Saadeddin's Golden Plates of Excellence

I had three cakes during three separate celebrations on my birthday week. Guess where my cakes came from? Better yet, guess what it is... because it was the same kind of cake all throughout.

WE LOVE THIS CHEESECAKE!!! Notice the "golden plate"? It's more than just color.

Yes, blueberry cheesecake from Saadeddin Pastry! It's the most popular kind of cake among expats. I hardly understood the fascination until I had my first spoonful of this creamy cheesecake. It tasted like ref cake! Haha! Which is a good thing. It has thin layers of chiffon and I really like the crumbly crust. It's not too sweet too, a characteristic of most cakes found in Arabic bakeshops here in Riyadh.

I visited the Saadeddin Pastry in Thalateen Street the other day and was surprised to see so many products on display. In my four years in Riyadh, I think this is the first time I'm setting foot inside a Saadeddin store (not counting the kiosks they have in Granada Mall and Kingdom Mall's food courts). I was amazed with the displays of cakes, ice cream, nuts, chocolates, and lots and lots of desserts. What a sweet store!

One of the branches in Riyadh is located in Thalateen Street.

Saadedddin started in 1935 in Akka City in Palestine. It now has over 50 branches throughout Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Saadeddin's golden rule of striving to offer the best products and services to its customer has made it one of the leading bakeshops in Saudi Arabia. Their passion for excellence is symbolized by the "golden plates" they use for their cakes. The golden plates don't only talk of finely-made, high-quality products but also of the excellent taste of Saadeddin in giving their consumers a classic and elegant way to show off their bought goodies. Saadeddin also successfully brought Arabic and Western desserts together in one store.

Saadeddin Pastry offers a lot of products from cakes to chocolates to coffee to nuts to ice creams to pasta... they're overwhelming! If you come to their store with no particular product in mind, you'll find yourself yourself staring for minutes and asking "what's this? what's that?" and undergoing a major case of indecision. (I know I did!)

Because I'm hardly familiar with Arabic desserts, here is another photo dump for you. Don't blame me if you suddenly want to grab a box of their luscious cakes and a tub of their ice cream rolls. ;)

Welcome to the land of cakes and candies and chocolates and so much more!!!

The cake display... look at that gorgeous "fruit cake"!

Ooooooh, so chocolatey!

Did I mention there are a LOT of choices?

If you can't decide what to order, grab these slices first.

Eclairs and tarts

Chilled desserts

More chilled desserts! Haha! Ice cream you scream? Here yah go!

And if you can't decide what flavor to have? Go for the ice pops!

And hey, the sweets never ran out. Chocolates!!!

Perfect for gifts.

Are you nuts for nuts?!  

Ready for take-out; and Arabic pastries too.

I also took one of their fliers and was bombarded with gorgeous photos of Arabic pastries like Baklava (honey/syrup soaked layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts), different kinds of Kunafa (syrup soaked cheese pastry), assorted Mamoul (small shortbread filled with dates, pistachios, and other nuts), Qatayef (sweet dumpling filled cream and nuts), Dates pies, and assorted sandwiches. The choices are endless and I want to taste them all!!! But alas, with all the sweet stuff in there to taste and try, I'll probably go out a diabetic. But hey, a little sweet now and then can't hurt, right? ;)

Saadeddin Pastry has five branches in Riyadh and they have an active Facebook account, which hopefully introduces an English translation of their status updates so we, expats who can't read Arabic, can understand. ;)

What's your favorite from Saadeddin Pastry? Can you recommend so I can trim down my list of cakes and pastries and chocolates and nuts and ice cream to try? :) ~ Sundrenched

Saadeddin Pastry
Click for branches here (maps included).
T: +920017070
www.saadeddin.com

A Photo A Day 12

The Pink Tarha is on a break. We're having an ice cream break from the heat!

Riyadh is one big oven during summer. Our A/Cs have been cranked up to the highest level... They'll probably break down any minute now. We are taking refuge in food. Cold food.

Ice cream anyone?

