The scent of bakhoor incense mixed with the smell of freshly baked bread wafts through the dining room of Aseil restaurant, Jeddah’s “go-to” establishment for authentic Saudi food.
On the northwest corner of Prince Sultan and Prince Saud Al-Faisal roads in the Rawdah district, Aseil, which literally means “authentic” in Arabic, offers traditional food and includes a wide range of dishes from the Najd and Hijaz regions.
A server wearing the traditional Saudi thobe greets guests and offers Arabic coffee (with a touch of cardamom) and dates before the waiter arrives to take orders.
The menu focuses on the traditional. The head chef of Aseil, Omer Abter, toured the major cities of the Kingdom and visited the kitchens of private homes to put together the best recipes. Many of Abter’s dishes were taken from the special recipes of his mother and grandmother.
First up at our table was a dish consisting of grape leaves, rice, beef and Saudi spices cooked in tomato sauce, similar to the Jordanian dish wara’ aynab. We also had a delicious jereesh, made of crushed wheat and cooked for many hours with broth, yogurt, onions, chicken, red peppers and tomatoes. The dish is served with mozzarella cheese and is considered a special addition to the Aseil menu.
We were also treated to a dish that contained sumptuous rolls of beef served with a thick tomato sauce and yogurt. The mnazzaleh makawiya is similar to another dish, lamb mugalgal, but is served with tahini.
On the sweet side was masabib, a thin pancake served with honey and grilled pistachios.
Aseil’s marketing manager, Rawan Dayan, said that they were surprised at the popularity of the restaurant among young people.
“When we were discussing the idea we thought that most visitors would be older because they would want to try the old traditional dishes that may have been forgotten,” Dayan said.
“Surprisingly, most of our visitors were young and eager to taste authentic Saudi dishes of their grandmothers.”
Aseil is open from 1 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., and 2 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays.
