The Le Jeddah Meridien hotel in Saudi Arabia's commercial city has opened a new speciality restaurant, adding to the five-star hotel's attraction to visitors and local residents.

"Tagine" is the only Moroccan specialty restaurant, serving authentic Moroccan food in an elegant and stylish yet relaxed atmosphere.

The 70-seat restaurant offers locals and expatriates the flavours and ambiance from Morocco right onto their tables.

"We wanted to keep the seating capacity of Tagine deliberately small so we can focus on a high level of personalised service," said general manager Dieter Kielnhofer.

"In addition, to ensure that an authentic Moroccan service is rendered to its highest standard, we managed to bring highly qualified staff straight from Morocco."

In addition to the finest meats, fish and specially selected herbs used to prepare the dishes, Tagine also serves an authentic Moroccan ambiance, from its traditional decorative ceramic tiles to its carefully handed painted night sky ceiling "that will make our guests feel that they have travelled all the way to Morocco".

The hotel has also recently reopened its popular Tex-Mex Restaurant located at the Mezzanine Floor with an extension of an open air terrace.

The restaurant serves Tex-Mex cuisine in a casual dining atmosphere decorated with western artefacts and wall paintings evoking an American Southwest and Mexican atmosphere.

Executive chef Gerard Percheron, who has had extensive experience in Mexican resorts such as Acapulco and Cancun, has brought the original Mexican taste to Jeddah by ensuring that menus are kept up to date and prepared to the highest culinary standards, said Kielnhofer.

Le Jeddah Meridien is located along Al Madinah Road in the heart of the city's business and shopping districts while being only 15 minutes from King Abdul Aziz International Airport.

It features a full range of business and leisure facilities and a flexible banqueting/conference facilities with a capacity up to 1,300 people.