Where We Are Going Today: ‘Katsu Sando’ Japanese sandwiches in Riyadh
For lunch, Katsu Sando’s bento delight is a great option. It features donburi chicken with rice, crab onigiri, a pumpkin slice, and a Coca-Cola, providing a well-rounded and delicious meal that’s sure to satisfy
Updated 21 July 2024
Waad Hussain
Nestled in the bustling heart of Riyadh, Katsu Sando offers an authentic slice of Japan right in the Kingdom’s capital. This cozy eatery, with its minimalist yet elegant decor, beautifully marries traditional Japanese elements with modern touches, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Katsu Sando specializes in Japanese sandwiches, presenting a diverse menu perfect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The restaurant’s commitment to cleanliness is evident in every detail, from the meticulous packaging to the tasteful decoration, ensuring a casual yet refined dining experience.
A standout on the breakfast menu is the tuna onigiri. This delightful dish strikes the perfect balance of flavor and texture, making it an ideal light start to your day. For those with a sweet tooth, the fruit sando is a must-try; it combines fresh fruit with soft, pillowy Japanese bread, offering a refreshing and satisfying treat.
For lunch, Katsu Sando’s bento delight is a great option. It features donburi chicken with rice, crab onigiri, a pumpkin slice, and a Coca-Cola, providing a well-rounded and delicious meal that’s sure to satisfy.
The restaurant’s menu is diverse, catering to various tastes and preferences. Whether you’re in the mood for a light breakfast, a hearty lunch, or a satisfying dinner, Katsu Sando has something to offer. Their creative combinations and high-quality ingredients ensure a unique and memorable dining experience.
Katsu Sando not only offers delicious Japanese sandwiches but also promises a pleasant dining experience that will leave you wanting more.
For more updates and information, visit their Instagram @katsusando_sa.
Where We Are Going Today: ‘Cookie Boo’ in Hayy Jameel, Jeddah
The crazy chocolate cookie is a chocolate lover’s dream, filled with cream cheese and dark and white chocolate
Updated 03 September 2024
Nada Hameed
If you’re in Jeddah and craving a sweet treat, head to the recently opened Cookie Boo in Hayy Jameel.
One of the highlights is how they serve their cookies: warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies with ice-cold milk. It’s the ideal pairing, especially when you dip the warm cookie into the chilly milk for the ultimate bite. And if you’re vegan, they’ve got you covered with coconut milk and almond milk options.
Aside from the classics, they also offer some unique stuffed cookies that are worth trying. Their matchy matcha cookies, stuffed with cream cheese and raspberries, are a delicious blend of sweet and tangy.
The crazy chocolate cookie is a chocolate lover’s dream, filled with cream cheese and dark and white chocolate. The caramel crunch cookie, filled with caramelized chocolate, will be satisfying especially if you’re a caramel lover.
If you enjoy baking at home, you can buy frozen cookie dough and bake fresh cookies for your loved ones. The dough, which costs SR55 ($14), is enough to make eight cookies.
I tried the stuffed cookie box, which allowed me to sample three flavors. Cookie Boo also offers a box of six classic chocolate chip cookies with two sauces.
To complement their cookies, Cookie Boo’s menu features regular and iced coffees, as well as matcha lattes. I opted for a matcha latte with coconut milk, although the additional SR5 charge was a bit of a downside.
Cookie Boo also sells matcha powder, tote bags and T-shirts featuring their funky cookie mascot and other fun designs.
For updates and more details check their Instagram @cookieboo_sa.
In Noug’s gelato recipe, camel milk, which helps produce a thick, creamy consistency, is the primary ingredient
Updated 02 September 2024
Jasmine Bager
With 2024 being the “Year of the Camel,” lovers of the indigenous “ships of the desert” can sink their spoons into creamy, lactose-free, premium gelato from Noug, a PIF-funded company from Sawani.
All seven distinct gelato flavors made from camel milk are now available at select local Saudi supermarkets across the Kingdom.
While camels have long been symbols of the country, few households in modern Saudi cities consume camel milk as part of their daily diet.
