When you’re in Saudi Arabia for Umrah or just for tourism, you’re eventually going to be wondering and seeking to try authentic Saudi Arabian food. Now, this needs to be divided into two categories: authentic Saudi commercial food and Saudi home food. By commercial food I mean the food that is readily available in Saudi Arabia regardless of which city you are in and is consumed by residents of all nationalities, and by the home food I mean the dishes that are essentially had by the Saudis at home, made by the mother and is extremely rare and difficult to find in a restaurant. This post is going to focus on the commercial food because that is what Al Romansiah is famous for. Read on to find out more.
Authentic Saudi Arabian commercial food
As mentioned in the introduction, the authentic food in this country can be home cooked dishes (e.g. Saleeq) or the more readily available commercial dishes. These are dishes that can be found easily around the country and in fact every neighbourhood in every city will have at least one spot that specialises in these dishes. What are the dishes? Essentially, it is the Kabsa. A flavoured rice and chicken/meat dish. The orange/yellow rice is what distinguishes this from its alternatives. You’ll even find spots that do chicken or meat with a choice of kabsa rice, Bukhari rice or biryani rice. At these kabsa restaurants you’ll also find other meat and rice dishes such as the famous Yemeni Mandi, our personal favourite the Madhbi (charcoal grilled chicken on rice), Shawaya chicken (they translate it to BBQ chicken, but it’s more in between grilled and roast) and the more adventurous Hashi (which is baby camel on Mandi rice).
Al Romansiah
Saudi Arabia is full of Kabsa restaurants and Bukhari restaurants, that do my favourite dish – charcoal grilled chicken on rice. Bukhari restaurants are usually a bit more rustic and run down and usually only cater for men to dine in only. The Bukhari rice tastes different to the Mandi/Kabsa rice, but what differentiates the two for me is the charcoal grilled chicken. I always felt the Bukhari restaurants grill it that much more, they take it right to its limit and that almost burnt taste really does it for me. Nonetheless, the Saudi Arabian kabsa restaurants are more refined and polished affairs. They have private booths for families to sit in making it a more welcoming affair. Al Romansiah is quite easily the most famous Kabsa restaurant. They have numerous branches around the Kingdom as well as in Bahrain. And if you’re in Saudi Arabia for Umrah, they have a branch right near the Masjid Al Haram. Unfortunately, their menu is a limited one there and it is more of an express tourist version of the restaurant as opposed to the proper full restaurant. They didn’t have the Kabsa, Madhbi nor the Hashi on this branch’s menu when we went.
What to try
You have to try our favourite dish: the Madhbi. Charcoal grilled chicken on rice sounds simple, but it is an absolute crowd pleaser for a reason. I’d also recommend you try the Hashi here too. Hashi is baby camel and it is usually served on Mandi rice. This is a unique delicacy to try when in Saudi Arabia and Al Romansiah is one of the best places to try it at. Unfortunately, the express branch in Makkah doesn’t actually have these two dishes. So, go for the Shawaya chicken (which is close to the Madhbi) and the Mandi (a super popular meat and rice dish in the Gulf) if you’re dining here. And for dessert you have to go for their Kunafa. This is the traditional way to end a Kabsa meal (I include madhbi, mandi etc when I say kabsa meal).
Ibrahim Al Khalil Road
I love the road names here in Saudi Arabia. There is so much history in them themselves. So, I felt mentioning a thing or two about them would be beneficial for us all. So, this extremely famous road in Makkah is the one that essentially leads to the Grand Mosque, named Masjid al-Haram. Who is Ibrahim Al Khalil? It is referring to prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), who is considered the father of all monotheistic religions as all the major religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) attribute him to their religion. This is aptly named because prophet Ibrahim along with his son, Ishmael, are the two who built the Ka’bah (basically where this road leads to now).
Getting there (Makkah express branch)
Google Maps Location link: click here
