The Sophisticated Burgers of GBK

Riyadh is fast becoming the burger capital of Saudi Arabia. I swear! There are so many restaurants serving burgers as their main fare in this city that they're sprouting one after the other faster than we can say "Burgerrr!" Or "Fries!" And most of them have been banking on the organic trend. This is not just fast food burger anymore where everything is prepared and done before the stores even open. This is gourmet burger where the once instant sandwich becomes carefully crafted and sophisticated.

Burger and sophistication? That's one pair you don't get to see every day. After all, we've always seen burgers as fast food. So let me introduce you to Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a restaurant that originated in New Zealand serving innovative and exotic burger combinations made by chef Peter Gordon. The Gourmet Burger Kitchen in Riyadh has been open since October 2012. Why are we just discovering this now?!

Welcome to GBK!

Anyway, we finally got to try Gourmet Burger Kitchen two weeks ago. We've always thought that this store located at the end of Tahlia Street (near the meeting point with Dabab Street) is still under construction. Apparently, it's already open. We came at an inconvenient time, just 45 minutes before salah. Too bad, they usher guests out during prayer time. But then again, being used to our social lives revolving around the prayer times, we indulge the harried but apologetic manager (I was tempted to tell him, "Relax ka lang kuyaaa...") and ordered fast even if we were having a hard time choosing from the menu of burger varieties that were new to us.

Sleek, minimalist interiors

Love the glass walls and the sunshine that pours forth.

A friend ordered the fries with chili con carne and cheese which turned out to be the best chili fries we've ever had in Riyadh. I mean, I haven't had many chili fries in this city but this one has a taste that we couldn't get enough of. It has the authentic taste of the spicy stew down pat (I mean as authentic as my tempered Pinoy palate can identify with).

The Case of Pancakes

This is The Pancake House I've always known:

Orange interiors, warm lighting, comfort food

For our non-Filipino readers, this is Pancake House in Manila. It serves mouthwatering plain and flavored pancakes and waffles. They're also the best in my book for comfort food. I long for their chicken, spaghetti, and taco combo we used to have for lunch in the old work place. When I received bad news in 2009, I remembered sitting in Pancake House, Pasong Tamo and munching on chocolate chip pancakes to tide away the sadness. It is the ultimate comfort food place!

I was overjoyed when I heard Pancake House is opening in Riyadh. The joy proved to be short-lived because it wasn't the Pancake House I was expecting. It was a different Pancake House but since it still serves pancakes, my friends and I decided to give it a try. We might discover another wonderful brunch place!

This is The Pancake House in Riyadh...
(disclaimer: it's NOT related to Pancake House in Manila)

Soft-hued walls, bright natural lighting, comfort food

Just a reminder before I go on: the entrance of the family section is at the back. It's not the door beside the entrance to the bachelor's. That's the door to the kitchen. I know because I made the mistake of opening it and coming face-to-face with the stunned chef and kitchen staff. LOL.

I love the simple and elegant scheme in this restaurant's interiors. Our welcome committee of enticing photos did not help our hunger... just look at that pancakes smeared with chocolate! How could you give us tooth ache just by looking at you?! Haha. We were surprised to find The Pancake House full in the morning. We nearly fought our way to a table that was already reserved to us but someone claimed as hers. Being the nice people that we are, we just gave way. We didn't want to ruin our morning for because of people who didn't know what a reservation is. Anyway, the glass walls that welcomed sun rays in the morning creating this very homey, sunny vibe helped in making us giddy and happy again. The well-lit dining place was perfect for my food photos! 

Natural lighting FTW!

The decorations are not that frivolous. The soft light blue wall and chair cushions contrast nicely with the browns and whites.

On to the food... a good thing is they serve breakfast all day long and they serve their non-breakfast items all day long too! All their dishes are available all day long! So, we got the following:

Stack 'em!

