Come, Take a Look at Saudi’s Traditional Local Seafood Restaurants

🦐 Ordering Seafood Like a Market: "Weighing Freedom" for 70 SAR The glass freezer was piled high with seafood: red snapper tails still patting the ice, white shrimp curled into crescents 🦐, and some spiny sea fish with only Arabic numerals on their labels (priced by kilogram). When the owner saw me holding up my phone to translate, he simply picked up a fish and put it on the scale. The weight shook three times, and he typed "45" on the calculator—that was the price of the fish. The shrimp cost 20 SAR for half a jin, and rice was 5 SAR for all you can eat, totaling just over 70 SAR (about 130 RMB), much more reasonable than restaurant prices in scenic areas. The speed of preparing the seafood was (amazing): a quick yank to remove the gills, a scoop to take out the intestines, and a "snap" of scissors ✂️ to cut the fish into pieces; the shrimp had their whiskers trimmed, no need to peel the shells. When asked "fried or grilled," the owner pointed to graffiti on the wall (a frying pan and a grill). I gestured "half and half," and he immediately smiled and gave a thumbs-up 👍. The earthenware plate that arrived was steaming hot: fried fish pieces coated in a thin batter, golden like sprinkled gold powder ✨. Biting into them made a "crunch," and the fish meat was tender enough to melt in the mouth. However, the batter absorbed oil, making it a bit heavy after a few bites; grilled shrimp were skewered on iron sticks, mixed with cumin and chili powder and the aroma of charcoal. The shrimp shells were crispy, but the meat was a bit dry. To be honest, frying and BBQ did mask the freshness of the seafood, but when I grabbed it with my hands and ate it with fragrant white rice (black rice was an option, with a faint nutty aroma), I suddenly realized that "delicious" isn’t just about freshness, but also this "no need to be fancy" pleasure 🤲 🧺 Dining on the Floor: The Ritual of Hand-Caught Rice on the Carpet The dining area on the second floor was covered with maroon patterned carpets, and low wooden tables seemed to grow out of the ground. Guests took off their shoes and sat cross-legged around them, with teapots placed beside their feet 🍵. As soon as I sat down, an aunt wearing a headscarf handed me a lemon-scented wet wipe and said in broken English, "hand, good." Three local uncles at the next table were eating with their hands: pinching a small handful of rice with their fingertips, rolling it into a ball, dipping it in some grilled fish sauce, wrapping it with a piece of onion, and popping the whole thing into their mouths, their movements smooth as flowing water I tried it too. The rice mixed with the cumin aroma of grilled shrimp, and my fingertips were (stained with) a little fish oil. I ate three handfuls without getting tired. Suddenly, I understood why "hand-catching" is a tradition: feeling the temperature of the food with your skin, the touch of your fingertips actually makes the taste more vivid. There were two high tables in the corner, probably for guests who aren’t used to sitting cross-legged, but the carpet area was full. After eating, I turned around to find a hand-washing station. A copper faucet poured out warm water, and the hand sanitizer in the pump bottle had a rose scent 🌹, washing away the oil from my hands, making the air fresh too. 📍 Survival Guide for Eating in the Old Town: Avoiding Minefields to Enjoy the Freshness Cooking method minefield avoidance: To taste the original flavor of seafood, prioritize "small BBQ" (slowly grilled over a small charcoal fire, not quick-grilled over high heat), especially shrimp and squid, which are most fragrant when grilled until the edges are slightly charred; frying is good with rice, but remember to ask the owner to "use less batter"; Price comparison tips: Seafood restaurants in the old town are like quarreling neighbors, with huge price differences. When in doubt, ask more stores, or go directly to the seafood market a few hundred meters away (such as Al-Zahra Market in Riyadh), where live shrimp are half the price of restaurants. Find a small shop nearby to process it (10 SAR per serving); Communication codes: Most staff are South Asian migrant workers, and communication relies on gestures: pointing at seafood + "small fire" = slow grilling; "no oil" = less batter; "black rice" = black rice; Hidden benefits: Most stores will give free pickled cucumbers or lemons 🍋, which are great for cutting greasiness. Remember to ask for them! #SaudiArabia #MiddleEast #MiddleEastTravel #MiddleEasternFood #MiddleEastTourism