Long Chim at Diriyah
Long Chim’s placement at Diriyah’s Bujairi Terrace among the four Michelin-starred anchor restaurants demonstrates the commercial and critical viability of elevated Thai street food cuisine in Saudi Arabia’s premium dining market. The concept, which holds Michelin recognition in its flagship location, takes the bold, aromatic flavors of Bangkok’s street food tradition — som tum (green papaya salad), pad thai, larb, massaman curry — and elevates them through premium ingredient sourcing and refined technique while maintaining the energy and accessibility that define Thai street food culture.
Long Chim also earned selection in the MICHELIN Guide Saudi Arabia 2026, making it one of the 52 restaurants recognized across Riyadh, Jeddah, and AlUla. This dual recognition — Michelin heritage from its flagship plus selection in the inaugural Saudi guide — positions Long Chim as one of the most credentialed restaurants in the Kingdom and a direct benchmark for the caliber of Asian dining that The Mukaab’s program must attract.
Architectural Context and Cultural Juxtaposition
The restaurant’s Diriyah placement offers a lesson in how cuisine categories interact with architectural context. Thai street food elevated to fine dining within Najdi-inspired heritage architecture creates a cultural juxtaposition — East Asian culinary traditions presented within Saudi Arabia’s most historically significant built environment — that generates media attention and visitor curiosity. Diriyah, a US$63.2 billion development built around the UNESCO World Heritage site of At-Turaif, transforms 14 square kilometers into a world-scale destination, and Long Chim’s presence contributes to the culinary identity of this transformation.
For The Mukaab, this juxtaposition principle applies with even more dramatic potential: Thai cuisine served within a holographic dome environment that could project floating markets, Thai temples, or Bangkok street scenes around diners would create an immersive cultural experience unprecedented in restaurant history. The dome’s capacity for “ever-changing environments using digital and virtual technology” — combined with a high-end audio system and state-of-the-art lighting — could recreate the sensory experience of Bangkok’s street food markets: the sizzle of wok cooking, the visual intensity of a crowded market lane, the aromatic atmosphere of lemongrass and galangal, all within The Mukaab’s climate-controlled 380-meter-high atrium.
The cultural juxtaposition works because both Saudi and Thai culinary traditions share certain values — communal eating, the centrality of rice, the importance of aromatic spices, and the view of cooking as an expression of cultural identity. Najdi cuisine’s cardamom, cumin, and saffron have counterparts in Thai cuisine’s lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime. A dining experience that highlights these parallels while celebrating the differences would create a culturally rich narrative unique to The Mukaab.
The Elevated Street Food Format
The elevated street food format that Long Chim pioneers carries significant implications for The Mukaab’s food hall planning. Traditional food courts position street food as low-cost, high-volume commodity dining. Long Chim proves that street food traditions can anchor premium dining experiences with high revenue per cover. The Mukaab’s artisan food market concepts should incorporate this principle — curating elevated street food from multiple cuisines, including Najdi street food traditions, into a communal dining environment that commands premium pricing through culinary excellence rather than formal service conventions.
This format resonates with broader dining trends. Pop-up dining concepts grew 155% between 2022 and 2023, and “more brands are leaning into immersive, story-driven concepts.” Long Chim’s street food elevation is inherently story-driven — each dish carries the narrative of Bangkok’s street food culture, translated through premium execution. For Gen-Z consumers whose “love of little treats” fuels creative artisan dining, the street food format — offering shareable small plates, bold flavors, and Instagram-worthy presentation — hits every preference point.
The snacking trend also aligns with elevated street food. Menu analysis shows “snacking plates, high-protein mini-meals accommodating changing appetites” as a major 2026 trend. Thai street food naturally operates in a small-plate format — som tum, satay, spring rolls, grilled skewers — that accommodates the snacking preferences of younger consumers without sacrificing the culinary complexity that justifies premium pricing. The Mukaab’s food hall environments could feature elevated street food concepts from multiple cuisines — Thai, Saudi, Japanese, Mexican, Indian — each operating at the quality level that Long Chim has proven viable.
