Yesterday morning I went to al-Rashid shopping mall in al-Khobar to pick up new eye glasses and look at the new Blackberry phones. Last weekend I went to the mall to see whether I could schedule an eye test and to also look at some new frames. I chose Barakat Optical, on the ground floor, because I had gone there previously to buy some lens cleaner and found the person behind the counter to be very helpful. Surprisingly, even though I had not made an appointment the optician was able to examine my eyes right away. The doctor was from the Philippines and after a thorough examination he convinced me to get some “progressive” lenses to help me with close reading, middle, and far distance focusing. The glasses were ready for me and after a few minor adjustments I walked out of the optical store and headed to the Mobily store to look at phones. But after finding that the store did not have the new Blackberry Q10 model I wanted to see, I decided I had to have some coffee and I exited through entrance 7, into the heat of late morning, and headed for Sado Café across the road.
The café is situated on a street corner next to a hotel and apartment buildings. I had stopped at this café with a friend a few months ago, in the evening when it was full of people. But this time it was almost empty as it was only a little after 11 am, which is not a prime coffee drinking time. Unfortunately, the café does not have a family section, so I will not be able to take my wife there after she arrives here, but it is a very pleasant place. It has seating outside, in the front and around the side, with the chairs made from long strands of contorted wood (just like they have outside many cafés in Paris). The café sells pastries and ceramic mugs and is decorated with cultural motifs from a traditional Bedouin lifestyle, including coffee pots and a tent pitched in the desert beneath a crescent moon and stars. I bought a small pecan and date pie to eat with my cappuccino, which was served – extremely hot – in one of the ceramic mugs. The little pie was served warmed in a dish. The barista, working behind the counter, seemed embarrassed to tell me that the mugs are for sale – rather expensively – at SR 45 after I asked him about them. Sado Café is on both Twitter and Facebook (Sadocafecare) and after only two visits I can say it is a very pleasant place to spend some time, preferably with some friends. But if you don’t have any friends, you can always watch the big tv screen that is usually tuned to football (soccer) games. Being next to a busy street, and having high glass windows on two sides, sitting at one of the tables can provide a good vantage point from which to watch the local life carry on outside.
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