I met Essa 10 years ago after posting about his small cookie business back then, Choowy Goowy. Ever since we’ve been really good friends and he’s always an interesting person to talk about food. A week ago he started uploading videos on YouTube with his opinion on various things related to the restaurant and food business in Kuwait, and I watched his latest one which I liked so I decided I’d share it on the blog.
The videos are in Arabic but what I found interesting in the one I’ve linked to is that he talks about targeting the right segment and basically explains why there is a lack of originality in the restaurant scene in Kuwait. His theory is that if you’re opening a restaurant and you decide you want to open something that doesn’t exist already in Kuwait, most likely the reason that something doesn’t exist already is because it doesn’t have a market for it to survive. So people who are opening restaurants look at the market to see what is doing well, what has a large customer base and open something to cater to that audience. Do you open a restaurant for the serious foodie who will drop by your restaurant once every now and then? Or, do you build a business around a customer who will come to your restaurant frequently? Based on the fact that Buffalo Shrimps has become a Kuwaiti staple, it’s pretty clear which direction restaurant owners are taking.
To check out his YouTube channel and subscribe to it, click [Here]
27 replies on “The Lack of Creativity in the Local Food Scene”
Well, I learned about Buffalo shrimps today. Where do I find them?
at any local food concept
First time I see/hear about Buffalo Shrimps too. What are they?
every single restuarant in Kuwait has some variation of the same shrimp dish : maple shrimp, volcano shrimp, sticky shrimp, special shrimp, kuwaiti shrimp etc etc etc
Exactly
I’m surprised nobody created a restaurant that sells only buffalo shrimp, and named the restaurant buffalo shrimp.
You’re welcome.
Oh..I guess this is something like the PF Chang’s dynamite shrimps, which is the only thing that everyone seems to be ordering from that place.
B+F branches and crave nation easily have the best buffalo shrimps. I r8 8/8. =p
I’m a fan of his restaurant, Jar.
This is an issue someone needed to address and I’m glad an insider was able to do it without resorting to cynicism.
Bro
Dont you think your name is kinda offensive?
It make me feel racism.
My name? You mean “Bollywood Over Hollywood”?
Hahahaha, are you for real?
Hollywood is a film industry, not a race, buddy.
That Richard Mille.
thats my exact line every time i see him lol
Speaking to a couple of local restaurant owners they all say the same thing. Most people order “X” dish when they come in. You start taking other dishes off the menu (Just having a dish on the menu can cost money in terms of ingredient costs, those things spoil eventually) because people only want “X”. You add new items once in a while and see what’s popular and what’s not, obviously you don’t add the unpopular ones.
Eventually you just end up with a set of items that fit whatever the local taste is because you can’t run a restaurant unless people buy your food.
For a country that labels itself the future “Food Capital” and culinary hotspot with reportedly 5,000 new restaurants opening, I imagine a place where you can find any type of cuisine imaginable. How is lack of creativity and competitive edge going to help that? There’s an illusion of broad choices but in fact there’s no diveristy in menus, when I browse through items nothing stands out as a signature restaurant dish, it all blends together. In general people here aren’t adventurous eaters, they stick to what is comfortable and familiar so to play it safe restaurant apply the same formula, hence adding Dynamite shrimp copycats. I can’t name a favorite restaurant here, the ones I was fond of closed (totally fish, noodle factory etc) and replaced with ihop and pinkberry *sigh*..
In my experience owning Caribbean Hut in Abu Halifa for the last four years is that most people tend to target only the higher income Kuwaitis and residents. Most restaurants open and close within the first year for that exact reason. When you look at places like Miral in Mangaf you see this trend. First you have an over-saturation of the Food Malls. As soon as a new one opens everyone goes there and forgets about the one that opened just six months earlier. I have noted that niche restaurants tend to do well but only if they keep their dishes affordable. Then again that is true for all restaurants. I mean look at Mais Al Ghanim. Some restaurants like Solo Pizza do very well even though they target higher income Kuwaitis and residents because their dishes are delicious and they gained popularity with the young hipster crowd as well as the University students. Also, I believe that ‘Umar Al Rifai did the right thing by being his own pizziolo. This helped him alot by providing a kind of gimmick for his restaurant. I mean lets be honest, I can name maybe less than ten Kuwaitis that actually cook in their own restaurant, especially being young Kuwaitis. I really do believe that Kuwait needs more diversity in the food industry and that there is a market here for it. The problem is knowing where your market is. If I had opened Caribbean Hut in Salmiya it would have bombed because even though Kuwait has a large Latin American, American and Caribbean population, most of them live in Mahboula, Fintas, Abu Halifah, Mangaf, Fahaheel and Eqaila. That’s why I opened in Abu Halifah.
I’m gay and even though I’ve been wanting to try your restaurant for years now, I am kind of scared of going there for that reason.
You seem like a nice guy but also a very, very religious one which dissuades my friends and I from entering your restaurant.
@concerned You are correct that I am very religious. And while I might not agree but to be honest. You would not be the first gay person to eat at my restaurant. You would be surprised how many Kuwaitis are gay. Many have eaten here as well as many US Soldiers and contractors who are gay. Its kinda funny that you are prejudging me without now me for being religious by being scared that I would prejudge you. Lol. No offense meant by the way.
While I may not agree with your lifestyle, it really doesn’t matter to me either way.👈👈👈 this was what I meant to write in what was cut off.
I honest to God wasn’t prejudging you but there are many establishments run by religious people (Muslims, Christians and otherwise) who aren’t at all welcoming of people like me, so I had every right to exercise caution.
I am so glad we were able to talk this through.
I will happily come to your restaurant now that the dust has settled.
I’ve heard nothing but AMAZING things about your food and service. And I haven’t had a decent Arepa since I left the States!
I’ve been turned away by establishments before.
I am not flamboyant but I have friends who are and we were kicked out of a diner once in Nevada and it kind of traumatized my friends.
I know how thaf feels. I have been kicked out a restaurant twice in the USA. The first time was before I was Muslim and was still in the Army. The owner said they would not feed baby killers. Ironically the second time was after I became Muslim and grew my beard out. They said they would not feed terrorists. I was almost denied entry into a Filipino restaurant in Kuwait because they thought I was Kuwaiti.
I am very, very sorry you went through that.
It sucks, don’t it?
Which Filipino restaurant here did that to you? I don’t want you to name drop but was it in Fahaheel by any chance?
That restaurant is undoubtedly owned by a Kuwaiti. How can they turn away a Kuwaiti when, first of all this IS Kuwait, and secondly, the restaurant is owned by a Kuwaiti!
It’s like an Asian store in the States turning down an American. You will never see that happening because its beyond absurd.
A good example is The Village, it’s dead now.
Lol I won’t mention names because I know how easy you can be sued here.
What did he do that was so creative and original? Put some cookies in a jar?? Give me a break..
Simply yes, he put cookies in a jar and managed to sell millions of them to a market that wanted them. Now he runs multiple restaurants, helps other people launch their own businesses and he can afford to buy Richard Mille watches all with the money he made himself. What have you done that is so creative and original?