Dinner at the Castle in Dammam

---

Last night I ate at a place called Heritage Village in Dammam, which looks like an Arabian castle. Keep in mind that there aren't tourists in Saudi, so this place survives on the locals; most were traditionally dressed. (Just what makes a building qualify as a “village” is another Saudi mystery I cannot solve.)

The building is privately owned, which is pretty amazing in itself. It looks like an Arabian castle, complete with turrets and rooftop lookouts. You come in the door and there is a large three-story entry that includes a lake, swans (fake), and parrots (real). We were led into a waiting room and instructed to remove our shoes.

The purpose of this room is to welcome people with Arabic coffee and dates. There are carpets on the floor and many Arabic artifacts around the room. A man with a dagger (naturally) serves each person a cup of Arabic coffee which is laced with cardamom and served in the traditional style. This includes pouring the coffee in a long stream into a tiny cup. The cup is traditionally refilled until you shake the empty cup three times, which means you don’t want any more. (Believe me; this information may come in handy one day. You never know.)

The next stop was the two-story museum which is a collection of some very strange items. I’m not quite sure of the methodology, but I suspect it’s along the lines of “Hey, I have something for your museum.” “OK cool. Let’s put it here.” Never the less, it contains some very interesting and old items, as well as many photographs. Among my favorite items was the phonograph player with two records. I’m thinking this might have been the world’s first stereo system. Also, I liked the four-barrel pistol, which is twice as good as a double-barreled shotgun.

We then went on the outside part of our tour, which includes going up steep staircases (not OSHA approve) around the turrets. The view was great. On a clear day, you can see Kuwait (or so they say).

The main event, of course, was the dinner. The restaurant consists of many small rooms about the size of a large office. There are sofas around the outside and a table on the floor in the center. Our room was the largest and was perhaps two to three times the size of the other rooms. Waiters came in and started to set the table. More and more and more food was placed on the table until every square inch (centimeter?) was covered.

There were lentil, vegetable, and seafood soups followed by hummus, baba gnosh (eggplant), and lobna (yoghurt) spreads. Appetizers included three kinds of dough-filled samosas (pastries) -- chicken, cheese or vegetable. The main courses included shrimp, chicken, beef, and pressed beef kabobs, lamb chops, platters of whole grilled hamour (fish), and platters of rice. I must be forgetting half of what was on the table. We all sat cross-legged on the floor. I found it was much easier getting down than getting up! There was also a beach-ball version of pita bread that is created by putting a ball of dough into a red hot oven until it puffs up into a ball.

And yes, Virginia, there were desserts. Those consisted of rice pudding, crème caramel, and something that sounded like “Good golly, Miss Molly” but that’s a Chuck Berry tune and not a dessert. And I doubt Chuck Berry was Saudi.

The final stop was the perfumery shop that included chunks of wood to burn (like they had in the Qatif market), as well as traditional perfume. Watching Koen during the perfume testing process was also entertaining. If you are a relative or friend of Koen, you can use these photos for blackmail.

For more details, go to Heritage Village Website.

For your viewing pleasure, I’m also including a photo from my lunch (for the foodie junkies) and a couple of random photos of what the consultants look like when they are not “on stage” with Participants (for the consultant junkies).

---