The most accessible ice cream brand to us is Cone Zone. Can you guess what flavors make the Pink Tarha ladies squeal in delight? The scoops in the photo are four different flavors and we all like them. Mary and Sundrenched particularly like what Eyecandy calls the "toothpaste ice cream"... mint choco chip! Lol. Too bad, the Cone Zone branch near us doesn't offer it anymore that's why it's not in the photo. There's always a good sub though. Guess, guess! :)

Oh okay, after this, we're taking a breather in posting food photos too because Ramadan starts tomorrow. Our Muslim friends will be fasting. To non-Muslim Filipinos, please refrain from eating in public. (This is the perfect time to go on a diet mode.) Check our expat's guide to Ramadan.

RAMADAN KAREEM!

Craving for Ice Cream

It's been a while since we did a food post. The ladies are so into Steaky that that's where they've been eating since they found the place. So we backtracked a little into food posts that we forgot to share with you. I'm sharing you some cold treats perfect for the nearing summer days.

When it comes to ice cream, Häagen-Dazs is the premium brand - one of the finest kind. While cruising along Tahlia street one evening, my friends and I decided to enter the Häagen-Dazs Cafe after a hearty dinner in Sushi Yoshi. This was before the winter season. It's pretty hot that night and we wanted something sweet and cold to cap our celebratory night.

Good thing, the Häagen-Dazs Cafe in Tahlia has a family section, and we were the only customers during that time so all the servers' attention was on us. We were so engrossed in our stories that we did not pay attention to what each one ordered. Instead of ordering one ice cream scoop for each, we ordered one ice cream DISH per person! We were speechless when our orders arrived:

Summertime Cone, 22 SR
A scoop of strawberry cheesecake and a scoop of strawberry ice cream nested in a large wafer cone with a mix of fresh strawberries and bananas. Served with strawberry sauce and whipped cream.

Crepe Sundae, 18 SR
A freshly-baked hot crepe with a scoop of Haagen Dazs ice cream and a topping of your choice.

Brownie Special, 24 SR
Chocolate fudge brownie with a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of cookies and cream topped with hot chocolate fudge sauce and whipped cream.

You'd probably think we're a bunch of people having major cravings for ice cream and sweet stuff but no, we're only three ladies. My friend asked, "How on earth are we supposed to finish all this?" Uh, good question! Considering that this is ice cream and taking this out is not an option. Nevertheless, we tried. I think we spent a good deal of two hours on that place. The first 30 minutes was spent on devouring the ice cream and the remaining hours for eating up the waffles, crepe, fruits, and brownies while swapping stories. It's a good thing everything was delicious albeit expensive! But what can you expect from an ice cream loaded with the finest and purest ingredients? Yum, yum!

We planned on walking in Tahlia St. to burn off what we just ate but when we went out, we were faced with too many guys dining al fresco on the nearby cafes and restaurants. We were too scared to take our chance so we just hailed a cab and went home with very very full stomachs. We vowed to order just one ice cream dish when we go back... or our original idea of a scoop each person.

Go to Häagen-Dazs to satisfy your insatiable ice cream craving! My fave flavor would be the chocolate chip cookie dough. What's your fave ice cream flavor?

§undrenched

From Tokyo to Riyadh

I hope you've enjoyed our food trips so far, evident in our recent posts. But then there's more...

If you're in search for great Japanese food, this is a must-visit place: Tokyo Restaurant.

Resto's facade complete with the Japanese lanterns and curtains

Located along Al-Orouba Street, Tokyo Restaurant offers great Japanese food at reasonable prices without sacrificing taste.

A group of six can eat comfortably here

Salad and miso soup for appetizers

Their Bento Box is my favorite. It's a taste of everything in one meal. It consists of mainly the basics of a bento: chicken and fish teriyaki, shrimp, fish and vegetable tempura, sashimi, potato balls (koroke), omelette, tofu (varies depending on which day you come), rice, sauces and pickles. This 'little of everything' goes a long way. It is now a common ritual to take pictures first before eating, which takes a great amount of self-control specially if the food looks this good.

The Bento

What better way to conclude a sumptuous meal but with ice cream! But this is no ordinary ice cream. The flavor? Green Tea. Yes, you read it right. In-house green tea ice cream topped with sweet mung beans. The color is quite enticing in itself. Yum!

I scream for green!

Tea or me? Tea siyempre.

So if you're looking for a Japanese Restaurant that's better than the fast food offerings, visit this place and you'll be satisfied with the good food and great service. Onaka ga suita. Sayonara :)