Of course, this is the pancake house so we ordered... pancakes! We expected more from this because well, this is the Pancake House. However, we were disappointed. The stack is fluffy and ample but they actually don't taste like buttermilk pancakes. Did our taste buds go wrong? It tasted more like bread. No amount of butter and maple syrup salvaged this. So we went to the next dish...

LOADED!

I can't finish an omelet by myself. I tend to share but since eating a piece of this omelet, I wanted to snatch this away from my friends and keep it. Yes, talk about being a generous friend. Haha. My friends didn't seem to mind because they were contemplating on ordering another one. The omelet was savory and had a serious amount of steak bits, unlike other omelets we've tried where the eggs took the center stage and back. This omelet is loaded with ingredients bursting the thin layer of fried egg wrapping it.

Mr. Smiley, I need to eat you. Sorrrrry!

How cute is this? If you have this smiling back at you, are you still willing to eat it? Do you have the heart to wolf it down? We did. Unfortunately, it's still food so we cut it up and took hearty bites (sorry smiley!). This waffle is thin, crispy, and light. It's not the usual waffle I know. I kindda thought waffles use the same batter of pancakes but are shaped differently, haha. It's good but I'm not really fond of airy waffles. And please, I want more bacon with this. :)

We wanted to try a non-breakfast food so we ordered their sampler consisting of quesadillas, onion rings, and calamari. 

Crunchy, saucy, lovely.

Our favorites!

We like everything on this plate. The rings are crispy and tasty; the quesadilla was savory.

A wonder-full cup of cappuccino.

Overall, I like the food and setting in The Pancake House. I wish it doesn't get too filled with people though so I can enjoy a quiet morning. (This is my selfish side speaking so please ignore.) I also wish they improve their pancakes after all, it is The Pancake House. (I just have to point out the obvious redundantly, haha!) It's nothing near Pancake House in Manila but it's all right. I think I can live with this version. Besides, I have yet to try a lot of items in the menu.And I want to take more photos. Their natural lighting is beautiful, did I tell you that already? :D

The Pancake House

King Fahd Road

(near NCB and Kingdom Tower)

T: 01-2016816

§undrenched

The Chichi of Tao

Whatever happened to our food posts?! We did not stop going out and eating (who does?). We just stopped writing.

I'm gonna pick up the pen for us again. Sorry, are you getting tired of my writing? Apologies. The other tarhas are busy with career changes, events, vacation, and personal issues. That is not to say I'm not busy too. I'm just not too busy, I guess. Haha. Okay, so what will I bring you this time? I've had it with cupcakes but there are still cupcake stores opening in the city. I saw Kitsch in Tahlia and a Cupcake Shop in King Abdullah Road. Yes, it's literally called "Cupcake". Gee, I wonder what they will sell. :) Will have to get back to you on those. I'm not still over with desserts, of course. And if there's one thing that caught my fancy and attention in that department over the last few months, it's the peanut butter ice cream of Tao Lounge.

Okay, let me back track a little. Sampaguita Pride and I went out for dinner days before her vacation in the Philippines and we went to this restaurant called Tao in Tahlia. You might not have seen this but it's there. Just look for a massive sculpture of something that look like an arm, a microphone, trophy, or er, well... a phallic symbol. I swear I did not think of the last one first upon seeing that silvery thing in the middle of a boxy building. I didn't even think that was Tao until I saw this thin neon sign with stars that say "tao" in cursive. Ohkay. How are they related? Mind you, I wore my best abaya, like our dinner in L'Entrecote, for this because the place is 'reservations only.'

I felt like a socialite when I stepped inside. The place screams 'sosyal' and I would have reverted to the conyo-tic English if not for P. This is an English teacher in front of me, what was I thinking?! Hihi. If Riyadh have socialites, then they probably visit Tao Lounge and Restaurant. The place is stylish, chic, elegant, and trendy (thus the "chichi" in the title). There were couches perfect for friends gossiping and hobnobbing and smaller tables for couples on dates. Huge curtains separate the spaces. P and I were led to a small, intimate table for two (we were just on a friendly date, lol). There were soft lights around in shades of purple, pink, blue, yellow. I looked at the menu and gawked at the prices. A maki platter was SR62! Seriously? A pasta with no meat is SR67?! On to the foodography:

Have you seen a green and orange bread? :D

The fab trio of dips for the multi-colored bread (olives, herbed butter, tuna)

California Tao Roll, SR62

This is one of my fave makis ever but still, why so expensive?!

