on our taste buds.
Location: King Abdullah Rd., King Faisal St. (Click )
Tel: +966-11-2787555
Website: mamanoura.com.sa
3. FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD : ICE CREAM
I scream for cheap ice cream! If you, like me, love having ice cream regularly, irrespective of the weather, there’s no way you’d go for something expensive. Ice cream trucks win at this. Delicious soft serve that comes in 3 different flavors: chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate and vanilla.
Godiva wins at creating the most delicious ice cream ever. It’s not your average, everyday soft serve; they’re extra. Godiva serves their real chocolate in form of ice cream, which makes this ice cream the most decadent one out there.
Location: Takhassusi St., Ar Rahmaniyah district (Click )
Tel: +966-11-2812000
Instagram: godivaarabia
4. FAVORITE JUNK FOOD: FRIES
French fries happen to be Riyadh’s favorite way to feel unhealthy, and by unhealthy, I mean really satisfied and happy!
It is the first restaurant in Riyadh to serve flavored fries, which makes it one of our favorites. They season their fries with various flavored powders like cheese, lime, chili lemon, lime, and serve it with a good variety of sauces.
Location: Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz Branch Rd., Ar Rabwah (Click )
Tel: +966-11-4790069
Twitter: Shakeit_KSA
If you love going heavy on the toppings, New York Fries is a must-try. They’ve personified poutine and may have improved on the classic fries by creating their famous butter chicken poutine and chili poutine.
Location: Uthman Ibn Affan Rd. (Click )
Website: newyorkfries.com
Eye the new fry in town.
Location: King Abdullah Rd., Ar Rahmaniyah (Click )
Tel: +966-11-4824040
Twitter: RobertsB_RSB
5. FAVORITE COLD DRINK: Iced coffee
Coffee makes our Sundays feel like a weekend; it makes us feel alive; it’s the elixir of youth and life. Well, you get the point. The coffee lovers have spoken and the two best places to grab a coffee are Camel Step and White Foam. Camel Step is great for good quality beans. White foam offers great coffee and vegan options, which is why it’s popular.
Location: 2956 Ash Shaikh Abdullah Al Anqari (Click )
Tel: +966-11-4708567
Web: whitefoam.me
Instagram: whitefoam
6. FAVORITE HOLE-IN-THE-WALL:
Modest venue, amazing food; The Villa Restaurant has been around since almost forever. Their authentic Thai, Chinese and Pinoy menu can win over the pickiest of taste-buds. If you haven’t tried it yet, what are you waiting for? The flavorful larb and authentic pad thai are must’ves.
Location: Al-Uroubah St.(Click )
Tel: +966-11-4822749
More popularly known as Sa’ad Kebdah, this all time favorite shack came into business around 40 years ago and started gaining fame for its rich, savory, beef liver slapped inside a samuli. As the story goes: the name change occurred when the two friends, who started this restaurant together, had an argument a couple of years back. Due to that one of them left and the guy who stayed back renamed it to Sa’ad AlHas. Of course, liver is an acquired taste, and Saeed AlHas will make the process easier and make you fall in love with it.
Location: Boofiya Sa’ad, King Fahad Branch Rd, Al Wisham (Click )
7. FAVORITE CHILDHOOD FOOD
As a kid growing up in Riyadh, Samuli/pita bread with cheese was a part of our staple diet. We had it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, as a snack during school or while watching our favorite Disney movies. Now as adults *cough* our favorite childhood food has been improvised by our genius minds and we’ve come up with lots of new ways to eat your classic samuli-cheese: cheese-honey, cheese-jam, and cheese-chili Tasali.
Location: Head to your nearest baqala.
