In my search for high quality coffee drinking establishments, I have found Latasia Cafe at Al Nimran Hotel in al-Khobar. I visited the hotel and cafe last night in the hope of a unique Ramadan iftar experience, as well as to sample the coffee at Latasia Cafe, a European accented cafe inside the hotel. The hotel is featured in the Lonely Planet guide to the Arabian Peninsula and I read some reviews about it on tripadvisor.com. The hotel also has a website at alnimranhotel.com, which is another source of useful information.
Hotel Al Nimran, al-Khobar, located on the corner of Prince Faisal bin Fahd Street and Prince Nawaf Street.
Al Nimran Hotel is located on Prince Faisal bin Fahd Street at the corner of Prince Nawaf Street, about a 5-minute drive from the corniche area. The road is known locally as “Pepsi road” because of the local Pepsi plant. I used Google Maps on my phone to pinpoint the precise location, which is within the main business district in the city. The surrounding neighborhood consists mostly of shops, office buildings, and lots of restaurants, cafes and bakeries. Latasia Cafe is billed as a Viennese style cafe on the hotel’s website that, in addition to offering coffee and delicious pastries and cookies, also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is now the last few days of Ramadan. The ‘Id holiday will be in five days from now. So there were not many days remaining for me to try an iftar dinner at a local hotel. Many of the hotels here offer iftar buffets, and Al Nimran Hotel is no exception. I arrived at the hotel at around 6:15 p.m. in time for the start of iftar at 6:30. There is a dedicated parking area across from the hotel on Prince Nawaf Street. Surprisingly, there were plenty of parking places available when I arrived and I had no trouble with parking.
A view of the hotel from Prince Nawaf Street. The nearest windows on the ground floor are next to Sara Restaurant.
The reviews for the hotel on tripadvisor.com were mostly positive but I wanted to see the place for myself. I was a little concerned that the hotel allows smoking inside the cafe, but I thought that I could stand that for a short time, and it would be worthwhile to see what the cafe is like. The lobby of the hotel is designed with lots of tile, in different shades of brown. Latasia Cafe is on the ground floor, to the right as you enter the hotel through the main entrance. The cafe has a round blue ceiling, which helps to give the place a light airy feeling, white and grey marble floors and wood columns. The bar against the far wall of the cafe features a glass case with a display of fancy cookies and other pastries. There are wooden tables and chairs and overall the cafe does have a European flavor.
To avoid the worst of the traffic, I made sure I arrived at the hotel with about 15 minutes before the start of iftar. People tend to do things right at the last minute here, so if you can arrive at your destination a little early you will usually avoid most of the crazy drivers who are rushing to get to where they need to go. The iftar buffet was being held in the hotel’s restaurant on the ground floor in Sara Restaurant, although the hotel’s website describes the restaurant as being on the first floor. Maybe this is because you have to walk up a few steps just past the main reception, although it is not on the first floor proper. The restaurant is fairly small for a hotel. Separate areas for families had been setup with ornate wooden screens/dividers. There were several men sitting at tables on their own so I did not feel out of place being on my own also, although I would have preferred to have some company. The friends that I had invited all had other plans that evening but I decided to go on my own anyway. The restaurant was pleasantly decorated, with paintings of old Arabia hung on the walls. The buffet area was setup in a corner of the restaurant and diners could help themselves to as much food as they wanted. I sat at a small table close to a window that overlooked the car parking area across the road from the hotel. The buffet was not the best that I have ever experienced, but it was adequate. There was a fairly good selection of food items from which to choose, and included both Middle Eastern and Indian style food. I had been fasting all day, so when it came time to break the fast I started with a couple of dates and mango juice. I then continued with a very tasty chicken and vegetable soup, a selection of salads, cheese filled samosas, falafel and bread. After finishing this, I took a break and went up to the first floor to the prayer room and prayed the evening prayer. After completing my prayers I went back to the restaurant and continued with more food. I had the chicken and vegetable biryani, a selection of vegetables, some beef stew, and spaghetti with beef and tomato. I completed my dinner with some fresh fruit salad, dried apricots, baklava and sweet mint tea. I don’t usually take sugar in my tea, but this was already sweetened and I really enjoyed the taste.
After dinner I moved to Latasia Cafe for some coffee, which was really my main reason for going to the hotel. I ordered a cappuccino, which was nice and hot and flavorful, and had a sprinkling of cinnamon over the milky froth. There were only men sitting in the cafe. I don’t think it was strictly for men only, but the culture here is for men to spend a lot of time in cafes; probably to escape from their wives! A couple of the men were smoking but the smoke was not too bad. Normally, I cannot stand being around tobacco smoke, but this was not too unpleasant. The atmosphere was calm and restrained. A group of men sitting on some sofas were chatting, while other men sitting on their own were reading their newspaper, or looking at their iPads or phones. I sat in the cafe and made some notes about my experience in the restaurant and cafe – I always carry a small notebook with me when I visit such places – and savored my cappuccino. I was also thinking about what time I should head back home to avoid the worst of the traffic. This would be the perfect place to spend an hour or two reading. The cafe had a nice atmosphere. Everyone in the cafe kept to themselves, having jovial conversations with fiends or just keeping their own thoughts. As in the restaurant, the staff were all Indian and friendly. Thankfully though, not too friendly! My waiter answered all of my questions about the cafe and the surrounding neighborhood. After finishing my coffee I went outside the hotel and walked around the local streets. I found the mosque that the waiter had told me about (Masjid Al-Hidaya), located on a side street next to the hotel. It is a beautiful white building with two really tall minarets and stained glass windows. I later went there for the night prayer before heading back home. On the journey home I stopped at the Ikea store to buy some items for when my wife and children arrive here in Saudi Arabia. After living on my own for eight months, it will be nice to get back into family mode.
The Al-Hidaya mosque, on a side street next to Al Nimran Hotel, with its two elegant and beautiful minarets.
It had been a very nice evening. I had driven to the hotel without any incident – in fact I had driven to the hotel earlier in the day to learn the route – and had eaten a rather tasty meal at Sara Restaurant at the Al Nimran Hotel. I then relaxed in Latasia Cafe and enjoyed a tasty cappuccino. After finishing my coffee, I aided my digestion by walking around some of the streets and then visited the local mosque. I am sure I will be visiting the cafe again from time to time when I am in the area.
Since I was not staying at the hotel, I cannot asses the quality of all of its services and hotel rooms, but I can certainly say that the cafe is worth visiting and the helpfulness of the staff made it a place where both locals and expats can feel comfortable.
Next week I will be traveling to Houston to see my family and to help them move to Saudi Arabia. But on the way I’ll be stopping in Doha, Qatar, for two days to visit the Islamic Art Gallery and to experience the cornich there. So I’ll probably be posting my next article from Qatar.
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