'Fairy tale' Arabian dinner banquet

Hundreds of chefs and waiters from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon prepared and served the dinner banquet Saudi King Abdullah hosted on Wednesday evening for the delegations taking part in the Arab summit, Arab officials said.

"Nearly 400 chefs were flown from Beirut to Riyadh to help in preparing and serving during the dinner banquet," said an Arab official privately.

It was not immediately possible either to get a Saudi comment or to reach any of the dinner guests yesterday morning, as everybody was preparing for the closing session of the 19th Arab summit.

However, Arab and Western journalists spoke about the menu of the scrumptious buffet dinner including many Saudi, Gulf and Lebanese appetisers and dishes.

They included soups, 'eastern appetisers' (or what is known as mezze, or starters from the Lebanese cuisine), roasted lamb, 'mufatah' (a whole roasted lamb with rice) kinds of grilled meat, venison, sea food delicacies, and myriad kinds of fruits and sweets.

Apparently, it was not only royal treatment, but also something close to a fairy tale.

"There were nearly 90 tables at the dinner, and all the waiters were serving food and clearing the tables at the same time," said a Western journalist quoting one of the dinner banquet guests.