Alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia and Jeddah is no exception — so the bar scene here is non-existent. Cafes and shisha lounges take its place, and the city has a strong coffee culture: traditional Arabic gahwa (cardamom-spiked, lightly roasted) in older establishments, third-wave espresso in the newer ones. Smoking shisha by the Corniche after dark is the city's universal social pastime.