Penne tossed in cream and pesto sauce, SR67

Some green cocktail infused with fruit juices

The SPA: pineapple, kiwi, orange, watermelon

Oreo mousse... we like it. :)

Let me summarize the food experience as this: delicious but expensive. And I honestly think I will only go back to the place if I'm not the one paying for it.

Until the peanut butter ice cream came. It gave the meal a delightful perspective. Let me first say that I am not a fan of imported Peanut Butter. I dislike Goody. I dislike peanut butter that are salty. I'm all for the sweet, oily variety we have in the Philippines. Lily's FTW! So anyway, I was hesitant to order the peanut butter ice cream for the fear of wasting my SR30 for it. But you know what, it's one of the best spent SR30 ever. 

The highlight of our meal

This ice cream is sooo peanut buttery! I cannot even explain it nicely so I will explain it without logic. Tao probably took a bottle of peanut butter and placed it inside the freezer. Then they took it out to melt a little, whipped it, and voila! Peanut butter ice cream with the added mmmmm! It is really, really good. It's my favorite kind of peanut butter ice cream and that's saying a lot because they might have used imported salty peanut butter on this one. Yummy!

How chichi!

I got caught in nostalgia with the ice cream I mainly forgot I paid over SR300 for the entire meal for two. (I have no regrets though because I was in good company.)

And Tao's comfort room got me with its honeysuckle paint and mirrors all over. Can you say vanity?! 

Mirrors all over. Self-LOVE! Lol.

Made for the Pink Tarha! :P

I will probably be back in Tao for the ice cream. But then again, I'm not a socialite (in other words, I cannot afford this indulgence) so it's safe to wander to other restaurants for now.

Dans Le Coin Français

There was once a time when a corner in Dabab Street, Sulaimania attracted the attention of diners. In there you'll find one of the best French bakeshop and restaurant in Riyadh. People flock to eat authentic French dishes and buy French pastries and bread too. Nowadays, it's mostly ignored because it's overtaken by the more known French restaurants in the city. But for me, I couldn't ignore this place because 1. it's near our flat and this is my landmark when I ride the taxi (Saddiq, malloum French Corner?), 2. I actually like the food, and 3. I get to enjoy the solitude of eating in a place na parang akin lang yung lugar.

French Corner is a French restaurant and bakeshop that sits in a busy but small intersection in Suleimania. At first, you wouldn't really notice it unless you're looking for the blue and red sign reminiscent of the flag of France. But of course! I usually go there for the bread and pastries. I like their cheesecake but its rather dry pero pwede na. I also like their muffins and marjolaine, a dessert cake. I've tried their chocolates too but they're too sweet for my taste. The handmade caramel ice cream is good and I was tempted to try the sorbets. I even tried their sandwich. Anyway, it's the restaurant that I visited recently so...

The dining place for families is located on the second floor. Once there, you'll feel that the place was somewhat abandoned. There are no regular patrons and the decorations are sparse. The tables were set-up though. During the time I went with friends, I felt like we own the place. 

All by ourselves... :)

Well, at least the tables are ready.

We were alone and we have a butler waiter waiting for our orders. Just ours. We took the table by the window and perused their menu with excitement. I mean, I don't know anything about French dishes aside from the fact that they're hard to read and pronounce. Lol.

Free bread and butter

The bread comes to the table warm but a little bit hard. When eaten with butter alone, it doesn't have any astounding difference to other bread we've had in steakhouses. It's a better pair to the soup.

