I needed to go grocery shopping... yesterday! But, I heard it could be a mad house at the grocery stores with people stocking up for Suhoor (the meal eaten before fasting) and Iftar (meal eaten to break fast). So, I decided to go this morning. Smart idea! Nobody was out and about. I had the grocery store pretty much to myself and a handful of other foreigners.
To my surprise, it was still a ghost town when we ventured out for dinner right before 7pm. I thought it would be crazy with people trying to go out for Iftar. Perhaps it was the first day and everyone was celebrating at home? Perhaps it was too early? When I called Pattis France, they told me they had tables available for Iftar tonight however, for tomorrow night I would have to book a table. So perhaps it is the first.
Pattis France is one of our favorite restaurants in Al Khobar. Like many restaurants in town, they offer special Iftar buffets during Ramadan. Prices are SR135 for adults, SR75 for kids, and children under 6 are free. Since they are a French cafe, their buffet was a mix of Middle Eastern and Western food.
Being this was my first Iftar, I truly enjoyed my experience. The food was good and I got a taste of what people normally eat here when they break fast.
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| Table setup |
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| Appetizers and Main Course Buffet |
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| Traditional Iftar Drinks I didn't quite understand what they are. The left one was super sweet and a bit spicy. The right one was a yogurt drink of sort. |
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| Dessert Buffet The middle one is Umm Ali, which is an Egyptian bread pudding that's very popular here. |
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| Arabic Coffee I still can't get used to this. It doesn't taste like coffee at all! More like a herbal drink I used to "have" to drink in Indonesia (jamu). |
