Where We Are Going Today: ‘Ashbiz’ Uzbek cuisine in Riyadh
Ashbiz is a pocket-friendly option for anyone who enjoys that home-cooked feel to their food
Updated 28 December 2024
Sulafa Alkhunaizi
Ashbiz is a great spot for Uzbek cuisine, offering a rich and flavorful array of foods that combines influences from Central Asia and the Middle East.
The menu is small but full of dishes that burst with flavor, including a favorite of mine, chicken bukhari, which originated in the ancient city of Bukhara.
Bukhari, which can be made with beef, lamb or chicken, is served hot and packs a punch with its aromatic spices like cumin, cardamom and cinnamon.
Noodles are a key feature of Uzbek cuisine and the hand-pulled variety created at Ashbiz are key to its lag’mon: a delicious dish that combines beef or lamb with vegetables in a hearty broth.
Another favorite is the samsa, a tasty bun stuffed with spiced meat and vegetables, which resemble the samosa, but instead of being fried is baked in the oven.
The menu also includes manto — a popular handmade steamed dumpling stuffed with a choice of pumpkin or meat and a unique blend of spices — and shish barak soup which has small dumplings.
Ashbiz is a pocket-friendly option for anyone who enjoys that home-cooked feel to their food.
The restaurant has outlets in Riyadh’s Taawun district and the Mohammadiya district of Jeddah.
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.
(Instagram @serayriyadh)
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.
(Instagram @serayriyadh)
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.