Bisque de langouste a' notre facon (lobster bisque), SR16

Soupe a L'oignon Parisienne (french onion soup with cheese toast), SR16

Sige, kayo na ang mahirap i-pronounce! :P We enjoyed the bisque more because the onion soup was runny and bland.

Croustillant de saumon et crevettes beurre de vanille, SR42

We're not sure how the French eat but this is part of their appetizer menu. This is salmon and shrimps in crispy paste pan-fried vanilla butter sauce. Looks good enough for dinner to me, especially with that rice. This is good. It's creamy and the shrimps are nicely plump. However, I haven't tasted this hard to pronounce dish anywhere else so I have no comparison.

Ravioli Amandine, SR38

This is ravioli stuffed with salmon and shrimps served with lobster bisque gratined. It's delicious but order this keeping "sharing" in mind. Nakakasuya (cloying) s'ya when you finish this on your own. It has huge chunks of salmon, which is different from other restos scrimping on them.

French Corner Mixed Grilled, SR48

Consisting of chicken, steak, lamb chops, sausages, we enjoyed their huge plate of mixed grilled meats plus fries... even if we're not sure how French this is. Lol. The meats are juicy but a little bit torched much.

Overall, the dinner experience in French Corner is fine. Nothing elaborate or fancy. It's a good place if you value your privacy so much and you just want to talk with your friends. A good wine will be welcome, lol. Just kidding. While its true that you won't really go out your way to dine here, it might be worth it if you want to enjoy the French cuisine without the usual fanfare of restaurants with too many waiters and diners. This is one simple, private dinner you'll probably enjoy once in a while.

French Corner

Dabab St., Suleimania

Riyadh, KSA

T: 01-4645322

The House That Noodle Built

Lunchtime at The Pink Tarha office...

Sundrenched: What will we have for lunch?
Eyecandy: Hmmmm...
S: What?
E: The Noodle House! (said with much enthusiasm, it was scary)
S: You've been eating at The Noodle House for days. For DAYS!
E: Yeah, but I want their Pad Thai.
S: They don't deliver!
E: Let's call in our orders and I will go and get it!
S: You'll go alone, I'm busy. (ignoring her ridiculous suggestion)
E: Sure!
S: At Centria Mall which is 15 minutes away?! (looking at her with my "you're joking right?!" look)
E: Yes!
S: With an SR30 round-trip fare for your taxi? (looking incredulously at E because really, it is incredulous!)
E: YES!
S: Hmmmmn...
E: Hmmmmn...
(By this time, we're already perusing the online menu. Two minutes later, we're calling in our orders, 30 minutes later, we're eating my chicken satay and E's pad thai for some seriously late lunch.)

This is how crazy E is for The Noodle House!

Before that lunch, E has been gorging on Asian food from The Noodle House for a period of two three many weeks. Her craving (obsession?!) for The Noodle House is relentless and unwavering, like a fire that is too hot to handle... or extinguish.

I am also enthusiastic about The Noodle House, but not as unbelievably ENTHUSIASTIC as E. I volunteered to write this entry because I'm sure E won't be able to come up with an entry that will not use all the good English adjectives in the Dictionary to describe the gustatory delights you'll find in this restaurant. She'll be lamenting on the fact that even those descriptions are not enough. An intervention is needed for that woman's obsession! Lol.

Anyway, I couldn't also come up with paragraphs to chronicle our The Noodle House eaxperiences (because they're quite a few) so here's a photo entry of our The Noodle House affair.

Ordering is as simple as this Order Pad (note the cute "noodle" pens).

You just have to check what you like, tear the menu paper from the bundle, and give it to the waiter. Here's the downloadable version. The prices are rather steep for a portion good for 2 but dishes are delicious so we throw caution to the wind, every time.

Prawn Mango Rolls

Prawn Bags and Chili Sauce
Crystal Shrimp Dumplings
Black Scallop and Prawn Hacau

Fruit shakes
Sun Spot Orange, cranberry juices with melon syrup
Asian Four Season mango, pineapple, kiwi juices with strawberry puree
Frozen Punch mango, pineapple, orange juices with greandine and strawberry puree

Fruit shake and dimsum: a rather odd combination
Singapore Noodles with Chicken and Prawns

Pad Thai with Prawns, Tofu, and Ground Peanuts
Eyecandy's favorite!

