Friday was my anniversary. And yes, I remembered it. We hit the one-year mark as a happily married couple, and our married friends tell us we can no longer be referred to as still being in the Honeymoon period. Whether or not this is true, I have no idea. I’m not too concerned to be honest with you. Despite being a young newly married couple in Saudi Arabia, it has been a pretty damn smooth first year. The only complaint I can have is that we only spent a week in Thailand for our honeymoon instead of two. Tough life I lead isn’t it? 

I had managed to make reservations to one of the best restaurants in town, if not the whole of the Kingdom. At the local branch of the Movenpick Hotel chain, there is an Indian restaurant run by the world’s first Michelin star rated Indian cuisine chef. While he doesn’t spend much time in Saudi Arabia (preferring to stay at his flagship restaurant in London) the menu is all his and his crew of chefs here do not disappoint. But more on the meal later. 

We actually planned to just have a quiet day and do as little as possible. Deep down, we’re simple folk, and neither of us get too worked up or riled about anything. In fact, we have never had a fight with each other. And it’s not that we’re not passionate people, we are, it’s just that we seem to agree on everything. It’s really odd. The only thing I could argue with Kirsty about is her overly high opinion of me – she seems to think that all women around here want me – but it’s not worth arguing about. I’m quite flattered she feels this way. And her sense of self has gone up no end as well. We were at a party the other night and some young gentleman’s pout nearly swallowed his head when I introduced Kirsty as my wife. I think the poor boy thought he was in with a chance. Needless to say, Kirsty felt pretty good after that. 

Once I decided to trundle out of bed yesterday, sidestepping the four cats who rule our home, I thought it was time to try the new recipe I had found. It was in a cookbook under desserts, but I thought it looked like the perfect sinful breakfast – and if you can’t sin on your anniversary when can you sin? Within 30 minutes, we were both tucking into warm strawberry sandwiches with caster sugar and vanilla ice cream for topping. Seriously scrumptious, and seriously easy to make. All you need is sliced fresh strawberries, eight pieces of bread with the crusts removed, one egg, some milk, and caster sugar. Oh, and butter. If you want the recipe, I’ll get it to you. Any single guys out there or guys who have spent a day or two in the doghouse – this might be a winning treat for you as well to help smooth things over or score, whatever your goal may be. 

Going for dinner in Saudi Arabia is tough on Kirsty because she always has to wear an abaya, the long black dress designed to cover her figure. Unlike many of the younger local girls, Kirsty doesn’t wear hers skintight. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and if they don’t want women showing their figures it’s not that much of a hardship. However, on this night, Kirsty really wanted to feel a little sexier than the abaya allows.  

We had been to the other restaurant at the Movenpick for Valentine’s Day and noticed that once inside the restaurant, the Western women had removed their abayas. Kirsty was wearing a skirt that night so she couldn’t. She would have been showing a little too much leg for comfort. So last night, knowing that she could probably ditch the abaya upon seating, she dressed accordingly.  

The restaurant is amazing. The ceilings seem a mile high and the understated décor lets you concentrate on the real reason you’re there – the food. Soft music floated through air, competing with the aromatic scents of the spices that flavored the dishes. Before we had even seen a menu, I had been won over. We had the choice of dining a la carte, or ordering from the set dinner menu, which we both chose. We would get the creamy lamb soup and fried dumpling to start, followed by a selection of tandoori. From then, we’d get four small samples from the main course menu – mine being chicken biryani, lamb and spinach, potato in cumin and yoghurt, and of course the traditional dhal (lentils). Kirsty had lamb biryani and butter chicken with the potatoes and dhal.  

These were smaller portions than you’d get if you ordered from the a la carte menu, but there was enough food for five people, let alone two. We struggled to finish our main course fair, leaving too much food for my liking. When the dessert plate came, with coriander ice cream, milk and rice pudding, and the luscious chocolate samosa, well, I left it all but the chocolate samosa.  

Of course, there was no alcohol to be found; the only drawback to a fancy dinner in Saudi Arabia. But somehow, it didn’t really matter. Sure, a glass of wine would have been nice, almost perfect perhaps, but the food was so good the wine would have suffered for it. From the first sounds of the tandoori sizzling, to the scents wafting from the ovens, to the presentation on the table; there could have been no better place to eat on our anniversary anywhere in the world.  

Kirsty’s didn't feel too well today – she ate too much on Friday. As for me, I’m just glad we’ve got another quiet evening ahead of us tonight. Although, if someone were to ask if we wanted to go back to the Maharaja Restaurant this evening, I think I might just get up off the couch and go. Enjoy the weekend everyone.