Zaatar W Zeit restaurant - Doha Rayyan

I just happened to be hungry when in Al- Rayyan and  I stumbled upon this small eatery . It had some retro feel -  the waiter offered us to pull down the spring blinds as we were sitting near the windows . The napkins were decorated  with the restaurant's logo .It was printed on recycled paper . Before the food was served we got a little sachet with hand cleaning gel .
 The menu's selection is not very big . Salads /pizzas /wraps /manakesh -desserts .  We had a zooza salad  and a traditional pizza  and finally ktiramisu . The salad came in a large transparent bowl  with a lots of  lollo rosso  , potatoes slices ,boiled eggs ,beans ,tuna ,olives ,tomatoes ... mustard vinegar dressing .It was a good start. The pizza   dough was quite thin - it came with cheese  and sauce  and  some meat and mushroom . It was tasty but not that typical Italian taste - rather like a home  made  one! The ktiramisu came in a little cup -  this is their " heavenly version " of the famous sweet treat . I could not find out why it was different . It was simply good .
All of those reminded me a bit the eateries of the  Hungarian railways in the 60's  when I would travel with my dad . Might be it was because of Lebanon ?I remember I heard a lot about it in my childhood and I always wished to visit it . As I wished to visit other places in the Middle East like   the beautiful ancient  lands of Iraq , Yemen , Gaza ... all are bombed or being destroyed in other ways . My thoughts went far  from this simple  Lebanese restaurant ... where we had a casual , urban lunch ,,,
 I might try their breakfast in the Souq Waqif one day . They got terrace and the weather still allows us to enjoy outdoor breakfasts .

 Did you know ? Zaatar is a spice mix in Arabia .
 Zeit is the name of the olives in Arabic ...

Biryani Hut - review

  We tried a  restaurant in Al- Wakra - it is not very well known in Doha . Biryani Hut - as its name suggests it specialised on meat with rice and it is not very big .
It is easy to find -by the main street of Wakra before the Pearl roundabout  next to a famous junk food restaurant .
 We ordered 1. Persian byrian 
                           2 . chiken drumsticks  tandoori style
                           3. tiger prawn 
                          4 . lamb curry
All of them were tasty . All of them tasted the  same.  Four different dishes !!!
As they were made with the same sauce .
The persian byriani was supposed to come with minced meat and dried  fruit . It had no one single fruit in it and  it came with chicken cubes .
The chicken drumsticks did not look or taste as it came from the oven  - it tasted like some chicken curry put into the oven for 10 minutes .It was also very small portion .
 The tiger prawns were not tiger prawns but much smaller kind of shrimps that was also very small serving .
The lamb curry was real curry and no rice with it  with four cubes of lamb and a lots of heavy and spicy sauce .
Their menu was promising a lots of different and very special flavours . We did not taste any special flavour - just the usual Indian curry flavor that is served in Doha wide like in the Caravan restaurant for example . It was not worth the money and the trip to Wakra for this place .
 However try it once  - you might be luckier than us. I read in the reviews that sometimes they have good chef sometimes not .

California Tortilla in Doha

It was during the latest food festival that  I noticed long line  in front of  California Tortilla's tent  so II decided then to visit this place one day  and try the food there .It is easy to find - it is nearly opposite the Chili's  restaurant which is near the Ramada junction -  it is next to the Korean Garden restaurant .
Easy to find the place but the parking is not so easy  though  behind the building there are some chances to find  a place to park  one's car .

California Tortilla  - as its name suggests it is about  Mexican cuisine  with American twist .

I was in a hurry when I ordered  Quesadilla so I asked the  Filipino cashier to suggest me one - and without paying attention to what she told me I took it . What can go wrong with a  quesadilla   - I thought ? Well it was sweet ! It was a  BBQ sauce type ! Oh nooo ! I will never ask a Filipino to recommend me a dish again , They are into sweet sauces on stews -it is something that I can not bear .
 The grilled chicken salad was good . The chicken breast was tender and generous size .The avocado  dip was fantastic  but the salad itself was not very original - some lettuce and tomatoes .It came in a fun eatable bowl .
 The same went for the grilled beefsteak salad . My kids loved the nachos and the kids meal  burrito .

 Prices were less than in the Chilies   but   quesadillas   are more expensive than in the DQ . I must admit that I prefer that  one .

I am not an expert of Mexican food but some 20 years ago I   remember visiting one Mexican restaurant  in Heidelberg , Germany  - it was an open buffet then . It surprised me then how much the dishes  tasted like our Hungarian dishes .
 Here I did not have this experience at all . I would call it not Mexican but " healthy version of American fast food with Mexican inspiration " . Why was there a long queue  at the Food festival at their stall ? The only explanation I found is that there are so many Californians are living among us in Doha . They  must have been homesick .

 Service was  nice and polite / the restaurant was spacious  and clean  and they had even a play area for kids .

 Visit their page 
 See their menu

restaurants ads on the Pearl island

There are plenty of /at the Pearl Island ...