Operational Intelligence for The Mukaab
For celebrity chefs evaluating The Mukaab, Long Chim’s performance at Diriyah provides specific operational data. The restaurant navigates Diriyah’s heritage-regulated environment, halal compliance requirements, ingredient importation for Thai specialty ingredients (fish sauce, shrimp paste, fresh Thai herbs), and the challenge of maintaining the casual energy of street food within a luxury development context. These operational realities — adapted for The Mukaab’s immersive technology environment rather than Diriyah’s heritage setting — will be common to any Asian dining concept considering the cube.
The halal adaptation of Thai cuisine presents specific challenges. Traditional Thai cooking relies on shrimp paste, fish sauce, and in some preparations, pork. Long Chim’s Diriyah kitchen has developed halal-compliant alternatives that maintain the umami depth and flavor complexity of traditional recipes. This adaptation expertise is directly transferable to The Mukaab and provides a model for other Southeast Asian cuisine concepts evaluating the Saudi market.
Ingredient sourcing for Thai cuisine in Riyadh requires established supply chains for galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil, and other aromatic herbs that are not widely grown in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom imports over 80% of its food, and the food supply infrastructure — with over 1,900 food factories and investments exceeding SAR 88 billion — includes cold-chain logistics capable of handling fresh herb imports from Southeast Asian markets. The GCC’s innovation in hydroponics and vertical farming also creates potential for local cultivation of Thai herbs — a sustainability innovation that would reduce both costs and carbon footprint for Thai dining concepts within The Mukaab.
Competitive Landscape for Thai and Southeast Asian Dining
The competitive landscape for Thai and Southeast Asian dining in Riyadh is less saturated than Japanese or French categories, creating an opportunity for The Mukaab to establish a Thai dining anchor. While Long Chim serves Diriyah and various casual Thai options serve the broader city, no other premium Thai dining concept competes at Long Chim’s level. This relative scarcity contrasts with the Japanese segment — where ROKA, SUSHISAMBA, Chotto Matte, Hocho, and Akira Back’s concepts create fierce competition — suggesting that premium Thai dining has room for additional entrants.
A Mukaab-exclusive Thai concept — potentially partnering with Thai culinary talent to create a concept that leverages the immersive environment — could position itself as the definitive premium Thai dining experience in the Kingdom. The technology layer enables experiences impossible at Diriyah: a Thai tasting menu served while the dome projects a journey through Thai culinary regions — from the northern mountains where sticky rice and larb originate, through Bangkok’s canal-side kitchens, to the southern islands where seafood dominates — would create a culinary-cultural experience that functions as both restaurant and attraction.
The Michelin Guide Saudi Arabia trajectory adds competitive urgency. Long Chim’s selection in the 2026 guide positions it for potential star recognition in the 2027 edition — a distinction that would cement Diriyah’s dominance in premium Thai dining. If The Mukaab wants to compete in the Thai dining category, it would need to attract or develop a concept capable of matching or exceeding Long Chim’s Michelin credentials from day one.
Tourism and Events Context
The Vision 2030 tourism targets — 150 million visitors by 2030 — include significant traffic from Southeast Asian markets where Thai cuisine appreciation is universal. International arrivals already reached 30 million in 2024, growing at a rate leading G20 countries. Thai cuisine’s broad international appeal makes it a reliable choice for destination dining that serves both local residents and international visitors.
Diriyah itself is forecast to host over 27 million visitors annually by 2030, and Long Chim benefits from this massive visitor flow. The Mukaab’s visitor projections — serving 420,000 residents, 9,000 hotel room guests, and destination visitors drawn by the immersive dome and entertainment attractions — suggest comparable or greater dining demand. The Saudi F&B market overall reached USD 30.12 billion in 2025, and the market’s 8.11% CAGR through 2031 provides growth headroom for premium Thai dining expansion beyond Diriyah.
The global events pipeline — Expo 2030 in Riyadh, FIFA 2034, the annual Esports World Cup, 80 international sporting events that have attracted 2.5 million tourists in four years — creates periodic demand surges that benefit restaurants with strong brand recognition. Long Chim’s Michelin credentials provide exactly the brand recognition that event-driven visitors seek when choosing dining options in an unfamiliar city. A Mukaab Thai dining concept would need to build comparable recognition — through Michelin selection, media coverage, or the sheer uniqueness of the immersive dining experience — to capture this event-driven demand.
