Kimyona — Restaurant in Municipality of Olaya

Exceeded expectations! Finally a new creative dishes and flavors in Riyadh. Our experience from the wall art to the interior to the service and dishes was flawless. The food: We ordered many dishes to try and overall they were all very creative and well thought of, my favorites were: Tapioca bread: warm and fluffy mini buns with a very tasty homemade butter. the dumplings 🥟 they were flavorful and so tasty. The crispy eggplant: it was so delicious and crunchy and the flavors complemented each other Green curry: this was absolutely my favorite, im happy i found a place in Riyadh that serves an well balanced authentic curry. Udon: loved the combination of noodles and broth, the flavors in both were on point. The dessert were all good, i personally loved the matcha tiramisu it was sooo good i can eat it everyday.

The atmosphere: Very classy, cozy and modern. i loved the interior so much you can tell its a very creative and well designed decor, from the ceiling to the tables. The service was 10/10 a attentive but not too much which was great! 👍🏼 the staff FOH were very professional and welcoming.

Overall, great experience and will definitely...

Something is off with people’s tastebuds because 75% of the food was unbelievably salty, oily or overcooked.

I personally dislike the dark and “mysterious” setting because I can’t see anything and it’s difficult to make conversation (but that’s just me). There is no cohesion whatsoever between the dishes. The range of dishes is too wide and it’s all disguised under the cape of “fusion”.

I felt that the flavours on almost every dish was off. The katsu was too oily and became soggy after sitting in the sauce which was too salty. The dumplings in general were overcooked and also really salty, especially the chicken truffle ones. Tempura shrimp was not tempura and really oily. Sliders were super dry but also who serves basic sliders at a restaurant of this “calibre”? Lastly, the salad we were served (don’t remember the name) was so sweet that it was inedible.

I could not eat from the other dishes on the table from how bad the ones I tried were. In terms of service, it was not bad but not great; a little stiff and the staff looked/felt a bit nervous, but overall they were helpful and respectful. I’ve been here twice for business dinners, both times extremely...

There seems to be a significant imbalance between the investment in the location and décor and the quality of the food served here.

Dumplings and Gyozas: satisfactory, nothing outstanding.

Fermented Tea Leaf Salad: We did not like this. The tea leaves tasted like henna and the dressing was too sweet. No balance in flavors. I’ve had fermented tea leaf salad all over the world and I know how delicious it can be when properly prepared. Unfortunately, it missed the mark here.

Peking Duck: Disappointing! Pairing an oily piece of roti instead of a traditional spring pancake with a piece of duck covered in the 5 cm layer of fat is not a good idea (attached in photo).

Javanese Curry: edible but does not reflect the true essence of Javanese flavors.

While the setting and service show promise, the food quality needs to match the ambition. The potential is there, but more attention should be paid to refining the dishes and the flavors. Riyadh restaurant goers are becoming more strict and demanding. This could have worked a few years ago but...