Tea and Falafel

If there’s anyone in this city who has their finger on the collective Jeddawi pulse, it’s Jeddah Blog’s Abdullah Yahya. Whether it’s honest advice on the best coffee shops  or the latest restaurant openings and dining options this is the one person you want among your handy Whatsapp contacts.

For this blog post, Abdullah has been on the hunt for a speciality breakfast hangout and he chanced upon the charmingly named Tea & Falafel on Madina Road. Scroll down to read Abdullah’s review, see what he ordered and find out how much he awarded the outlet in the all-important Jeddah Blog rating.

Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day, but many agree that it is indeed their favorite meal of the day. As Jeddawis, in the past we only had limited options for breakfast places, but this has been changing quickly in recent years.

If social media is any indication, breakfast joints are all the rage, and of all the times we eat out, the longest we wait for an empty table is usually when we go out for breakfast.

Rustic and homely at the same time

One of the latest places to open in Jeddah is Tea & Falafel which is located on Madinah Branch Road (address: 6614 Abi Haitham Al Ansari, Al Muhammadiyah District, Al Muhammadiyah District,, Jeddah 23624). Although it is still in its soft opening phase, it is very popular already.

The tastefully decorated single’s section

It has a single section downstairs and a family section upstairs. It’s not a large restaurant and there are less than 10 tables in the family section, and maybe as many in the singles section. It is nicely decorated and brightly coloured with upbeat quotes. My favourite is their take on BFF as “Best Falafel Forever”

The spice bar

Part tea shop, part restaurant, it serves Arabic food with an emphasis on falafel. You can indulge in all of your falafel fantasies here with creations such as falafel nachos, falafel waffles, manakeesh with falafel, etc.

We loved the bright sunlight pouring in.

Since it was our first time, we played it safe and ordered an Arabic breakfast plate (40SR) which came with samplers of Arabic traditional biggest hits (hummus, falafel, foul,  manakeesh, hummus, foul, labneh, tahini, makdous, jam, potato wedges, pickles, and pita bread). It comes with a pot of English breakfast tea but we replaced that with Karak tea.

I also ordered fresh orange juice (SR14 ), falafel stuffed with nuts (serving of two pieces, SR6), and zaatar mankeesh (SR8)

Za’atar Mankeesh

Karak Tea

Arabic breakfast sampler

Everything we tried was good, but the falafel, we thought, were exceptional. They were not too greasy and they tasted pretty good especially the falafel stuffed with nuts. I also liked the Karak tea.

Next time inshaAllah we will be trying other items on the menu, and you can bet there will be a next time, because not only did we like the food, but the service was good, the ambience was cool, and the prices were excellent. We ended up paying SR68 for 2 persons. Great value for money.

Jeddah Blog rating:

Ambience 8/10

Service 8/10

Food 9/10

Value 9/10

Overall rating 8.5/10

-photo credits: Abdullah Yahya

The Perfect Cup of Tea at Teayana

Teayana has been a firm favourite of mine for years. Their Belgian Waffles, Chocofruit Mana’eesh (with lashings of Nutella), Apple Strudel (sadly discontinued) and Golden Assam Tea can lift my family’s mood on any given evening. Their breakfasts are yummy too, and will totally need a blog post of their own. For this week’s review, however, our adventurous Zareen Muzaffar visits Teayana and bravely experiments with some new and exotic blends of tea.

For all tea lovers out there, I have some good news for you. The Teayana tea lounge is the place to be if you want to try out different kinds of tea flavours. I tried Teayana’s Spicy Tea Latte and although the blend was too spicy for me, the overall experience was good and I promised myself to try the simple Tea Latte on my next visit.

Teayana Spiced Chai Latte.

My friends ordered the Relaxation Tea and Digestion Tea. Digesting tea is a  classic combination of multiple herbs which act to calm the nerves and settle the digestive system. Ingredients include Chamomile flowers, peppermint, fennel and anise seed. After being infused, it is light yellow with a taste of mild minty anise sweetness. It may be enjoyed plain at any time of the day, but best drunk after meals. Relaxation tea includes fine cut organic rooibos herb with leaves of strawberry, lemon, nettle, fennel and a few orange peels. The taste is extremely mellow and calming.

Teayana’s food menu boasts of paninis, sandwiches, man’eesh, and desserts include their all-time favourite carrot cake, waffles, crêpes and a bunch of other options.

We received our tea with a small attractive timer that made us feel tea is serious business. To get the best from your tea, the correct amount of time must be allowed in order to diffuse the flavours, which enhances the taste and effects intended. We were asked to give approximately five minutes before trying the healthy blends of tea. The aroma emanating from freshly brewed pots of tea is worth a visit, and the food is a cherry on the top. Although I was in the mood for tea during my visit, the coffee lover in me really wanted to try out the caramel latte.

The Awesome Tea Tower full of various tea leaves stored in colour-coded canisters.

The bottom floor is home to the wide variety of tea that Teayana offers, and you can buy 100 grams of loose leaf tea for SR 100. But if you’d rather give some blend a try before purchasing a lot of it, then you can ask them to give you 50 grams instead. This would be a better option for those who are still experimenting with flavors to find their personal favourite. The tea tower on the main floor displays tea canisters that contain 150 tea types in three main colours making them easy to identify and choose from. Each colour represents a tea category, so the green represents green tea, the red canisters contain black tea and the orange containers hold Herbal tea.

Exquisite tea Sets for sale.

The varieties of tea include black, white and green tea, along with oolong and herbal tea leaves. The indicators of tea strength will allow you to determine how much you need depending on whether you are in the mood for something mild or strong. They also sell a beautiful assortment of elegant tea pots, cups, mugs and loose leaf jars. There are some gift baskets available too making the perfect gift for that special friend who loves tea and would love receiving a gorgeous tea set complete with a great blend of tea.

Perk up your daily sip of tea with these elegant Teayana Tea Sets.

I just hope the Teayana management can hire more staff members because the orders take too long to arrive, and I saw only two waiters rushing all over the place trying their best to serve everyone in a timely manner. The good news is that Teayana now offers delivery of certain food items from various locations. Details available on their website.

Teayana has three branches in Jeddah:

– Teayana Hamra, 
Andalus street, Planet food Mall
02-668 1660
– Teayana Khaldiyah, 
Rawdah Street, Lines Mall
02-606 2646
– Teayana Redsea Mall, 
Malek Road, Redsea Mall, Gate #9
02-215 0620

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