Egg bits, peanuts, and chili flakes to compliment the Pad Thai

Yang Chow Fried Rice

Singaporean Black Pepper Beef

Crab Fried Rice with Soft-shell Crab

Singapore-Style Roasted Duck

Mu shu wrapper
A fun way to eat the roasted duck is to put duck pieces, a few veggie sticks, and a generous amount of the sauce in this warmed wrapper and roll them ala lumpia. Yummy!

The 4 condiments
We love these four little jars of green chili, red chili, garlic, and chili+ginger because we can customize our food according to our taste. E likes extra hot while I go for moderate.

Fried Ice Cream
Hot on the outside, cool in the inside. Perfect palate sensation!

I cannot find the perfect words to describe each but we love all the dishes!!! Thanks to the Indonesian chef of The Noodle House who really knows what he's cooking. You might wonder why there's less noodles in there when we're talking about "the house that noodles built." Well, they only have a few selection of wet noodles and wok-friend noodles and we like the "dry" noodles more. Also, hindi pa kami tapos! Lol. We have more photos! Second entry on The Noodle House is on its way!

Just a disclaimer, we didn't eat ALL of the dishes you see in this entry in one night. We came back again and again so uh, that's the reason why looking at their menu, we can already cross out most of the dishes offered. We've tried almost everything!

Also, we apologize for any craving that this post is creating in your stomach right now. What's for your lunch? :P

It's a Dip in Ketchup

I've never been to a restaurant in this city that gave me a feeling that I'll never return to it again. Most of the time, even if the food is not that great, I still give it a chance because a. the staff is nice and b. the ambiance is good for long conversations, which I really, really like having when I'm out with my family and friends (esp. the co-Pink Tarha ladies). Newly-opened Ketchup in Tahalia Street is a different story.

When I first saw Ketchup, I was smitten. The red ambiance inside, glowing into the night and into the street where I was standing waiting for my father to pick me up was like a beckoning lighthouse. I was so intrigued I suggested the other ladies to try it out as soon as possible. I guess that suggestion was the biggest mistake I ever made as a PT lady. Blah.

Entering the restaurant was like entering a posh bar in Los Angeles. After all, Ketchup originated there and it's one of the hippest places after being seen in the series, The Hills. Imagine, celebrity sighting, woot! But that is in Los Angeles. This is Riyadh.


Anyway, when we got upstairs (family section), the receptionist asked if we have a reservation. We told him none (sorry, we didn't know it was a must). He asked us, quite rudely, to go downstairs again. Er, excuse me? Why go downstairs again when we're already upstairs? It's not as if we'll gonna be kicked out because the place that time was quiet and empty. Then he probably realized what a waste of time it'll be and he asked us instead to sit in the "bar" area. He went down, not before he gave us a haughty look. Ooohkay... When he returned, he beckoned us to this small table for four near the stairs in the middle of the area. We were disappointed because the sofa and chairs (ergo, the more beautiful setup) near the glass walls overlooking the street are all empty. We wanted to sit there! But of course, we understood because those seats were already reserved. We didn't reserve after all. What we didn't understand was that almost all those tables and chairs remained empty the entire time we were there! More on this later.

The interiors and lighting, which attracted me to the restaurant proved to be more beautiful, almost dramatic, inside. I particularly love the Heinz bottles lights dangling from the ceiling.


The white furniture are modern and elegant. The vibe is sophisticated and cool. The red lighting is amazing at first because it is indeed unique in this setting but it got boring and tiring to the eyes after a while. I couldn't even see the true color of my food. I can seriously feel a migraine coming (even if I haven't suffered from one, ever).

