Café Boulud - Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh

At the Four Seasons, it’s an experimental moment rather than one that can be replicated. Because this gastronomic experiment, quite unique in Riyadh, and even in the whole country, with its extended menu, its bill of over 1,000 SAR and its luxury service, is unquestionably a gamble, played out only two nights a week to a very limited audience. Under the guidance of Daniel Boulud - with a convincing New York and French signature - Chef Thierry officiates as if in the big league, optimizing supplies while remaining dependent on a menu fixed for two months. Counter service limits intimacy and creates an insider's atmosphere, not without its lack of comfort, but therefore allowing you to concentrate on the plate. After some fine appetizers (mushroom tartelette, brillat-savarin lemon cucumber, truffle potato tube), a number of three toques dishes give us hope for the best, with osciètre caviar, fennel purée, lemon, pickles, gambas tartar, orange hollandaise lobster tartelette with grande syrup and guacamole for an original and tasty combination, pleasant pyramid ravioli (mushroom, truffle, ricotta, comté, chestnut), the well-processed cod (it doesn't come out of the morning waves, but the preparation is interesting), the flavors a little too mixed with a pleasant pear purée, before the chicken foie gras date sesame based on the idea of an Orient-Express Paris-Medina trip, and finally the inevitable wagyu, the most common animal in Riyadh, correctly processed with a honey mustard. The vacherin, with a good meringue - passion fruit, pineapple, lemon - like the "triple chocolate" - cherry marmalade gavotte ice cream - are fine dessert exercises, quite rich and classically made. Service lacks a little expertise at this level, but is precise and attentive, while mocktails and non-alcoholic wines keep flowing as a commendable attempt at meal pairing.