Category: Food & Drinks

I just found out about this today so I guess it’s better late than never. Shrimpy which is one of my favorite fast food joints has an incredible offer going on at the moment. For KD2,950 you get 4 pieces of fish, 30 pieces of shrimps, 2 tartar sauce, 2 pieces of bread and french fries. If only it came with a large coke it would be perfect. To find out where there is a Shrimpy near you visit their website. [Link]

A reader called Omar emailed me a very startling email about his experience with Sultan Center. Now I can’t verify if this is true or not because I don’t know Omar but the pictures look pretty legit to me. This is what he had to say:

I bought two After Eight dark chocolate bars from Sultan Center last week. I opened one and after taking my first bite I almost puked. I checked the expiry date on the sticker and it said 31/10/08. I then decided to peel that sticker only to realize that Sultan had covered up the real expiry date! The chocolate had expired on June 2008! I am heading there right now to make a big scene about this, but I doubt I will get very far.

Who prints and sticks these labels, is it Sultan Center or another company does anyone know?

Update: Omar passed by Sultan Center and it seems the labels are printed by the American supplier, this is what he had to say:

Thanks for posting this Mark. After I sent you the pictures I went to Sultan and asked to meet the manager. A pleasant Indian guy came over to talk to me. He is the floor manager (working in Sultan for 9 years). I showed him the expiry date and the real expiry date underneath. He was truly shocked and not feigning. I can usually tell when people are faking. After the initial shock set in, he got extremely apologetic, saying that he�s worked here for 9 years and never came across something like this. He agreed that this is not an honest mistake and is FRAUD!

We then went to check the rest of the stock, unfortunately it was all sold out (so sadly a few more people are gonna experience moldy chocolate at its finest). The floor manager took my details and promised that the “big” manager will call me soon.

30 mins after leaving Sultan I get a call from a very apologetic, sweet talking Lebanese guy who identified himself as The Manager. He apologized a million times, and also admitted that this was not an honest mistake. However, Sultan is not the source of the fraud. Apparently the �ministry of something� here in Kuwait insists that food products come with that Arabic sticker from the source, and should be tagged before clearing customs. So the “American Food Supplies Inc. ” which provided Sultan with the chocolate (already with the sticker) is the one to blame. They have been using that company for over 10 years and are truly shocked. To prove to me they are serious they will keep me updated of the proceedings with the American supplier. He also asked me to come back so they can compensate me for my troubles (whatever that means). I will go see him tomorrow.

I must say, I was expecting complete indifference by the management, but I am pleasantly surprised that they took the matter very seriously. If the stickers really are applied by the supplier, before they reach customs, then Sultan is not the source of the Fraud. Can anyone confirm that those stickers are in fact applied before they reach customs?

It seems there are rumors that Hashi is going to be closing down soon. I’ve only been there a few times and although the place isn’t my favorite sushi place I do like the interior a lot and their food is actually good. I would hate to see the place get shutdown and replaced by another Chili’s or something. As a sign of support to Hashi some people have started a Facebook group called Keep Hashi Alive. Here is the link in case you also want to join the group. [Facebook Group]

Choowy Goowy have soft launched their new line of cheese cakes. Its a soft launch because their cheese cake packaging isn’t completed yet but the cheese cake itself is out of the testing phase. Since I am good friends with one of the owners I was able to try their cheese cake around 2 months back while they were still working on the recipe and one of the coolest things about their cake (other than the taste) is the fact that you get to choose what type of crust you want. The crust itself is made from their Choowy Goowy cookies so you have a wide range of options to choose from.

You can find out more about their cheese cakes on the Choowy Goowy blog plus get a preview on the package designs and contact info in case you want to order a whole cake or slice. [Link]

The other day I posted a picture of what some guys in the States did with a Krispy Kreme donut. They took an original glazed donut and stuffed it with a cheese burger and although it looked a bit gross I imagine it probably tasted pretty good. Well some blog readers decided to try it out for themselves and went to Marina Mall and created their very own Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger. They’ve posted some pictures of the burger in the forum and even a video of it being eaten. This is something I’ve got to try.

