Author: Mark

STREET is a new restaurant that’s opening up soon by Faisal Al Nashmi, a Kuwaiti chef and Le Cordon Bleu graduate. It’s an underground street food eatery and based on their menu and photos on instagram, it looks like they’re going to be bringing something new and exciting to Kuwait (food-wise).

Does anyone know which twitter user they’re talking about in the article? [Source]

It’s not that busy but the carnival seems like it could be fun.

Friday
Book Club Meeting

Saturday
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
BAIA Carnival

I didn’t think the police were allowed to film civilians and I was also told we weren’t allowed to film the police. In this specific video the cop supposedly utters an obscenity as well according to the uploader. I say supposedly because the obscenity is censored so you can’t make out what the cop says. [YouTube]

That’s why whenever you have a problem always email, tweet, instagram and facebook the companies.

If you’ve ever been curious to know how Monstariam creates his beautiful graffiti wall check out the timelapse video below. The wall in the video was created in Shuwaikh Market for the Little Ones event that was recently held there. [YouTube]

Staged in Kuwait Productions is back and ready to start a new season. They have bunch of try outs coming up so if you’re interested here’s some info:

Comedy Team Try Outs
Tonight, Wednesday 10th September, the SiK Comedy team meet for the first time at the SIK Studio in Fintas and start preparing for the first SiK Comedy Night of the season.

If you have always wanted to make the world laugh come along and try out in our informal audition/workshop first session.

The session meets from 7pm – 9pm. For full information check out this [Link]

Mad Musicals 10 – Join the Cast
What do you get when you take a song from each of the Top 25 longest running Broadway and West End Musicals and put them together into one massive Musical Theatre show? Mad Musicals of course! And this year it’s the tenth and final outing for this show series.

Come and join the ensemble for this fun show this Friday, September 12th, at 2pm for the first rehearsal. Location: Sik Studio, Fintas.

The show will hit the stage October 15/16/17 2014.

No Auditions – just turn up and get involved!

If you can sing a little, dance a little and want to meet new people and get involved in Kuwait’s most followed community theatre group this is the event for you. The first of five Friday rehearsals as we Put On A Show. For full information check out this [Link]

Drama Classes for Kids and Adults
There is just one week left to sign up for the SiK Drama classes for this term. We want to help you or your children build a performance skill set, develop your confidence and learn the foundations of good stage craft. These fun sessions will help you do all that and more.

Classes start next week and there are still a few spots left. Mondays is Adult class (16+), Tuesdays is for Children age 7 – 10 and Wednesdays is for children aged 11 – 14.

For full details, and to sign up, for this exciting addition to our season check out our website [Here]

The other day when I wrote about Semsom I mentioned if anyone knew of a place that made tabbouleh with quinoa to let me know. Turns out a small restaurant in Bnied Al-Gar does called Vine. Vine has been open for around nine months now and it’s a nice looking hole in the wall fusion mediterranean restaurant.

I passed by at around 12:30PM for an early lunch and the place was empty. Right as soon as I sat down this very friendly woman welcomed me. She looked like she might have been the head chef but it was difficult to figure her out since she was also the waitress and the person that takes the orders on the phone. Thinking about it she might even be one of the owners even. Right as soon as I sat down and without me asking, she brought over a bottle of Acqua Panna water and opened it for me. Not a big deal since I actually wanted water but that move would definitely irritate people who didn’t. The menu was located on their iPad so I flipped through it quickly and then asked the waitress for her recommendations. Even though they had a whole bunch of different kinds of tabbouleh I knew I wanted to try the quinoa version, I also knew I wanted hummus and after discussing it with her I went for the edamame one. She also recommended the kubba quinoa for starters while for the main course she recommended I go for the kafta yort oglo which I also did. So in the end my order was the following:

Tabbouleh Quinoa KD3.000
Kubba Quinoa KD3.250
Hummus Edamame KD1.900
Kafta Yort Glo KD4.750

Before the food started arriving I was served some complimentary bread and cheese. I also asked for some olives which turned out to be delicious. While waiting for the starters I took a good look at the place. There were around 6 or 7 tables which is pretty good for a hole in the wall and I also liked their purple colored window shades which were letting in some beautiful light. The first dishes to arrive were the tabbouleh and hummus, the tabbouleh served in a cute little jar. The hummus was alright, I didn’t taste a lot of edamame in it and I actually prefer the one at Katsuya more than this. The tabbouleh was pretty good but made slightly different from the one I had tried at a restaurant in Lebanon. The one I had in Lebanon the actual quinoa was fully cooked to the point where the germ had separated from the seed. In Vine’s tabbouleh, the quinoa wasn’t fully cooked so the germ was still inside the seed so I really couldn’t taste the quinoa in the tabbouleh. The kubba quinoa arrived soon after and even though I couldn’t taste the quinoa in it as well I still thought it was delicious and my favorite starter of the three. If only they had a healthier baked version instead of fried that would have been perfect. Finally my kafta yort oglo arrived which was composed of kafta covered in laban sauce and pine nuts. Like everything else the presentation was first-rate but also like everything else, it wasn’t a dish that stuck out or would make me want to come back again.