The restrooms hidden in large tomato structures are cool though, even the bar which is the first to greet us upstairs is inviting. Of course, no liquor available (how many times do I have to tell you that in our resto reviews?! Lol!) On to the food...

Free bread sticks

Fries tossed in parmesan and white truffle oil and Calamari

We started our meal with some fries and squid rings which were both tasty. They were served with some Ketchup on the side. We had high expectations of the glorified condiment. After all, the restaurant is named after it. Hmn, we didn't find anything extraordinary with the ketchup variants served. That, or maybe our taste buds aren't so gourmet.

I ordered a chicken dish. Two girl friends followed suit.

Shake N' Bake, one of their bestsellers
Pistachio-crusted chicken breast, mushroom gravy, garlic mash, sauteed baby vegetables
BBQ Chicken
Ketchup's original BBQ sauced chicken breast, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, grilled corn
Hawaiian Chicken
With fancy rice, pineapple bits, and baby veggies
Chicken dishes are SR50-SR65 each.

I personally enjoyed my Hawaiian chicken. The white meat was soft and the flavor of the pineapple bits sweetened the viand nicely. It complemented the rice too. Our friends enjoyed their dishes too. The Shake n' Bake was really unusual. It's crisp on the outside but the chicken meat inside was very delectable. Eyecandy ordered this:

The Burger, SR52

Eyecandy loved her burger that she's been cutting the tender Angus beef patty delicately. She still remembers the savory taste up to now.

We also had some refreshing fruity shakes and mocktails.

Strawberry Shake
Mango Orange Shake
Peach Soda
Shakes and special drinks are at SR20+

We were soon liking the place because of our main courses. Ketchup really took the American cuisine (even plain comfort food) to a whole new level. Hmn, except that we're eating in tables which is way too small for four. Not too comfortable. Our immaculate square plates (very one-of-a-kind I must say) didn't fit.

Now, time for dessert... the sweetest part of the meal... not in Ketchup! We ordered the banana bread pudding and New York cheesecake. We were so excited to try them when our waiter informed us that he canceled our orders because the chef is giving us a complimentary chocolate cake. We didn't know what to feel; happy because there's free dessert or irritated because our waiter suddenly canceled our orders without even asking us. Don't you think it's more polite to inform us about the free cake and then first ask us if we want to continue with our order of other desserts than canceling them right away?! Granted that we cannot finish everything in our table, what if we're doing a review like this and wanted to try other items? And our friend who hosted this dinner (thank you!) wanted to taste the cheesecake badly. We're so disappointed that even the free fudgy chocolate cake could not salvage this experience.

Add that to the fact that the elegant, beautiful sofa and chair setups remained vacant until we finished our meal. That's roughly more than two hours, and no one arrived to take their 'reserved' seats. We asked for the bill hurriedly and left the place without looking back. We decided to go to Sahara Mall to liven up our spirits.

Don't get me wrong, Ketchup's food is delicious but if we only want good food, then we could have gone to other restaurants that offer them at more affordable prices. Sure, this is one posh American franchise but the uptight and sort of discriminatory ambiance ruined the experience for us. Their soft opening stage should not be a reason for this kind of service. It's all the more reason to put their best foot forward!

The Pink Tarha ladies are simple ladies who just enjoy good food and hearty laughter. We're not some social climbers who are maarte (different from being kikay ;) and high-maintenance, and we rarely complain of the restos we've featured. After all, we look at the brighter, lighter side of things. If Ketchup is for the higher class, it sure did rub it in (ouch!). Ketchup did re-create the LA social scene vibe, congratulations! Thank you for making us realize that we are not comfortable with that vibe, nor with that kind of crowd. Sigh, I do apologize to my friends for even suggesting we dine in Ketchup. (It's very important to have friends who are very much fun to be with so you can just ignore the bad experience and still enjoy dinner and the moments in between.)

§undrenched

PS. This dining experience happened a month ago. We hope the resto improved (a lot) since then. Give us your feedback if you've eaten here. For those who want to eat in Ketchup, reserve! Maybe they'll be nicer.