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.
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| 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!
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| 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. ;)
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| Welcome to the land of cakes and candies and chocolates and so much more!!! |
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| The cake display... look at that gorgeous "fruit cake"! |
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| Ooooooh, so chocolatey! |
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| Did I mention there are a LOT of choices? |
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| If you can't decide what to order, grab these slices first. |
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| Eclairs and tarts |
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| Chilled desserts |
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| More chilled desserts! Haha! Ice cream you scream? Here yah go! |
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| And if you can't decide what flavor to have? Go for the ice pops! |
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| And hey, the sweets never ran out. Chocolates!!! |
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| Perfect for gifts. |
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| Are you nuts for nuts?! |
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| 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