Once I was done with my food I couldn’t ask for the bill since there was no one in the restaurant. I waited a bit and at one point I was thinking of going back into the kitchen to look for someone. I decided to stay put and finally after a few more minutes of just waiting, the waitress came out apologizing for being gone for so long. That made it slightly better and I asked for the bill. Price wise I think it’s fairly reasonable, I ordered enough food for two people and the bill came out to KD13.900 which isn’t too bad. Overall, even though the food wasn’t extraordinary and the service slightly careless, I actually had a pleasant experience. Maybe because I was in a good mood, or maybe because I love hole in the walls but I’d probably go back and try some of their other dishes. For more information you can check them out on instagram @vinekwt

BigMo – Ay Shay (Official Video) (Warning: this is satire)

A bunch of new local music video releases this month. The one above is from BigMo called Ay Shay which you can check out above while the rest of the videos including one by a new band called Galaxy Juice are all posted in the Entertainment section [Here]

Does anyone know why the towers were lit up pink last night?

Update: Turns out its in celebration for the UN naming the Amir a “Humanitarian Leader”. More information on that [Here]

Thanks Ziad!

Chowking the Philippine-based fast food chain opened up their first branch in Kuwait over the weekend. I passed by on Saturday evening just to check the place out and it was insanely packed with long lines and nowhere to sit. The menu consists mainly of fried chicken, dimsums and noodles (you can check it out here).

They opened their first branch in Salmiya near Johnny Rockets and Shake Shack where Dunkin Donuts used to be. That specific location is considered cursed due to the amount of places that have opened up and shut down over the years but I think Chowking has the potential to break the curse. Here is a link to their [Facebook Page]

Three UFC fighters are in Kuwait for the next few days to support the US troops. Matt Brown, Mike Pierce and CB Dollaway arrived last night along with 2013 ADCC grappling champion Joao Assis. This isn’t the first time UFC fighters have come to Kuwait to support the troops and I believe it’s Mike Pierce’s second time since he came back in 2012. If anyone knows where they are staying let me know, I would love to get my UFC tshirt signed by Matt Brown. So far my shirt has signatures from Dan Henderson, Brian Stan, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping and a few other fighters.

Thanks Ray

Since it’s a slow news day, here is a video and photo from a house thats under construction in Mishref that caught fire awhile ago.

[YouTube]

Thanks Wahab

SaveCo Supermarket is now carrying the original Huy Fong Sriracha chili sauce. Not sure how much quantity they brought in but they’re selling fast since most people are hoarding by buying 5 or 6 bottles. I personally picked up two at KD1.800 each which is the same price Amazon is selling them. So if you want some, you need to pass by asap.

Semsom is another restaurant that’s located in Arabella and also one that has been open for a few months now. They aren’t a traditional Lebanese restaurant, instead they describe themselves as a traditional Lebanese restaurant with a twist. The “twist” aspect is what attracted me and was the main reason I’ve been wanting to try them out for awhile now.

Semsom is split into two floors, the lower floor is smoke free while the upper floor is a smoking zone. As a non-smoker I thought that was great but I was with a smoker on this trip so we originally sat upstairs. I say originally because after sitting there for 5 minutes we decided to move down into the smoke free zone. The top floor was a bit gloomy and claustrophobic when compared to the lower level which had large windows spanning from one side of the restaurant till the other. Flipping through the menu I was kind of disappointed since I was expecting a lot more dishes as well as lot more twists compared to other Lebanese restaurants. In the end we settled for the following:

Hummus with with Sumac & Zaatar KD1.600
Tabbouleh with Lentils KD2.000
Makanek KD2.450
Taouk Light with Fattoush KD3.800
Regular Chicken Taouk KD4.600

The hummus was served first arriving pink in color which I was expecting from the pictures. Since hummus is such a common and traditional dish I always love seeing different variations of it and this one was a pretty interesting one. It was light in flavor but combined with their hot fresh puffy bread it was perfect even though I should have been low carbing that day. The tabbouleh also worked out really well, instead of using the traditional burghul, Semsom uses lentils. A nice twist yes but while in Lebanon around two weeks ago I discovered an even better twist. Instead of using burghul, the place I had tabbouleh at had replaced burghul with quinoa and I found that to be a genius combination. So if any restaurant in Kuwait wants to copy that combo please feel free to do so and then let me know about it. The last mezza to arrive was the makanek and from all the dishes I had, the makanek had to be the best one. Not sure what their secret is but I’m guessing its all in the sauce. Finally our main course arrived. The chicken although tasted good didn’t look very appetizing and it also lacked any sort of twist that would distinguish it from the countless of taouks you could have anywhere else.

Overall a positive but unexciting experience. The service was fast and friendly and the price of the dishes was similar to other Lebanese restaurants so that’s fine. I was just expecting more fusion dishes on the menu and as it is there really wasn’t enough to win me over. If you’re interested, Semsom is located in Arabella and you can visit their website for more information [Here]