Pictures of the donut cheeseburger
Video of the donut cheeseburger being eaten

I was just at the Avenues (which was EXTREMELY overcrowded) when I spotted a new place that’s opening up called Obika Mozzarella Bar. I just checked their website and it looks like its going to be a cool and healthy place. They’ve got locations in Roma, Milano, London and Turin but they’re now opening up in Kuwait and New York (guess which is the odd one out). Can’t wait to try out them out. [Link]

Tonight I had dinner at what was Hitlers favorite Italian restaurant, Osteria Italiana. The place used to be called Osteria Bavaria and Hitler used to eat there so often that he had his own armored room in the middle of the restaurant which I got to see. The food was incredible, very authentic and delicious. I heard this story that supposedly happened recently about this girl who came to the restaurant daily in hopes of seeing Hitler. She came in daily for a month and when she got fed up of waiting she asked the waiter if he knew when Hitler would be coming. When the waiter told her Hitler was dead the girl went into a depression and tried to shoot herself. She ended up in a failed suicide attempt and it now paralyzed neck down. Pretty weird.

I’d try it… [Link]

While having breakfast today I noticed the place I was in had Red Bull Cola which I first posted about back in March but still hadn’t had the chance to try. I have to say its the worst carbonated soft drink I have ever had. It tastes nothing like Coca Cola or Pepsi, it was just horrible. After two sips I just trashed it. It was really really terrible, REALLY terrible!

I noticed a ton of new places opened up at the Avenues food court, most of which I hadn’t heard of before, here are their names:

IZ Juice
Shanghai Express
Dondurma
Dippin’ Dots
Santoor
Rice
Sawah
Nolita Pizza
Meias

I think thats pretty cool, finally we have some new fast food places…

Confashions from Kuwait has pictures of a new cafe that opened up in Marina Waves called Living Room Lounge. Based on the pictures it looks like a really cool place. Can’t wait to try it. [Link]

A friend just told me that there is a KD35 burger at Burgan Bank’s Chairman Club. Can anyone confirm that?

Houston we have a problem! When I first started this burger challenge I thought it was going to be a pretty easy task but now that I am approaching the end I’ve realized I am going to have a difficult situation on my hands.. who to crown the winner. Originally at the start of the challenge I anticipated either Fuddruckers or Burger Boutique would win but as it stands both of them are out of the picture and its Burger Hub and Slider Station that are currently rated the highest. So I had my hopes in the Gaucho Grill burger to make my decision easier and it didn’t.

I’ve only been to Gaucho Grill during the evening but for the burger challenge I’ve been trying to have the burgers during the day so that I could have decent pictures to attach to the reviews. Gaucho Grill during the day is a completely different experience, its quieter, emptier and of course much more brighter. There was only another table occupied so finding a place near the window wasn’t a problem.

Once I got the menu I flipped through it till I got to the burger section and decided I would order the Gaucho Burger with Roasted Mushrooms and Cheese (medium well). I ordered a side order of baked potato but no appetizers since I have yet to try any appetizer at Gaucho Grill that I liked. The burger arrived soon after and my first impression was whats up with the bread? The bread didn’t look very appetizing and actually looked a bit burnt so that put me off. But, once I took a bite I realized the bread in fact wasn’t as bad as it looked and the beef patty was actually really good. The burger was very juicy and the thickness of the patty was perfect. The burger came with lettuce, tomatoes etc.. on the side and thats where I kept them because the burger really didn’t need them. The bread although as you can see in the picture was slightly burnt on the edges really didn’t bother me much and it was crunchy or anything of the sort. I do think though that if they had used a better kind of bread this burger could have been the winner.

While thinking of what to score this burger I considered the fact if I’ve been too hard with my ratings. I tried some incredible burgers and so far the highest score has been a 4 out of 5. I was actually starting to believe that I’ve been too hard until I realized there was one burger I had that I would have given a 4.5 but that burger isn’t in Kuwait sadly. While I was in Jordan back in April I had the most amazing burger at the Four Seasons hotel. I think it was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. I truthfully don’t think I could give a burger a perfect 5 out of 5 but at least I know I could give a 4.5 rating if needed be. The Gaucho Burger although a great burger was let down by the bread and if it wasn’t for that I do think it could have gotten a higher score. The final score is another 4 out of 5. There are only two or three more places I still need to try out so there is still hope that a burger in Kuwait will get higher than a 4.

Gaucho Grill is located at The Palms
The cost of the Gaucho Burger with Roasted Mushrooms
and Cheese is KD6.750

I got an email from the Kuwait & Food group on Facebook today and according to the email The Butcher Shop & Grill will be opening in Kuwait soon specifically at The Avenues. I tried it before in Dubai and it was ok (I’m not a steak guy) but I keep hearing that The Meat & Wine Co. is even better.

Picture by Amro ABDOUN

Can you guess what supermarket I found this in?