Noug, a relatively new brand on the market, has been expanding its business model rapidly in recent years. Launched this summer, the gelato offers customers a sweet way to rediscover the merits of camel milk.
In Noug’s gelato recipe, camel milk, which helps produce a thick, creamy consistency, is the primary ingredient. Since gelato is also churned at a much slower speed than ice cream, less air gets into the mix, making the cool dessert denser and richer.
We tried the coffee and cardamom flavor. As a lover of coffee, gelato and cardamom, I was a bit hesitant to try this camel milk version, but once I did, it truly hit the spot. It did not taste “weird” at all, but rather like gelato I might find somewhere in Europe, only with a distinctly Saudi flavoring and better packaging.
Each container includes a small spoon underneath the lid, which is convenient. The branding is on point too, with a camel-shaped barcode at the back. It was enjoyable and not foreign at all to my tongue.
Noug opened its first brick-and-mortar shop in the Saudi capital last year. Since then, it has established branches in AlUla, Jeddah, Makkah and a series of trucks in Alkhobar. It also offers delivery via various food apps.
Supermarkets now stock the cool stuff in the freezer aisle, so you can pick up a flavor — or all seven — to try on your next visit to the frozen dessert section. Each one goes for SR17 ($4).
Gail’s Bakery co-founder dismisses claims of Israeli ownership as ‘ridiculous’
Updated 31 August 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: The co-founder and chief executive of London’s Gail's Bakery, Tom Molnar, has addressed claims that the bakery is Israel-owned and opposed to the ceasefire, calling these allegations “ridiculous.”
In an interview with The Times, Molnar said: “Gail’s proudly has Jewish roots and there’s plenty of stuff out there celebrating our heritage and history, but it’s not true it’s Israel-owned.
“There’s some just crazy stuff on the web thinking we are funding Israel, which is just completely ridiculous. We’re a wholly UK-based business, paying UK taxes, it’s just ludicrous and I think it needs to be called out,” Molnar added.
The backlash against the bakery has been growing over the past month, fueled by posts like one from author Salma Ibrahim on X, who wrote: “Guys, Gail’s is an Israeli company. Another one to boycott along with Starbucks and Pret.” Her post garnered over 3,700 shares and likes, reaching nearly 300,000 people.
Where We Are Going Today: ‘Blanca Pizzeria’ restaurant in Riyadh
Blanca Pizzeria, which won the 2024 Caterer Saudi award, also offers a full menu of non-pizza items
Updated 30 August 2024
Jasmine Bager
Blanca Pizzeria is an award-winning restaurant with outlets in Riyadh, Jeddah, Alkhobar and Tabuk.
It offers about 20 varieties of pizzas, including garlic shrimp, pumpkin, meat, as well as regular options.
If you dine at the eatery, there is complimentary flatbread to start the meal.
Blanca Pizzeria, which won the 2024 Caterer Saudi award, also offers a full menu of non-pizza items.
Soups, several fresh salad options and other dishes are available. The pasta selection is extensive, and includes an oven pasta dish.
Arab News enjoyed the spaghetti eggplant for SR46 ($12).
For drinks, Blanca serves a classic mojito, a passion fruit version and a berry option, for SR35 each. We opted for the berry mojito, which was highly recommended by our waiter. Sparkling or still water bottles are also available, as well as sodas.
There are dishes designed for sharing, such as the bruschetta, truffle risotto and the popular “In Parmesan” option, or pasta alla ruota, which has chefs prepare a pasta or risotto dish in a hollowed-out cheese wheel.
Diners can also enjoy the popular creme brulee for SR33.
Saudi fitness coach Najia Alfadl: Breaking barriers and building communities through sport
‘Knowing that you never fail, but you always learn, is key,’ says Najia Alfadl
Updated 30 August 2024
Nada Alturki
RIYADH: Najia Alfadl — whose first name could be interpreted in Arabic as “safe haven” — has devoted her career to being just that.
Alfadl, a Saudi fitness coach currently based in Dubai, is breaking barriers by empowering women of all ages to transform their lives through sports, and emphasizing inclusivity and community support.
