Category: Food & Drinks

Nando’s will officially be opening in Kuwait next week at The Warehouse Mall on February 21st according to the Nando’s team (20th will be a private event).

I was invited yesterday for a sneak peek and to take some pictures. The coming soon hoarding was still up so I couldn’t get a shot from the outside, but I did take some interior shots which you can check here.

I also found out that they will be opening Nando’s in Salmiya, and very near to where I live. Along with The Warehouse Mall and the Al Kout Mall locations, it would mean there will be at least three Nando’s in Kuwait opening this year.

Their Instagram account is now live so if you want to stay posted on the opening and more, check out @nandos.kw

Don’t forget to get your loved one a Shani today. shaniday.com

According to a source of mine, the popular South African franchise Nando’s is targeting to open in Kuwait on February 20th.

Nando’s originally opened at The Avenues back in 2007 but ended up closing down shortly after. This time, Apparel Group are bringing them back to Kuwait, the same company that brought Tim Hortons back, and also recently opened Jamie’s Italian.

Nando’s will have two locations in Kuwait initially, one in The Warehouse Mall and a second in Al Kout Mall. The tentative opening date could change due to unforeseen circumstances, so make sure you follow @apparelgroupofficial for the official announcement.

Valentine’s is next week and if you haven’t already booked you should since most of the popular places tend to fill up really quickly.

Below are 9 romantic places for a perfect Valentine’s day dinner.

Some restaurants have a set menu, which is the minimum price you can pay for the dinner. Places without a set menu do not have a minimum price, and you just order from their menu as usual.

All the places shared have something going on for Valentine’s from live music to decorations, call the restaurant for more details.

Cantina
No Set Menu

Cure
35KD per person

Dai Forni
90KD per person
125KD per person if on the balcony

Mei Li
45KD per person

Peacock
50KD per person

OFK
75KD per person

Riccardo
75KD per person

Roka
No Set Menu

Vigonovo
No Set Menu

Café Kitsuné, the popular sub-brand of the trendy French-Japanese lifestyle brand, Maison Kitsuné, is opening in Kuwait tomorrow (Sunday).

Their first location in Kuwait is opening outside the Abdullah Al-Salem Co-op and has a trendy interior with the Sadu pattern incorporated into the ceiling. It was designed in house by Café Kitsuné, but project managed locally by @soufikw.

For those of you who are fans of their music playlists, I was told the local playlist is controlled and streamed directly from Paris. So expect the same style of curated music.

They’re one of the cafes I tend to pass by for coffee while I’m in Paris, so it’s pretty cool that they’re now opening in Kuwait. If you want to pass by, starting tomorrow they’ll be open from 10AM to 10PM.

Aladdin Sweets (بوظة وحلويات علاء الدين) has been an iconic part of Salmiya for around 60 years. I used to walk by it as a kid, and look through the window at all the sweets and ice cream on display. If I was lucky, my mum would let me go in and get my favorite ice cream combo, chocolate and strawberry.

While walking by the other day I spotted a sign on the window saying they were closing down, moving to a new location and renaming to “Revani”. I asked them when there last day would be and they said January 30th.

If you want to pass by one last time, you have till tomorrow. They’re the ice cream place located between White Tower (برج ابيض) and Marina Mall. Google Maps

Last year Chipotle signed an agreement with Alshaya to bring the franchise to the Middle East. The initial plan is for two locations to open each in Dubai and Kuwait. A few weeks ago I posted that their first location in Kuwait is expected to be at The Avenues, and now my source just informed me that they’re aiming to open by April.

The first location will be in The Avenues Phase 4, where Blaze Pizza used to be located, right next to Gait and VOX Cinema.

Every time I post about Chipotle the posts tend to go viral and I’ve been trying to understand why. My best guess is that lots of people used to have Chipotle back when they were studying in the US? I have no idea but if you have a better theory, let me know.

The coming soon hoarding is still not up, but I took the liberty of adding one to my photo.

TWG Tea is a Singaporean luxury teahouse chain. I hadn’t heard of them until earlier this month when I was in Dubai Mall and noticed them there. I was craving tea so I went up to their tea “bartender” and he started asking me what I wanted. I gave him an idea of what I felt like having, mainly something with no caffeine and had a fruity smell. He then made me smell two kinds of tea and I ended up picking one called Happy Hour, a decaf green tea that smelled so good I spent more time sniffing it than drinking it. Watching him make the tea was fun and the whole experience was pretty great which is why I’m now interested in the fact they’re opening in Kuwait.

