If there’s one thing we all look forward to in Ramadan, besides family gatherings, it’s the food. We try out a sneak peek of the Ramadan menu at the InterContinental Doha as the feasting for the month begins.

The InterContinental Doha is home to some of our favourite dining destinations, so imagine our excitement as we enter Coral to try out the new Ramadan menu. We’ve visited on multiple occasions before, and Coral never fails to delight with its flavourful dishes and bright ambience.

But this time, the restaurant is taking on a new role as the place to be this Ramadan, with a new menu and a traditionally decked-out dining area for the month’s celebrations. Upon arrival, we choose seats outdoors at the terrace overlooking the pool, to take in the fresh ocean breezes, which make it the ideal al fresco experience.

The usual wooden table and casual chairs have been adorned in drapes and tablecloths, giving the restaurant a touch of Ramadan, and we’re assured that the entirety of the venue will be unrecognisable as the hotel aims to make this feast really special. Coral will be hosting guests for both suhoor and iftar, from 9pm till midnight at QR140 per person and sunset until 8pm at QR220 per person, respectively from the first day of Ramadan. The iftar set menu consists of more food than you can eat in one go, making it the ideal place to break your fast and fill up on Arabic delicacies.

Before devouring a feast fit for royalty, guests receive a small selection of dates, dried prunes, apricots, and almonds to break their fast with the Adhan.

And as the minutes go by the restaurant also serves a variety of refreshing Ramadan drinks to help nourish and rehydrate the body: jellab, amar al din, laban, and orange juice. Jellab is a popular Middle Eastern drink made from carob, dates, grape molasses, and rose water — ensuring a mouthful of cold, sweet freshness; while amar al din is a drink focused on punchy apricot flavours, and a Ramadan favourite around the nation. We opt for the orange juice, but in hindsight realise that we should have tried them all, as all sound equally revitalising. Now for the feast.

This Ramadan menu will not only give guests good value for money on flavours, but also on options. Within minutes our table is adorned with more cold mezze than we can imagine along with a warm bread basket with some Arabic bread and kubus, with hummus, moutabal, baba ganoush, tabouleh, fattoush, vine leaves, muhamara, and labneh with cucumber filling up each corner.

Told you it was a mouthful in all the senses of the phrase. Just when we think we’ve loaded up all the mezze available, out come the warm aromas of the hot mezze, comprising of kibbeh, meat sambousek, spinach fattayer, cheese spring roll, beef makanek, potato harra, and chicken wings Provençale. These plates give us the definition of comfort food, enveloping us in a warm embrace of flavours and warmth. And to further tighten this hug all guests receive a choice between the traditional lentil soup or the soup of the day. Please note, that we haven’t even gotten to the mains yet and are already falling into a food-induced coma.

The main courses arrive with an Oriental mixed grill comprising of tender and juicy lamb kofta, chicken shish tawook, and beef kebabs dripping with meaty juices, with sides of garlic sauce, spicy chilli, grilled vegetables, and potato wedges.

Then we have the aromatic and flavourful Hammour Sayadieh, with tahina sauce and roast pine nuts, a tender and slow-roasted lamb leg, and the ever-favourite bowl of biryani with vibrant colours, and those addictive curry flavours. Wait, it’s not over, we still have the sweet stuff to come. And just as we think we cannot manage another bite of the deliciousness, we quickly change our minds with the arrival of the dessert plates. The waiter brings out a freshly sliced fruit platter, a soft kallaj, a crunchy and caramelised qatayef, assorted Oriental sweets, a warm bowl of oum ali topped with chopped pistachios, and rice pudding. We doubt you’ll be headed for any suhoor after this.

The InterContinental Ramadan feast at Coral has something for everyone with its delightful set menu. Every item from the appetisers to the desserts is full of flavour set in a traditional and celebratory atmosphere, as we know that Ramadan is the best time to feast in Doha. And this menu delivers. ✤

GO: CALL 4484 4919 FOR RESERVATIONS AND MORE INFORMATION.