The Villa Restaurant

Mr Finland loves The Villa Restaurant in Aruba St.  He is of the opinion that The Villa Restaurant serves the best Thai food in Riyadh.

Not being a Thai food connoisseur I couldn't tell you if he's right about that, but the meal we had, which was considerable, was certainly consumed rapidly enough, always a good indication of whether or not the food is up to par.

My favourite because I love prawns

Hubster is a rice kind of guy.

Mr Finland had the rest.  Seriously!

The Villa Restaurant resides in a rather unassuming building located a long way from the main restaurant and shopping strip of Riyadh.  It reminds me of the busy Vietnamese restaurants you can find down Victoria St in Melbourne - a small place with hardly enough room to swing a cat,  no attention to decor  (it's certainly not fancy), busy, quick turn over of customers and great tasting food.

Our meal all on a small table squished on a corner of the family section.

I'm guessing The Villa Restaurant  used to be a workers local and has undergone a huge surge in popularity over recent times  Their increased fame, however, has not gone to their heads - the place still looks like a local,  and, though the food is presented simply, its flavours continue to please the patrons, as do the prices.  In fact, knowing Mr Finland as I do, if this place didn't provide value for money, he wouldn't have a bar of it.

Mr Finland is actually a bit of star at The Villa Restaurant.  We discovered that he usually rocks up on his loudly revving Harley, gunning the engine, just a little, as he parks outside the singles section.  The night we tagged along with him the waiters were calling him Mr Vroom Vroom and were rather shocked to see him in the Family Section with guests.  As I mentioned earlier, he loves this place and is a frequent visitor.

The Villa Restaurant has the typical separation of the sexes to be expected of a dining establishment in Riyadh.  The Family Section spans through two rooms and it appears that increased volume of patrons required knocking down a wall into the neighbours place.  If the Family Section is a little crowded, the Singles, according to the boys, is more so.  Both can get very busy, especially on weekends.

The staff are kept on their toes filling orders, carting meals and piling the dish trolley to the rafters as they scurry about clearing away tables.  Even being so busy, they still manage to crack a joke, smile and wave as they realise they're in the line of fire of my camera as I'm taking pictures of the opening hours sign.

Yes, if you are looking for a change from the glitter and cost of Tahalia St dining but don't want to miss out on tasty food, then The Villa Restaurant is definitely worth a visit.