I used to be a huge fan of Teavana before they eventually closed down and I haven’t really gotten back into tea since. Things might change now since from what I saw, TWG has similar style teas to Teavana, basically the flavored teas.

The first TWG location in Kuwait will be in The Avenues on the top floor of the Prestige section, right outside the Harvey Nichols entrance, and right on top of Maria Tash. Their instagram is currently active with coming soon posts @twgteakw

This is a simple, but fun and very cute idea. Local design studio Mud Architects were commissioned to design a stall for Doh! at the new food hall in Khiran Mall.

Taking inspiration from the location of the food hall being in a beach town, Mud decided to create a large donut floatie. The design choice was a nod to both the brand’s fun identity, and the coastal vibe of Khiran, creating an eye-catching and engaging presence inside the food hall.

Photos by @mashkanani

Yesterday SALT, the Dubai based burger concept opened in Blajat and the line to get in was HUGE. Their marketing agency sent me a couple of photos of the line, and I measured the distance of it using Google Maps and the line was basically at least 70m long. Insane.

A lot of people online were poking fun out of people who were waiting in line and I don’t get why. Sometimes if you want to experience something thats popular, you’re going to have to wait in line. Thats how it is.

When I was in Paris a couple of years ago I waited in line for over an hour and a half to try out a ramen place. I also waited 40 mins in line to try Shake Shack in NY back in 2010. I waited more than FIVE HOURS in line for a Foo Fighters concert because I wanted to be up right in front of the stage. So I have zero issues with people waiting in line for things, be it a burger, a Pokémon card or whatever. There is nothing wrong with it.

Let people be.

If you want to pass by check the place out, they’re open daily from 4PM to 12AM (last order at 11:30PM). Here is their location on Google Maps.

Principale, the Italian chef-driven restaurant on the Gulf Road is launching a new seasonal outdoor restaurant in their garden right by the sea.

If you aren’t familiar with Principale, it’s the rebirth of the old popular Italian restaurant Nino, and opened up in Nino’s original location near the Kuwait Towers.

Olivio is being described as a “pure alfresco Italian restaurant inspired by coastal Italy” and will have a fixed menu serving mostly grilled food. They will be soft launching tomorrow (Sunday) but by invitation only. It will remain by invitation only until the official launch of the restaurant on January 25th.

I’m invited tomorrow so I might post updates here after. But, to stay posted on their opening, follow them on @oliviokw

Update: Here is some more info they just sent me, there will be light art installations at the pop-up and they were created by Berlin-Kuwait based architecture and design practice BBPJ DESIGN. The installations were inspired by Pantelleria Island located off the coast of Sicily.

Dunes is a new project by TEC located in Blajat and its going to be a beachside kashta experience.

There will be different kashta setups to pick from and they will include catering. The menu will be two kinds of cuisines catered by Meat Moot and L’ETO

You’ll be able to book a kashta through the TEC app either for the whole day, or just for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They’ll also be open daily from 10AM to 11PM.

Dunes is expected to open in the coming two weeks, to stay posted follow them on @duneskwt

Dubai’s burger concept SALT is opening their beach pop-up next week at the new Blajat project in Salmiya.

The pop-up is located right on the sandy beach and has both indoor and outdoor seating. The pop-up will be there for 6 months.

Both the Blajat and TEC accounts just dropped a teaser video awhile ago, you can check it out on their accounts @tecq8 and @blajatkw

Below is a list of places I found that offer Christmas-themed lunches & dinners as well as cakes. If there is a place you know I haven’t listed, let me know so I can add it:

Dine-In
BBQ BROS – KD15
Hilton Kuwait – KD19.900
Jumeirah Messilah – KD23
Kerala Express – KD2.650
Radisson Blu – KD21
Symphony Style – KD20
Thakkara – KD2.650
Vigonovo – KD15

Xmas Cakes
Baker & Spice
J’s Bakery
LaBaguette
Madison & Heig
November & Co
Paul
Sable

Back in July, Chipotle announced that they had signed an agreement with Alshaya Group to open locations in the Middle East next year. The initial plan is for two locations each in Dubai and Kuwait.

According to a source of mine, Chipotle’s first location in Kuwait will be at The Avenues in place of where Blaze Pizza was located, near Gait and VOX Cinema.

All the Blaze Pizza locations in Kuwait recently closed down and I’m assuming permanently. Blaze, I believe, was Alshaya’s third attempt with pizza, the first two being 400 Gradi and Spontini (I loved Spontini) both of which also closed down.

I reached out to Alshaya for confirmation regarding Chipotles first store and they responded stating they would not comment on speculation, but that as they’ve previously mentioned, Chipotle is set to open in Kuwait in 2024.