Zuma Riyadh — Restaurant in Municipality of Al Shamal

My recent lunch at your restaurant offered a mix of excellent culinary delights and areas where the service could be refined.

As a first-time visitor, I wanted to share my observations in detail.

Arrival and First Impressions The receptionist provided an excellent welcome, which started the visit on a positive note. However, for future first-time guests, it would be helpful to include information on your website or booking confirmation that valet service is not available at lunchtime. This would manage expectations and avoid any inconvenience upon arrival.

Despite arriving alone before my guest, the welcome at reception was perfect.

Dining Room Experience Upon entering the dining room, I noticed it was empty. Given this, I was surprised to be offered a table facing a concrete wall rather than one with a view of the financial centre. For an establishment of your quality, it would be a thoughtful touch to proactively offer guests a prime table, especially when the restaurant is not busy. Guests shouldn't have to request a better seating option in an empty room.

Additionally, no one inquired if it was my first visit. A simple question like this can make guests feel more acknowledged and allow staff to provide relevant information.

Menu Presentation and Service When the menus were brought to the table, they were simply placed down without any explanation or proper orientation, all were upside down and back to front. It would have been helpful to have them presented correctly and to have the different options (e.g., à la carte, menu of the day) briefly introduced.

I then asked about a small modification to the menu of the day. Initially, the waiter's reaction was an immediate and firm "no." I had to reiterate my request before the waiter offered to check with the kitchen, and thankfully, my request was approved. A more accommodating initial response would have been appreciated.

Overall Service and Food Beyond these points, the remainder of the service was perfect, and the food was absolutely delicious.

One final observation: the Maitre D' remained stationary at one end of the room throughout our entire stay. An active presence from the Maitre D', engaging with guests and overseeing the dining room, would further enhance the overall experience.

I'll come back, food was...

Disappointing Experience at Zuma

Unfortunately, our visit to Zuma was a complete disappointment, especially considering it was meant to be a birthday celebration. We both ended up with upset stomachs after the meal, which has never happened to us before. I hesitated to write this, but I believe it’s important to share so the restaurant—and potential diners—are aware that something may have gone wrong with the food quality.

We ordered from the business lunch menu. For starters, we had:

Chicken skewers with baby leek

Beef and green chilli skewers with smoked chilli soy

Sashimi/nigiri selection

Black cod

For mains:

Grilled Chilean seabass with red yuzu pepper

Grilled Australian Wagyu sirloin with truffle mayo

As an add-on:

Roasted whole potato with shiso chilli ponzu butter and lime (v)

To drink, we had the raspberry passion fruit martini and the lychee rose petal martini.

Not long after eating, we both felt unusually full—almost uncomfortably bloated—even though the portions were moderate and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. This was followed by a burning sensation in our stomachs while driving home, along with a fizzy, soda-like discomfort that we couldn’t explain. The overall feeling of uneasiness persisted for hours after the meal, especially in the evening with diarrhea symptoms.

Customer service also fell short of expectations for a restaurant of this caliber. The only positive service experience was with Arsann at valet parking, who was polite and professional.

What was supposed to be a joyful birthday lunch turned into a regrettable experience. I hope this feedback is taken seriously to ensure better quality control and customer care in the future.

I have made many photos during the visit as I wanted to write a good review, but because of the unpleasant experience I have to give...

If you’re looking for a place to celebrate a special occasion, I wouldn’t recommend Zuma. Choose somewhere else where you’ll actually leave on a positive note.

I had a terrible experience at Zuma for my birthday and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone expecting good service. I had a reservation for 8:30 PM but arrived at 8:55 after informing them over the phone that we were just outside waiting in the valet line which they said no problem to btw. Despite this, the receptionist (I believe her name was Josme or Jenmary, curly-haired) was dismissive and gave me attitude from the start. Instead of accommodating us properly, she made us wait and then seated us in the lounge instead of the restaurant, even though my booking was clearly for the restaurant.

The table they gave us was awful—high chairs, a shaky table, and positioned right in front of the speakers, making it unbearably loud, especially since I had my parents with me. When I pointed out that my reservation was for the restaurant, they did nothing to fix it, simply offering dessert as compensation, which we never even got to have because the experience was so frustrating.

To make things worse, the service was slow and disorganized. One of our appetizers was forgotten and arrived late, and the steak took forever to come. I tried to avoid complaining too much because I didn’t want to ruin my birthday, but the entire evening ended up being a disappointment. My parents left with headaches from the noise, and we walked out without celebrating at all.

The food itself was really good, but they don’t allow takeout for leftovers of the food that arrived lattteeee

All in all good food very unpleasant service. Not for...