So I thought that I should do a bit on the food here.  When I was staying at the Le Meridien Hotel I always ate in the dining room where they had a buffet for each meal.  I’m not a huge fan of the buffet usually but the food they regularly had out was for the most part pretty amazing.  The breakfast buffet had everything from cook to order omelets and scrambles, there were several types of meats, cold salads, steamed and sauteed vegetables, pastries by the ton, many fresh-like juices, hummus, dates, fresh fruits, cheeses, lunch meats, breads, oatmeal, espresso, etc.  I could always get a quick, fresh and relatively healthy breakfast while I waited for my driver each morning.  The did not have bacon or pork sausage.  There was something they called “sausage” but it was really nothing more than chicken hot dogs!  And there was a warmer with “beef bacon”.  Now neither of these tasted anything like the real thing but I ate it anyway.  My typical breakfast would cost me 110SR which equates to about $30.  Seems steep to me but I was pretty much a captive without choices.

The dinners were themed each night and cost 175SR ($47) plus anything to drink, even water!  Again, the food was really good.  I would always leave a tip which I found out is very rare here.  This would also explain why the waiters were always REALLY friendly and always hovering around my table!  Because of the disparity of wages here it is quite possible that my tips were more than what these guys would actually earn that day!  Compensation is a subject I’ll address in another posting.

Now, I knew this was going to be true but had kind of forgotten just how prevalent American fast food is here in Kingdom.  As we would leave the hotel for the office we would pass the following restaurants within 1 mile!

• Starbucks
• Chili’s
• Red Robin
• Taco Bell
• McDonalds
• Burger King
• Fat Burger
• Domino’s
• Pizza Hut
• Red Lobster
• KFC
• Hardee’s
• Tony Roma’s
• Applebee’s
• TGI Friday’s
• Carl’s Jr
• Subway

What I determined is that I can eat just as poorly here as I could in the States….maybe even worse here!!  I try to not eat fast food but for lunch fast food is about my only option within walking distance.  If I were motivated I would buy stuff and make my lunches…..if I were motivated!  So I typically get as good a lunch as possible across the highway (via a pedestrian bridge) as I can get.  Maybe if I can get a parking space in the garage at work then I’ll drive to lunch somewhere once in a while.

Since I’m living in an apartment over a shopping mall I go to this store called Carrefour.  It’s definitely NOT gourmet but it does have the basics of everyday necessity.  It very much reminds me of a Walmart superstore…..it has about everything.  Convenient for sure, as all I do is get in the elevator on level 3 where my apartment is and get off on 1 and walk right into the mall and Carrefour!  I’ve already spent quite a lot of money there getting food and apartment basics.  It is definitely Middle Eastern!  I was there last night after the 7:49pm prayers and watched the butcher carve up a whole goat starting with removing the head!  By the time he was finished there really didn’t seem to be all that much meat.  There was a lot of fat! There won’t be any pictures of that little episode.

After watching that show I ended up walking by a freezer case and found all kinds of exotic (in my opinion) meats.  Rabbit, Quail, Duck, Pigeon to name a few.  There is also a very good fresh fish selection but all the fish are whole and not gutted.  I’m not an experienced cleaner of fish so I think I’ll not try that out for a while.  Plus the prices are very high.  They do look very good….if you don’t mind having your dinner look back at you!

Tonight I went to Fuddrucker’s for dinner and had a burger and fries with a Diet Pepsi.  The burger was very tasty, the fries lousy and the diet lacking.  I don’t know what it is but the soft drinks here are not at all what you would expect to get in the States.

I love coffee and drink it every day however, coffee here….is instant!!  They also don’t sell, at least that I’ve seen, half and half but instead use condensed milk.  I’ve gotten used to the taste.  I did spoil myself tonight and on the way back to my apartment bought a Nespresso coffee machine!  Now I can make “real” coffee!!  I just couldn’t face instant all the time!!

I’ll try to load some pictures of some of the things I mentioned….we’ll see how that works.  The photo upload hasn’t been working well lately.