Selma Roth
Saudi Gazette
Whatever it is you fancy — breakfast, lunch or dinner; a small bite or a three-course feast; something light and healthy or a splurge of indulgence; or perhaps just a coffee? — Casper & Gambini’s serves it all. And in good taste, that is.
The Lebanese “all day restaurant-café”, as the concept is described on their website, opened its doors in November last year on Jeddah’s bustling Tahlia Street, but is not completely new to the Kingdom. It entered the market in 2003 with a stand-alone franchise branch in Jeddah’s Hamra area, which had to shut doors several years later. The restaurant came back not only with a developed menu, décor, and quality of service; the Lebanese management also learned from the previous experience, deciding to open this time in partnership with a Saudi company rather than leaving their brand in the hands of a franchisee.
The result of this new endeavor is mouthwatering food with an emphasis on fresh and healthful ingredients. The menu not only offers an extensive variety of soups and salads, sandwiches and burgers, pizzas and pastas, and grills; it also includes a decent breakfast menu that encompasses all-time Continental favorites like omelets, pancakes and croissants in addition to Arabic-style labnah and halloumi cheese platters. Opening each morning at 8 a.m. and serving breakfast until far after noon, Casper & Gambini’s caters to early birds as well as night owls.
When entering the 1,450 square meter restaurant, which spans two floors and can serve up to 290 guests, it is clear that this place is still in its experimental phase of operation. The décor, with brown, metallic and grey hues, feels a bit too sterile. A large partition does not — as one would expect — divide the singles from families, but is created perhaps to break the enormous space up into cozier parts. The somewhat frosty atmosphere, however, immediately melts when one of the waiters comes up to your table. From that moment, the visit turns into a warm and heartening experience.
Casper & Gambini’s operates a strict non-smoking policy, which should be needless to say in a city that does not allow cigarettes or shisha in its cafes and restaurants anymore; however, given that not all restaurants adhere to this law it is worth mentioning it. Besides, it underlines the restaurant’s focus on health and its family-friendly approach.
Guests are greeted with a delightful assortment of home-baked breads served with a goat cheese and dried tomato spread, setting the right tone for the rest of the visit. Making up your mind is not an easy task: the variety Casper & Gambini’s offers is impressive, and nearly all dishes sound appealing, or at least they did to us. If you are going for a three-course banquet or just fancy a salad, we can highly recommend you to take off with the chicken (or chicken-less) Santa-Fe salad, a perfect blend of iceberg lettuce, beans and corn with palatable guacamole and mango chutney finished off with crispy tortilla straws and citrus dressing. A true feast of flavors and textures!
Picking a main course is not an easier undertaking, but if needed, your waiter will be more than happy to assist you, while the cooks have no problem to adapt the food — freshly prepared from scratch in the enormous and spotless kitchen that occupies the entire first floor — to their guests’ dietary needs and preferences. If you’re watching your calories, Casper & Gambini’s offers low-cal salads and burgers, but most of the ‘regular’ food is also full of fresh ingredients and low on salt. After all, it’s easy to add salt if the taste is too bland to your liking, but impossible to remove it once it’s there, must have been the chef’s thought. Not many people know that Casper & Gambini’s originally started as a delivery concept and then opened a coffeehouse before it became a full-fledged restaurant-café. Up to today, it continues to serve its own coffee blend that has been awarded with the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) Golden Cup Award for seven years in a row. If you are lucky, the in-house barista will come to your table to make you an impressive cup of Latte Art. Apart from the standard — though not so standard when it comes to taste — espresso and cappuccino, Casper & Gambini’s also offers creations like the scrumptious Toffee Nut Latte and Tiramisu Latte. Coffee for dessert, anyone?
Though trying Casper & Gambini’s coffee is a must for any coffee addict, the dessert menu has several items that should not be missed either. The restaurant offers “Mini & Indulgent” items for those who cannot choose or just want to finish their meal on a small sweet note; it also has an extensive list of “Desserts & Sweets” that includes all kinds of classics like chocolate cake, apple tart, chocolate fondant and fruit salad.
It is clear: No matter what time of day you pop in and regardless of your craving, Casper & Gambini’s will be able to cater to your needs. Let’s just hope that firstly, they will expand to the rest of the Kingdom very soon; and that secondly, they will shortly start their delivery service in the Kingdom, so that even if you have no time to dine in you can enjoy their fresh foods and drinks!
