Last night saw the opening of the first Sawani Al Aker Restaurant, four years after Basem Al Aker launched his first Al Aker Sweet shop. His new restaurant chain brings to Qatar a wide range of Arabic cuisine under one roof. I popped along to snap some photos of the event and sample some of the fairs on offer.
As I expected the place was packed, but they seemed to manage to get the food out within a reasonable time considering the number of people and the fact it was their first night. The smell was amazing. They bake their own breads on site and use the same oven to cook meat dishes that are served in the same container they are cooked in. The shawarma and BBQ grill area were going flat out producing plate after plate of fabulous looking food. I only sampled some of their starters with some bread and let me tell you now it was damn good.
Of course, because Sawani Al Aker is right next door to an Al Aker Sweets, like me many people had their fill of savory and then went next door for their sweet. Those sat outside could have both delivered to their table.
Expect to see branches of Sawani popping up all over Qatar.
