Pampas brings authentic Argentinean cuisine to Jeddah

The newly-opened Pampas restaurant at the Assila Hotel, a Rocco Forte Hotel, located on Prince Mohamed Bin Abdulaziz Street in Jeddah, offers a culinary experience with the Argentinean-style spectacle of chefs grilling meat and seafood in an open kitchen.

Pampas offers a large range of Argentinean signature beef cuts and a superb seafood selection that includes whole Canadian lobster a la parrilla, king prawns, and grilled hammour and najil from the Red Sea.

The menu for ‘la parilla’ includes the Pampas mixed grill, the lamb and goat mixed grill, and the sea food mixed platter, all combining a delicious range of the finest ingredients, cooked to perfection on the grill.

Other signature dishes on the Pampas menu include Argentinean tapas such as chard fritters with aioli and tomato coulis, and delicious starters such as Patagonian octopus and Granny Smith sorbet and Argentinean king prawns with potatoes, aged cream and caviar. Argentinean empanadas served with llajua sauce and Patagonian seafood chowder with mussels and scallops are only some of the other highlights from the menu. For desert, a selection of Argentinean sweets including alfajores, panqueques, pasta frola, and churros con chocolate offer

The restaurant space was created by Olga Polizzi, director of design for Rocco Forte Hotels, and renowned designer Martin Brudnizki. Different from the rest of the hotel, Pampas’ design reflects the South American country, with an aged oak herringbone floor, oak wall panelling, a hammered brass bar front and embossed leather banquettes which have been beaten to resemble worn leather riding saddles. The Argentinean theme is further emphasized by a painting of a bull, specially selected from Assila Hotel’s extensive art collection.

Pampas chef de cuisine is Lucas Adrian Farias, an Argentinean national who began his career in Buenos Aires and has a degree in culinary arts from the Argentinean Culinary Institute. Celebrating the opening he said: “I am proud to bring the authentic taste of my home country to Assila Hotel and Jeddah. I look forward to welcoming guests to Pampas where they can enjoy a new fine dining experience and savour the very best of Argentinean cuisine.”