“The Najia you see today versus 10 years ago is completely different, and that’s why I respect sport,” Alfadl tells Arab News. “It empowered me. I see it firsthand, not only with myself, but with the women that I coach — how confident they are, how their self-worth improves.
Najia Alfadl. (Supplied)
“I believe that sport teaches you valuable life skills that no one can take away from you: discipline, resilience, critical thinking. Any obstacle that you see as a big obstacle is honestly your mind tricking itself,” she continues. “If you know your ‘why,’ your ‘how,’ ‘when’ and ‘who,’ you become a powerhouse. Once I found my passion and I knew my ‘why’, I stuck with it. I’m here 10 years later doing exactly what I was hoping I would do.”
Alfadl began her fitness journey in Saudi before moving to Dubai where she now works as a strength and conditioning coach at gym chain Wellfit.
After graduating high school in 2014, Alfadl dove deeper into sport at university. She describes that as a “test” period, in which she was exploring her options. She began with boxing classes alongside her cousin Halah Alhamrani (now known as Saudi Arabia’s first female boxing gym owner), shadowing her as she taught classes, before moving onto CrossFit and calisthenics.
Najia Alfadl. (Supplied)
“That was where the calling happened…I’m a true believer in the multidisciplinary approach. At the end of the day, fitness isn’t just a phase in your life, it’s for the long haul, so you think about longevity,” she says. “And fitness today, especially if you’re young, looks different in six months or three years. I just made sure that I was enjoying and taking the benefits out of everything.”
Alfadl earned a Bachelor’s in speech and language pathology from Dar Al-Hekma University. During her time there, she had already started to think about coaching professionally, and spent many weekends traveling to workshops and seminars across the GCC, earning several training certificates along the way. And she found that her major was of great assistance in her coaching career.
“The common ground they have is communication, whether it’s visual, tactile, or verbal. You can attend as many courses as you want and be as certified as possible but (it’s worthless if) you can’t convey what you’re supposed to. Communication is key,” she says.
Najia Alfadl. (Supplied)
Alfadl invested much of her time at university delving into the educational aspect of coaching and the psychological nuances of fitness that are key to delivering highly technical classes like CrossFit, which incorporates weightlifting, gymnastics, and conditioning.
“You have to be credible. People have to believe in you,” she says, stressing that that means not just the way in which a coach communicates, but also ensuring that the information communicated is accurate and safe.
She moved to Dubai in 2021, having been head CrossFit coach at Alhamrani’s Flagboxing Fight Like A Girl Boxing Studio. When she got the offer from Wellfit, she knew that, having always challenged her clients to explore new horizons, she had to practice what she preached.
“The idea of moving was scary after growing up and being in Saudi for so long, but the things that scare you are the ones that really end up having the most impact in your life, and that’s why I say I’m very fortunate that I took the risk of moving away from my family and getting into this crazy, rewarding, and inspirational endeavor,” she says.
But she believes that beginning her career in the Kingdom, as opposed to a saturated overseas market, was of huge benefit.
“My career really prospered, and was cultivated, because of the upbringing, the culture, the community, and the need for sports in Saudi. I carried a lot of those values to Dubai — building communities, creating educational spaces, and building awareness around the importance of sports, and mental health; taking care of yourself not just physically but spiritually,” she says.
The shift to Dubai also allowed Alfadl to expand her client base, as in the Kingdom, she was limited to working only with women. Whoever she is coaching, though, she is committed to instilling in them the confidence to conquer whatever they set their minds to.
Her top fitness tips are not focused on the physical, she says, but the mental, beginning with finding a sporting activity that “nurtures you spiritually as well.” Secondly, she says, “Knowing that you never fail, but you always learn, is key. And keeping that knowledge and seeking knowledge is what’s going to lead you to improvement. Never assume you know everything — always seek knowledge.”
Her final piece of advice is to be kind to yourself and listen to — but also challenge — your “inner voice.”
“I want you to reach the conclusion of your capability on your own, but with my support and guidance. It’s an open dialogue, but you have to be open to constructive criticism because you leave the session learning valuable life skills that you can apply day to day,” she says. “With sports, you see an improvement in the way that you think, your memory, and how you perceive yourself too. And that’s the real beauty of it.”
