Seafood boil is huge in certain parts of the world right including in the Middle East and then more specifically in Saudi Arabia too. This is evident on social media as well as via the success of Shrimp Nation. They have numerous branches up and down the country including Makkah and Madinah making it convenient for pilgrims who are traveling there for that purpose. It makes for a nice special evening communal meal. Highly recommended.
Seafood boil
The seafood boil is a concept that originated from the southern region of the USA. It takes a variety of seafood items, smothers them in delicious sauces and spices, spreads them in the middle of the table for a group to devour. This makes for a unique communal and fun meal. It’s something unique to the western idea of eating, but I wouldn’t say it’s unique for the eastern world. China for example has the hot pot, which is a communal affair and the Middle East has meat and rice dishes (e.g. kabsa and mandi) that are commonly eaten in the same manner.
Shrimp Nation Madinah
We visited the Shrimp Nation branch in Madinah while we were there. It is about a 15-20 minute drive away from the Masjid. In this review we’ll talk about the food first and then other supplementary matters.
The food first. The menu is straight forward. You pick the seafood items you want in the mix; you choose from shrimp, lobster, crab, fish stick, mussel or you can get a mix. Then you choose the sauce; shrimp nation, butter and garlic, lemon pepper, or white cheesy. And then there’s some side dishes to choose from too. We went a shrimp basket with the shrimp nation sauce. The shrimps are well sized and generously smothered in the sauce. You also get plain white rice to have the seafood with. Three of us shared one basket and it was a comfortable share, so a decent amount for 2-3 people. The shrimps were super saucy and there was a nice amount of garlic in the sauce too, which I loved. My wife did mention that she felt the sauce was a little too salty – could’ve been seasoned less. This was our first seafood boil experience and we were definitely impressed. Definitely will be seeking out more similar experiences in the future.
Check out their full menu here.
The supplementary matters that we’ll discuss are the setting of the restaurant (privacy and no music), the service and the overall experience.
The setting
The setting was super impressive. Saudi Arabia is quite possibly one of the most conservative Muslim countries. Even though they seem to be moving away from that lifestyle/image slowly, there’s still a large proportion of the restaurants sticking true to their origins and culture. Which I love. Being a Muslim, I can easily come from the Islamic perspective, but even from a cultural perspective, I feel a country should be proud of their culture, origin and way of life. And they shouldn’t change or want to change to fit in with, to imitate or to make happy another nation or people. Otherwise everyone and every country in the world would be the same. Where’s the fun in that? There are two cultural attributes of eateries in Saudi Arabia that are distinctive from every other country in the world. 1. The family section – restaurants have two entrances and two sections; one for single males and one for families and females. This gives families and women the comfort to eat and socialise out. Family sections used to be further divided into small booths for complete privacy, but this is slowly dying away (as is the family section unfortunately). And 2. Closed for prayer – this isn’t the exclusive to eateries of course, but I love how everything closes when prayer time comes in. Whether Muslim or not, how can you not appreciate the importance placed on abandoning everything, turning to the creator, praying and supplicating to Him.
That’s a little background, now back to Shrimp Nation. They have a family section and within that family section they have booths! Love it! Complete privacy and elite level comfort. When we walked in, the restaurant was empty so we thought oh no, but actually it was busy – what it was was families were actually dining in their booths. Another bonus of the setting was that there was no music. Again something hard to find these days especially with such a big franchise restaurant. I want to go to a restaurant to eat, talk and enjoy someone’s company. If I wanted to listen to music and party, I would’ve gone to a pub or club. I never understood the concept of music (or extremely loud music) in restaurants.
The service
The service was amazing. They would knock and wait before entering the booth. Once ordered, our food came out in no time. And whenever we needed anything they were prompt. Couldn’t fault it to be honest.
The overall experience was excellent. If you’re in Madinah, I’d definitely advise coming out here for a nice evening meal. It’s something different, it’s a little special, and the overall communal dining experience is so wholesome. Something that we all should do more often.
