The Lucky Llama — Restaurant in Makkah Region

Having visited Peru and being familiar with the cuisine, a friend who had also visited Peru and I made a reservation for dinner.

The concept and decor are commendable (even if some of the items are Chinese and not Japanese reflecting the Nikkei fusion).

The layout is refreshingly novel with tables in comfortable proximity resulting in a lively chatty atmosphere as the restaurant got busier.

The reception by the Saudi staff was excellent and courteous and the waiters were very pleasant and helpful.

The signature ceviche was average - I was surprised that the leche de tigre was applied at the table - the magic happens in the marination.

The scallop ceviche however was very good with the subtle layers of the leche de tigre being nicely noticeable.

The sake mocktail was unfortunately not available - it could have enhanced the meal experience.

The lobster miso main was superb, cooked and presented to perfection with subtle sweet umami flavours and the black garlic rice was good but not spectacular.

I enjoyed the chocolate misti and my friend enjoyed the flan. Some more adventurous dessert options would be nice.

The thing that dampened the experience was the Brazilian manager (I assume she is the manager) who approached our table and addressed my female Saudi friend, completely ignoring me.

I have been to Brazil and am a Portuguese speaker, I asked her where she was from and spoke to her in Portuguese, yet her body language, focus and attention was purely on my friend.

I asked my friend what she thought of the exchange and she said it was extremely awkward and that she tried to bring me into the conversation. Ironically even after knowing that my friend lives in New York, whilst I live in Jeddah, it was my friend who was given the restaurant's card.

The manager did open the door for me on the way out and say goodbye.

Is this an issue of Brazilian unconscious bias since I am black?

Objectively speaking from a customer experience perspective, what happened, regardless of the motivation, was wrong. Two adults at a table should be equally engaged in any interaction with the manager.

I hope the senior management of the restaurant will take this matter seriously and discuss it with the lady in question, pointing out the experience of two well travelled customers.

I will not pan the restaurant for this incident, although it is serious, there are no halves, I would have given it 3.5 out of 5, I commend those behind this novel concept.

The signature dish (the ceviche) needs to be enhanced - the Peruvian / Nikkei culinary experience does not correspond with the price range...

My suggestion is for more quinoa dishes such...

After hearing about this place from my friend, I finally went and what a disappointment it was. I ordered a sushi roll, after me and my wife tried each a piece, we found the rice crunchy and uncooked and the whole roll was not fresh. So, I gently informed the nice waiter about it, he took the plate away, checked it out at the kitchen and profusely apologized, I declined getting another one in anticipation of my steak. Once it was put on the table I tried the “crunchy” potatoes on top only to be surprised that it was stale and chewy. The meat looked good and I was very hungry by now, so it was time for a bite of that steak,,, it was completely cold and clearly previously cooked and put away, served to me refrigerator cold. Again I informed the nice waiter, who looked at me strange and in disbelief, a bit later he returns with a yellow face due to his embarrassment, again profusely apologized. I was so disappointed and told him that in such a situation the chef should apologize and explain why in a supposedly “five star” restaurant they are serving old, stale and food. Surely the Colombian gentleman came apologizing and asking for a second chance explaining that he will have a long talk and a meeting with his team never to allow such embarrassing mishaps to happen again. We left in a hurry, upset and totally disheartened,,, I did not ask for the check. The polite hostess called me to tell me that we did not pay, I apologized and sent the driver right away to pay. He sent me the invoice, and to my surprise they had not removed the horrible sushi roll from the bill. I called back the lovely hostess to complain once more about the unfairness about this charge. She calmly informed me that it was not removed because we ate from it 😳. How would we have known it was bad if we did not eat a piece each??? I told her how unprofessional that is and that I will right this review,,, she firmly replied that their is nothing she can do about it. What a bad feeling that left me with. “Bad food and terrible attitude”, I suggest this be their new slogan. “Comida horrible, y...

We visited this place with some friends after hearing so much and seeing dozens of accounts rave about it. First of all I was very happy with the free valet (unlike other so called fine dining who charge for valet)

We were seated at the corner near the pick up counter so we can see the busy kitchen. All was fine and the waiter took our orders and was nice. First fault was when we were served our sushi and no wasabi or soy sauce was served and we had to ask for it. Second issue was the duck in the duck salad was chewy and unpleasant. Third issue with the food was the sliders that tasted like they were drenched in salt !

The ceviche and the Wellington were the most acceptable of our orders. The seafood risotto tasted fine but had exactly a handful of seafood in this over priced dish.

Service wise, not to mention the soy sauce earlier. The waiter dropped the dirty chopsticks and utensils in our friends lap. Our other friend asked for a change of plate and the used utensils were placed back in his clean plate. Not to mention the waiter was walking around the floor with his hand in his pocket as if he’s working at McDonald’s

The fancy foreign lady supervisor , who only appeared to speak to our friend who returned her unpleasant cocktail never appeared again to ask us about our experience or how was the food.

The bill was around 1500 SR for four people and for a meal none of us enjoyed. I really wish the owner the best of luck but she should come around more to see what’s happening at her establishment if she wants this place to continue.

I gave one star for the valet , one for the decor and one for the Beef Wellington and the gyoza to be nice

Not coming...