Prima Classe - The Chedi Hegra

Rating: 14
Author: Gault&Millau

5617 Al Hijr Dist., 43541 AlUla, Saudi Arabia

14/20
Chef's Restaurant

BOOK

3 PHOTOS

Chef: Driss Daabaz
Cooking: Gastronomic | Mediterranean
Services: Accomodation
Style: Elegant | Exceptional setting | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2026

A unique place, a former station on the mythical Hedjaz railroad, which linked Damascus to Medina from 1908 to 1918, and which was notably attacked by the famous Lawrence of Arabia and his Arab gangs. Located in the middle of the desert, some forty kilometers from Al-'Ula, the Chedi Hegra is a magnificent hotel complex, having set up its "Prima Classe", first-class table in the former maintenance hall, where the line's historic rails and a perfectly preserved vintage locomotive are still underfoot. Beneath the beautiful exposed steel framework, the chef prepares a pleasant European cuisine, with fairly classic and seen-before recipes, revealing fine execution and real hard work in the kitchen. The salmon tartare isn't lazy, with nice fresh pieces, textural variations in the seasoning with gels, pickles, some melting and some crunching, a fairly simple accompaniment of capers, gherkins, radishes and osciètre caviar beside an unnecessary salad. The chicken ballotine is tender, a little dry but well cooked, with a very good side of asparagus, baby corn, mushrooms, mashed potatoes and parsley, in a festive spirit that's quite comforting. The lemon curd cake concludes the sequence perfectly, with plenty of fruit, little aggressiveness, a light texture and gianduja half-pralines for gourmandise, intense raspberry coulis. Very professional service.