You'd be cray-zy not to try this new seafood restaurant in Riyadh
You’ll be hooked…
There’s something special about dining on seafood: the visuals (mussel shells, glistening scales, jewel-like roe), the textures (springy calamari, tooth-tender fish, and plump prawns), and the vast array of flavours from crustaceans to cold-water giants make for endlessly exciting eating.
While Riyadh may not be an ocean-kissing city, you can still score some great seafood restaurants here, with the latest exciting addition being Baheg.
Located in Olaya, this highly acclaimed seafood-only restaurant from Egypt has only opened in April, but the venue is perennially packed every week.
Drive along the popular Tahlia Street, and you’ll notice a bold, bright blue exterior with a large cartoon character of a gleeful, cap-sporting fisherman (which bears a striking resemblance to the owner) dangling a fish. It’s like a scene out of a Pixar movie.
As soon as you step into the restaurant, you’re immersed in a bustling seafood paradise. Think a fishing shack-themed setting hung with nets and boats, decorative fish mounts, a colourful, thrown-together space that’s a little bit tiki, a little bit piratey.
To represent the restaurant and its owner’s roots and heritage, there’s also a mural of the Citadel of Qaitbay, a 15th-century defensive fortress located on the Mediterranean Sea coast in Alexandria, Egypt.
It’s all brilliant, but in a super quirky and eclectic kind of way.
Expect casual service, plastic silverware, and a minimal dress code. But food is the hero at Baheg, and you can always expect the freshest of catches on your plate.
All you have to do is walk up to the seafood display near the entrance to place your order. Grilled or fried, you decide.
The homey neighbourhood restaurant matches simple recipes with classic Mediterranean flavours and specialises in an excellent plate of high-quality seafood.
Once you get a taste, it’s not hard to see why Baheg is a firm favourite amongst residents here. Their out-of-this-world butter shrimps and grilled seabass are still blessing our sweet dreams to this day.
Baheg is definitely a neighbourhood hotspot that offers no-frills dining, fresh seafood and big flavours. There may be a line, especially during dinner, but their food is worth the wait.
Baheeg, 6457 Prince Muhammad Ibn Abd Al Aziz, Al Olaya, 3724, Riyadh 12241, daily 1pm to 1am. @baheg.sa
Images: @teg_designs