Sustainability and Hyperlocal Integration
The sustainable dining movement intersects with Thai cuisine through the hyperlocal sourcing trend. “Menus built around communities and local narratives” and “chefs procuring from nearby farms and markets” define progressive dining globally. For Thai cuisine in Saudi Arabia, hyperlocal sourcing could mean incorporating Saudi-grown herbs from vertical farms, Red Sea seafood replacing imported shrimp, and date palm sugar as an alternative to traditional Thai palm sugar.
The zero-waste kitchen movement — with Michelin Green Star restaurants like Boca in Dubai demonstrating practices from “repurposing pineapple skins to sodas” to “cooking oil to fuel” — sets expectations for sustainability that new premium restaurant openings must address. Thai cuisine generates specific waste streams from herb preparation, coconut processing, and curry paste production that present both challenges and opportunities for waste reduction. The Mukaab’s scale could enable centralized composting and food waste management systems serving multiple restaurant concepts, making sustainability more economically viable for individual operators.
The cloud kitchen opportunity is relevant for Thai cuisine expansion. Thai dishes — curries, stir-fries, noodle dishes — travel well for delivery compared to many fine dining formats. With the Saudi food delivery market projected to reach USD 19.45 billion by 2031 and platforms like Jahez, HungerStation, Rabbit, and Keeta providing infrastructure, a Thai delivery concept from a Mukaab cloud kitchen could serve the broader New Murabba development. Kaykroo operates 77+ digital-first brands across Riyadh, and Rebel Foods entered with ambitions for 60 online restaurants — demonstrating that the delivery infrastructure for cuisine-specific cloud kitchen operations is mature.
Development Timeline and Investment Context
The New Murabba development represents an estimated $50 billion investment spanning 19 million square meters with over 25 million square meters of floor area. The masterplan, developed by AtkinsRealis, envisions a “15-minute city” where most living, working, and entertainment needs are accessible within walking distance. Excavation reached 86% completion as of October 2024, with over 10 million cubic meters of earth moved. Construction began in October 2024, with Phase 1 targeting completion by the 2030 Expo in Riyadh and the full project spanning four phases through 2040.
The development’s sustainability credentials include green areas, walking and cycling paths, and a community-focused design that integrates residential living with commercial and entertainment spaces. A technology and design university, a museum, a multipurpose immersive theatre, and a stadium are among the over 80 entertainment and culture venues planned. The total community facilities span 1.8 million square meters, with 620,000 square meters of leisure assets providing the programming capacity that restaurant concepts depend on for destination traffic.
The Riyadh hotel pipeline provides additional context for dining demand projections. At least 46 high-end hotel projects totaling 18,358 keys are under development across the city, including 28 five-star and 18 four-star properties representing at least US$3.8 billion in hotel development investment. Q1 2026 openings include DoubleTree by Hilton Madinah Gate, Sofitel Riyadh, SLS The Red Sea, and Crowne Plaza Al Jubail. Key hotel brands expanding in Riyadh include Radisson Blu (3 hotels), InterContinental (2), Holiday Inn (2), Hotel Indigo (2), Novotel (2), Hilton (2), and Rosewood (2), alongside the Regent Riyadh KAFD and Kimpton Riyadh. This hospitality expansion creates the transient dining demand that premium restaurants require beyond resident and worker populations.
Saudi Arabia’s food manufacturing sector has grown to over 1,900 food factories with investments exceeding SAR 88 billion, providing the domestic supply chain infrastructure that supports premium dining operations. The SFDA conducts over 20,000 inspections annually and enforces penalties up to SAR 500,000 for non-compliant delivery firms, ensuring food safety standards that international restaurant brands require. The Future Hospitality Summit (FHS) 2026 at the Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah in Riyadh, scheduled for April 20-22, 2026, provides a platform for restaurant deal-making — FHS 2025 generated US$1.6 billion in business opportunities with 11 major signings.