Melange
FoodCritic | Oct 12, 2009 | | 10 Comments
I was quite excited to say the least when I heard Melange had just opened off Tahlia Street (opposite Tujjar Jeddah) and beside the large Capo Grillo. Not only because Melange is a venture by B-Concept the people behind Sushi Yoshi, but also because a few months ago I had met the restaurants Portuguese chef who had insisted that authentic Iberian dishes would be on the menu. This struck a chord as I have travelled extensively around Portugal and I am a big fan of their cuisine.
However its worth noting that the menu at Melange is not exclusively Portuguese, in fact there are dishes from across the globe which makes for an extensive menu. This is not a eat and run establishment, in fact describing it as fine dining would be more appropriate.
We dropped by at the start of the weekend and found the place pretty much deserted (understandable due to the soft opening). An awkward attempt at opening a locked door (there are two identical glass doors right next to each other) was soon forgotten, and we made out way inside the newly built restaurant.
It seems that no expense was spared on the minimalistic but lush interior. Dark wood flooring, back lit wall panels, and contemporary dark furniture screamed class. The domed pink ceiling lights cast a subtle glow across the restaurant, while a metal mashrabiya lattice follows the a/c pipes across the ceiling, turning a usual eye sore into a bit of a gem.
We chose to sit by the window for the view and slightly less formal seating soft lounge chairs and lower tables.
Sitting down I immediately sank into the soft arm chair, almost sofa like,Melange have chosen well, as a comfortable customer is one more likely to linger. That seems to be the intention, as it soon dawned on us that the area we had opted to sit in was also surrounded by large and glowing bohemian crystal Shisha pipes.
These colour changing and rotund pots were hand made in the Czech Republic although to me they seemed more Alice in Wonderland than Prague, the only thing missing was the caterpillar! Customers are even given a remote to control the colour of their pipe! As a non smoker these provided little more than a visual aesthetic to our meal, but to the avid Shisha smokers, I see these becoming a major draw to Melange.
For the Shisha haters, worry not, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that in addition to the family section upstairs, there is also a dedicated room for non smokers, as well as two impressive balconies. The first is outdoors, decked with chic lounge chairs for a chillout experience (weather permitting!). The second is a polar opposite, an indoor outdoor experience, air conditioned, with (believe it or not!) a retractable roof should the room get too smoky!
Within moments of arriving we were approached by a waiter with an open bottle of Nestles very own Acqua Panna, and the pressure selling had begun! Not that I have anything against the water, but I prefer to choose the brand I drink, rather than have the most expensive option forced upon me. Unfortunately no alternative was available, so instead we opted for fresh lemonades.
As for the food, the menu had a good selection of appetizers, salads and main courses. The Iberian choices stood out, I was keen to try the Sea Food Cataplana, but this was recommended for two, and as my dining partner was not keen on shellfish, he instead opted for the Taif Cheese and Spinach Cannelloni, while I went for the Monkfish and Beef bacon grilled skewers.
We also chose a Bakers Surprise as an appetizer a goats cheese, roasted tomato and almond puff pastry. While the staff were very helpful, the waiter soon returned to inform me there was no monkfish available, however to be fair they did offer to replace the monkfish with nagil, but not sounding right, I instead went for the 350g chateaubriand, ordering it medium rare.
First came a complimentary helping of toast and tzatziki which was smooth, thick and creamy, thumbs up for not being watered down. This was soon followed by a basket of freshly baked herb and olive breads, along with our fresh lemonades.
So good was the bread, not a single piece remained, and our appetizer had not yet arrived! But there was no rush, and the basket of carbs had left us satisfied for the time being.
The lemonade was cool and light, not overly sour or sweet, it was closer to a cordial or squash, and reminded me of Lemon Barley water. The Bakers Surprise appetizer soon followed, this puff pastry was similar to a baked sambousa, with an enjoyably sweet filling of goats cheese, tomatoe jam, and almonds.
As for our main courses, these were impressive to say the least. My 100 SR, 350g of chateaubriand lived up to its name and size, it is great to order a medium rare steak and actually get exactly that! This US certified Angus beef was smooth, buttery, and a real pleasure to eat. It was served with a grilled tomato, and a creamy peppercorn sauce which complemented the steak nicely.
The only real let down for me was the herb covered French fries, as unfortunately herbs were not the only toping. The fries were incredibly salty, to the point of almost being inedible, and as a result, I left most of these. As for my dining partner, he enjoyed the Taif Cannelloni, so no complaints there.
Plates were cleared and it was not long before the dessert menu was out, It contained a mix of local and international options. I went for the Trio Creme Brule, three flavours (chocolate, coffee and vanilla) served cool in particularly small dishes, a light way to end the meal. The chocolate was particularly memorable, so good in fact; were it available alone, I would simply order that and skip the coffee and vanilla options.
All in all Melange did a particularly good job at satisfying us, the chateaubriand is without doubt one of the best steaks I have had in Jeddah. As for the minor slip ups (the curious case of the missing monkfish), this can be forgiven as they are still in their soft opening. With regard to the service, the staff were helpful and always on hand. With such an extensive menu, I will certainly be back for more, and if the other mains are as good as what we tried on our visit, I can see Melange making a potentially big impression on the dining scene in Jeddah.
