Seray is a Lebanese restaurant in Lumiere Mall in Riyadh’s Hittin district, and it excels at delivering traditional flavors with a clear emphasis on fresh ingredients and careful technique.

Visiting for iftar, the experience felt especially fitting, comforting, generous and built around the kind of shareable spread that Lebanese dining does best.

The menu is broad and tempting, spanning daily fresh fish, extensive hot and cold mezze (including seafood specialties), grilled meats and desserts, all supported by a wide beverage selection.

Yet despite the range, Seray’s strongest moments are the simplest ones, where familiar dishes are executed with care rather than distraction.

The meal opened smoothly with lentil soup, warm and steady in flavor, delivering nourishment without heaviness. 

From there, the mezze course became the highlight. Stuffed grape leaves were neatly rolled and well-textured, though they needed a bit more sourness to really lift the filling and sharpen the finish.

The hummos fatteh is where Seray really impresses. Fatteh can easily lose its charm when the fried bread turns overly soft, but here the bread remained crisp, giving each bite structure instead of mush, and the yogurt carried a clear flavor rather than fading blandly into the background.

Fried kebbeh brought a welcome crunch, crisp on the outside, savory within, while fattoush provided freshness and lift with each bite. Classic hummus was creamy and balanced, reinforcing the sense that Seray understand the fundamentals.

Only the moutabal fell into the “fine” category; enjoyable, but not as distinctive or memorable as the rest of the starters, which were uniformly strong. 

Among the mains, the experience was more mixed. The meat shawarma did not win me over, though that reads as a matter of personal taste rather than a clear fault in the kitchen.

The mixed grill was satisfying overall, but the meat kebab was slightly dry, an avoidable detail that stood out after such a polished mezze run. I would have preferred it a touch juicier.

Dessert, however, closed the meal beautifully. The cheese knafeh was excellent; sweet without excess, rich without heaviness, and balanced in a way that kept me going back for one more bite.

Seray ultimately delivers what it promises, authentic Lebanese cooking with an emphasis on freshness, shining brightest in its mezze and finishing on a genuinely impressive dessert.