This month is the perfect time to visit Cafe Bateel because of their creative menu selection for Saudi National Day, available throughout September.
Their celebratory items include the beef brochette salad using date sauce, and refreshing sparkling cucumber drinks that represent the iconic color of the Saudi flag, made with honey, ginger, lemon, mint, cucumber, and soda water.
The premium desserts include the l’or noir vanilla gateaux, made with a crispy duja base, vanilla biscuit, black vanilla cremeux (active charcoal), and vanilla mousse, and the pistachio and cherry panna cotta, made with pistachios from Sicily, cherries from Bologna, fine French cream and milk, and Tahitian vanilla.
After my first bite of the panna cotta, I was transported back in my mind to the ancient trade routes that traversed the Arabian peninsula, which made the area a hub for cultural exchange.
The base is pistachio sauce, and inside the panna cotta is cherry coulis, topped with a cherry jelly cover, decorated with Chantilly cream, cherries and pistachios.
Cafe Bateel does not forget Saudis’ love for good coffee, either, with which it met my expectations with the coco lavender latte, using coconut milk and lavender syrup — served hot or cold — along with Bateel’s ma’amoul biscuit.
It was a very classy way to celebrate Saudi National Day for me. Cafe Bateel is located at Le Prestige Mall, Jeddah, and has branches in Riyadh and Alkhobar. The cafe also has branches outside the Kingdom, in Muscat, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
