Saudi Gazette

Definitely taking the title in their stride, the Ritz Carlton, Jeddah offers the most expensive burger, rightly called the ‘Royal Burger’ for SR 5000. From the royal presentation to a mandatory ritual that involves a server pouring water on your hands over a golden tub placed at your feet, to perfuming your meal and presenting you with a bib that says ‘I had the royal burger’ it qualifies as quite an unusual experience.

“The burger is very decadent and an experience on its own,” Bernard N. Viola, General Manager of Ritz Carlton, Jeddah told Saudi Gazette.

While some have called the most expensive burger over-the-top, all-in-all ludicrous and unheard of, most wanted to know what they hype was about. So we decided to ask the chef himself. For starters, the burger consists of a portion of lobster, meat, foie gras and truffles served with tomato relish and aioli with a side of fries of course.

“Living here in Saudi Arabia for almost 2 years now, I knew that the Royal Burger would be a huge talking point, I felt that the Saudi people would love to see something different here in their own backyard. The Royal Burger is something that all Saudi’s will love to talk about as their own,” Executive Chef Thomas Pendarovski told Saudi Gazette. He said the burger was invented to complement the grand scale of the palatial hotel. “ Looking back, when I first came to the property, I knew right away that the Hotel had a ‘wow’ factor. I wanted something really unique and different from the rest of the market. Everywhere I went throughout the hotel, it was grand, I wanted to make a dish with this in mind.” After several discussions with the general manager, Karamel lounge was chosen to be the perferred location that would allow everyone to see the Royal Burger up-close and be a part of something special.

“We have the best of the best. The beef is a wagyu plus 12 grade, it is the highest grade you can get in the market. Having said that you can only get X amount of meat from the animal, given the conditions and so it has to be the perfect storm for everything to come together. It is stuffed with foie gras from France. Then you have a lobster tail from Canada, which is again best of the best because it comes from cold waters. We use home made tomato relish and get Italian black summer truffles and Porcini mushrooms. As for the bun we have the best baker in the company, crème de la crème and second to none. Because you want to taste everything squeeze the burger to get a taste of all in a bite,” Chef Thomas explained. The Royal Burger is available at Karamel Lounge at Ritz Carlton, Jeddah.