Fish Fry with a Friend

I haven't had any visitors from back home since I moved to Saudi Arabia five years ago - until this past week when an old friend from my hometown of Douglas, Arizona, came to Jeddah for business.  Mike Brady has been living in Riyadh this past year on a work assignment with his company.  Mike's sister Margaret was in my class in school. 
 
My husband suggested that we take Mike out for a very typical Jeddah style meal, so we took him to an open air fish restaurant with Bedouin style seating.  Since Jeddah lies on the coastline of the Red Sea, there are many fish eateries around the city.  Some have individual dining tents or private rooms for families.  Most restaurants have a separate dining area for single men who are not accompanied by female family members. 

First we went inside to hand select the fish we wanted from today's catch.  The restaurant staff then gutted and cleaned the fish and cooked it to order.  We ordered the fish to be deep fried. 

There was a nice undersea mural painted on the outside walls of the restaurant.  

While the fish was being prepared, we went to our seating area, which consisted of red carpets and cushions.  There were no tables and chairs at this restaurant, but most seating areas did have TVs where some guys watched a soccer game.
 
Since the restaurant wasn't that crowded, we occupied an area in the far corner in the men's section away from the other diners, and I sat with my back to them.  It was great catching up with Mike while we waited for the food to come. 

The fried fish was brought to us along with big platters of three different kinds of rice, sauces, lemons and hot green chili peppers.  My husband likes to take a bite of hot chili pepper with each mouthful of food as sweat drips  down his face.

The weather was great sitting outside eating under the stars halfway around the world from where Mike and I grew up.


Next time Mike comes, we're hoping to take him out snorkeling and fishing on the Red Sea.