Joontos - Dar Tantora The House Hotel

Rating: 13
Author: Gault&Millau

375, AlUla 43562, Saudi Arabia

13/20
Chef's Restaurant

Chef: Clint Montano | Jaume Puigdengolas
Cooking: Gastronomic | Modern | Saudi
Services: Terrace
Style: Exceptional setting | With family | With friends

Budget (SAR)

Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

250 to 350

Gault&Millau's review 2026

The charm of a chic fortress in the heart of the old town, but not so easy to get to from the outside (the cab will leave you at the bottom of the steps, and only if you have a reservation). Dar Tantora is the hotel symbol of the historic center, and Joontos is its esteemed table, a treasure of traditional local craftsmanship lit mainly by candlelight : antique wooden doors, carpets, furniture, murals... in an elegant, modest refinement of which the Saudis have the secret, and where the Spanish chef pays brilliant tribute to local culture. The atmosphere, like the décor, respects traditions without adding folklore, and the young service is hesitant but ultimately natural and pleasant. Welcome cocktails and Hispanic-influenced appetizers disclose the care taken in their preparation: a fine plate of "beef sambusas", paprika and red onion with a lemon cinnamon sauce, a very good hummus that could do without the radish slices as decoration, thinly sliced lamb carpaccio style, dates and tamarind, generous or a little too rich depending on the palate, whose comforting taste of meat combined with the sweetness of dates is balanced by the acidity of tamarind and the crisp freshness of mesclun. More good sensations with the typical margoog, well simmered with good vegetables and a subtle dessert, not quite a soufflé as the title suggests, but indulgent and melt-in-your-mouth, date, cardamom and citrus, despite a too-firm vanilla ice cream. Excellent mocktails in the same spirit of sincerity and modesty.