Chinatown

I believe that all the drinks I consume here in Saudi consist either of cold water or iced tea. It's the token beverage in balmy weather. Probably something about the sexy amber color the tea radiates and the dewiness of the glass it's poured into; it really is the essence of summer. It has to have a little sweetness in it too; I don't believe in unsweetened iced tea.


Brew your favorite black tea,
chill with some ice,
add some simple syrup,
throw in a few mint leaves,
and a wedge of lemon or lime.






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We went out the other night to Chinatown, a restaurant I haven't been to since I was probably 11. It still looked chic and blue because of the lighting, with the cute little pond housing about 100 goldfish.

We ordered iced tea first. Gotta have that. Then wonton soup, which I couldn't get a good shot of. It's okay, it wasn't that great. I like it when soup is extra hot, and this wasn't. 3/10

Spring roll

This one was really good, quite crunchy and not at all oily like other types are. Inside were bean sprouts, strips of cabbage and carrot, and chicken. They had this great chili sauce on the table, which is what I ate the roll with. 8.5/10

Garlic and plain naan

I was a little bummed that we weren't able to go to the Indian restaurant next to Chinatown, but later found out the two restaurants were owned by the same people. And I ordered the one thing that I really wanted from that Indian restaurant, which was naan. It was good, but not as soft as I usually like naan to be. 8/10

Chicken Balti

I don't know very much about this dish, so I searched the origin of this lovely chicken plate online. Even after reading a couple of articles on chicken balti, I'm still not clear on the origin of it as there are different articles that claim it is a Pakistani dish, and still others that say it is an Indian dish. Wherever it is from, it was served on a sizzling hot plate and was very delicious. It was a type of hot curry, with chicken, onions, tomatoes, ghee (clarified butter), and all sorts of spices like coriander, turmeric, cumin, and garam masala powder. I loved all the flavors they used with this dish; the spices were not at all overpowering as some curries are. Certainly a 10/10, the highest score yet!

Chinese crispy noodles

You can almost feel the texture of the noodles through this picture, a little stiff looking, but crispy nonetheless. These noodles had broccoli, onions, bell pepper, mushrooms and other vegetables. I loved how the noodles stayed firm and didn't get soggy even though there was a little bit of sauce. 9.5/10

Sweet and sour fish

Yes, again. This time, the fish was cut into pieces, with a light coating surrounding the cut. It was then cooked with onions, bell peppers, pineapples, and other vegetables. The sweet and sour sauce was thinner than other styles of this dish I had tasted before. Personally, I like Thai house's sweet and sour fish better than Chinatown's. 7/10



Now that I'm finished writing this post, it doesn't seem like any of the dishes we ordered were Chinese food at all, considering we went to a restaurant that bore the country's name. But nevertheless, Chinese methods were used in making these dishes, such as the chicken balti. A good restaurant to check out and its partner next door - Spice India.