Apparently No. 37 of MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants: Restaurant Porterhouse (4. December 2022)
Since the Restaurant Porterhouse is apparently No. 37 of the World’s 50 Best in the Middle East, I decided to give this place a try. The fact that it was also recommended to me by a colleague added to the curiosity to go try it. Once you’re seated, you’re served “bread and a butter candle”. What I didn’t get at first that the candle is indeed a butter candle. So, you can dip your bread in the molten ‘wax’ (which is actually just butter). Not that it was very exciting in terms of flavour, but it was definitely something I hadn’t seen before.
Since the waiting time was not exactly non-existent, I was happy to get an “amuse bouche” in the form of some kind of croquette. It was nice, and crispy.
And since it took a bit longer than they had expected, I assume, I was served two more bites with a quite generous amount of sauce to dip them in.
I decided to go for a few different places and had the “street corn (grilled sweet corn with Caesar sauce, nuts and seeds and Parmesan)” (42.00 SAR) as a starter. It was quite a messy exercise, but a delicious one. I love corn anyway, but the fact that it was coated in nuts, seeds, and Parmesan really added to the flavour and texture profile of this dish.
When I saw that you can get quail, I figured, this is something I should try, since I don’t eat that too often. So, the “Peri-Peri quail (grilled quail in spicy peri peri sauce made in our Josper oven)” (64.00 SAR) turned out to be three quails, making it a much bigger portion than expected! Since they are not entirely easy to eat with fork and knife, the attentive waiter was so kind to bring plastic gloves, with which it was then easy to eat and enjoy the quails.
As a main course, I went for the “New Zealand grass-fed tenderloin (250gr) “(196.00 SAR) which was, honestly, much better than I had expected. The meat was cooked at perfect temperature and truly enjoyable.
And in combination with the “roasted Brussels sprout and bacon” (34.00 SAR) and the even better “dates BBQ sauce” (7.00 SAR), it was a true pleasure and very enjoyable.
The place is quite nice as well in terms of interior design – simple, however, a bit too dark in terms of lights.
Overall, I definitely liked the Restaurant Porterhouse, but I am not sure, I would rank the place among the 50 Best in the Middle East. To be fair, not that I have tried much better, but comparing it to the dishes you get in Europe (or other places of the world), it just feels a bit common (on a high level). In any case, booking in advance is not necessary, since the place was basically empty.
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Porterhouse
Prince Muhammad Ibn Abd Al Aziz, Al Olaya
12313 Riyadh (KSA)
Tel.: +966 11 217 00 88
E-Mail: info@porterhouse-sa.com
Homepage: http://www.porterhouse-sa.com
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