Popularity: 6%
You Might Also Like:
10 Comments
Leave a Reply
Hey can someone please tell me where it is exactly?? And give directions. My friend is bad with directions and says its near the boat building on Malik road…
It is Tahlia (Prince Mohammed Bin Abdul-Aziz) Street. If you are coming from Malik Road, then your friend’d directions are very good. You turn right after that boat building on Malik Road and go straight on Tahliah Street, for approximately 1 km, you will see Melange on your right in a Food court beside Capo Grillo. If you are coming from East on Tahliah going West, Then you go straight passing, Tahliah Center, Faifa, then the roundabout between Tahlia and Prince Sultan Street, then you take the U-turn Opposite Tujjar Jeddah Complex and head east for about 400 m or so and you will find it on your right side.
I hope these are detailed (and clear) enough directions.
ayaa1977 thanks for an excellent comment, most helpful to Gucci I’m sure! please check your email as we have selected you as the Vertigo Meal Winner this week for your comment!
Thank you very much! I am glad to help.
Went there last night (Thursday evening). It looks very welcoming from outside, I chose the place because it mentioned earlier that the outdoor areas are comfortable and lounge like. Not so for single men
. Upon our arrival I asked the waiter if we could sit outside, he said that there wont be any tables or chairs for us, they were all moved to the family section, so no outside seating available. Since we were already here we chose to dine inside, eventhough the weather would have been perfect.
The menu is extensive and features some unusual and innovative dishes. We had sangria and a banana coconut smoothie, which both were very tasty. Having read about the Bakers delight with tomato jam, more like a chutney was good, but the salad garnish was missing the salad dressing and dry salad leaves just don’t taste too good. My friend had the rack of lamb, with vegetable skewers and baked potato chips, where he said that the meat was very well prepared, not dry at all (what happens many times when you order lamb) and it was a very good tasting dish. My Cannelloni with red and green spinach leaves were baked in a thick and rich creamy sauce, the dish was flavored with Indian spices and roasted pine nuts, which was a nice twist on a common cannelloni dish, the pasta rolls were cooked right and not too soft, so the filling did not flow out.
After a very good meal we had a Shi Sha, which is a little expensive SAR 55.00 and if you fancy a remote controlled, disco light version, you can opt for the VIP Shi Sha, which goes at a mere of SAR 130.00
Overall it was a good dining experience. A few things are still missing though.. .The outdoor area for Singles, no TV Entertainment, it would be good to see some movies, clips or sport on a large screen.
I enjoyed my meal at Melange even though vegetarian main course options were unimaginative and few. The Camboula Salad was sprinkled lavishly with crumbled blue cheese and they werent mean with the walnuts either. The Bakers Surprise was surprisingly sweet; OK, so they did state tomato jam on the menu, but my party naively assumed that was a figure of speech meaning thick sauce wrong! The flaming fruit salad was pleasant but disappointingly did not come to the table on fire, as again we had naively assumed; instead, it meant with a spicy jus. The fresh mango smoothie looked delicious and one can opt not to include the sugar syrup if preferred; the fresh lemon juice was good too; however with such great fresh options, it was surprising there was no fresh orange. The Black and Blue salad was good and very filling as it also included meat. The mozzarella salad was not available as according to the Manager their shipment of mozzarella had not been delivered; we wondered why they hadnt just bought locally available buffalo mozzarella to fill this gap, temporarily.
The steaks were good, the najel was good, and the shitake risotto was good. However our orders lacked the requested vegetables and only one of the sauces supposed to accompany the steaks showed up; naturally, by the time we had asked for the missing items, and they had arrived, the meat had been almost totally consumed.
The two desserts we tried were interesting, elegantly presented and made on the premises. Bostock is a caramelised brioche with ice-cream served separately in a tuile case; the brioche is delicious but the ice-cream contained ice-crystals indicating possible thawing and re-freezing. Tart Nougat is sublime: a rich pastry case stuffed with rose-water drenched pistachios, topped with sticky white nougat, decorated with candied orange strips.
Coffee was good, but the chamomile tea is made with a bag since it is perfectly possible to acquire fresh herbs: lemongrass, mint, thyme, sage and so on, why on earth are teabags utilised in otherwise smart restaurants?
The ambiance was fun and stylish with a wall of lights constantly changing colour. The shisha stands were most unusually striking although unfortunately utilised in both dining-rooms, with only a smallish seating area languishing in the boring background for the non-smokers. Nevertheless the cooling system filtered the shisha stench adequately enough not overly to disturb our dining; eventually the roof was retracted to great acclaim, even though it opened judderingly with a startlingly loud clanking and groaning, so the starlit night reduced the reeking smoke even further. The music was great. Seating was on deep sofas making it awkward to reach the table and the cushions were too small and soft to provide adequate back support. There were no napkins at all which, initially, we thought was just an oversight, but at our request we were supplied only with those fast-food flimsy paper squares.
The waiters served speedily and competently for such a new venue which compensated for the rather odd reception by the Armenian-Lebanese Manager who seemed mystified when we requested our pre-booked table, and asked ungraciously: What do you want? The utilitarian Ladies was well-lit and functioned adequately but was surprisingly basic in comparison with the interesting decor of the dining-rooms.
I will visit Melange again. It is located on Tahliyya on the left after Sultan and before Malik.