Category: Food & Drinks

Wooden Bakery is one of the most popular bakeries in Lebanon and they’ve just opened up their first location in Kuwait. It’s a small store in Bustan Mall next to Fanar in Salmiya, but they had a nice variety of Lebanese breads and biscuits including kaak termisyeh which is Lebanese dried bread that goes perfectly with tea.

They also bake fresh fatayer and a small seating area inside the mall in case you want to sit and eat. They’re open from 7AM to 11PM and here is their location on Google Maps.

ROKA, the award-winning modern Japanese restaurant is opening at the Waldorf Astoria this coming Tuesday. If you want to know what kind of food they serve or their prices, their menu is available online and you can check it out here.

They also opened up reservations and it’s filling up pretty fast. As of this post, the next available booking is on October 12. If you want to book, here is the link.

I was just informed by a reliable source that Beefbar, the popular meat focused restaurant originally from Montecarlo is coming to Kuwait. I don’t have a location or date yet, only that they have now signed with a local partner.

Beefbar is already available in Dubai and Riyadh so we aren’t going to have the first location in the Gulf but, it’s pretty cool that restaurants like Roka and now Beefbar are entering the market.

If you’re a fan of Tampopo then you’ve probably seen Chef Rashid AlSaif there working behind the bar. This coming Saturday he’s holding a cooking class at OFF THE MENU in 360 Mall where he will teach you how to make dumplings from scratch.

There are limited spots available so if this interests you, here is the link to book.

I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older, I rarely eat at new places anymore. Well, that’s not completely true, I’ve just gotten a lot pickier with where I eat. I have my goto places that’s for sure, and Cocoa Room is my favorite breakfast spot. Earlier this year Cocoa Room launched a dinner menu and yesterday I decided to pass by and try it for the first time as part of my new goal to try a new place once a week.

The Cocoa Room dinner menu is Mediterranean influenced and so the mains section has lots of pasta, a couple of steaks, one seafood dish, and a burger. Not a big variety to pick from, and nothing really interesting but that’s because their starters section is where all the exciting dishes are. Thankfully they had an iPad with photos of all their items because all the dishes were in French and I had a difficult time visualizing what they were (You can check out the full menu here). I ended up ordering the following items:

Milefeuille D’avocat
Brioche De Champignons Crémeuse
Carpaccio De Boeuf
Spaghetti De Capri
Gratin de Maiz

Picking just three starters was difficult and if I had to pick again I’d probably go with the seabass carpaccio instead of the beef only because it’s not something I’d find elsewhere. For the pasta, I decided on the Capri because I wanted to try a new flavor and I never had a zesty spaghetti before (it was pretty ok).

Overall everything I had was good, the avocado millefeuille was probably my favorite dish while the mushroom brioche my least favorite (not enough mushrooms). The only complaints I have with the menu is the item names being in French and the lack of interesting mains. Lots of places in Kuwait have pastas and steaks so I was looking for something a bit more different to try. Also the desserts section wasn’t that appetizing but you can always head to Burger Boutique after dinner for their chocolate brownie pudding.

The total bill came to KD27.500 so expect to pay around KD15 per person. I had to reserve before heading there although there were empty tables so you could probably just walk in. Cocoa Room is definitely my favorite breakfast spot in Kuwait, but not sure I’d go back as often for their dinner.

I assumed everyone already knew about this place since they’ve been open for a while now but recently I realized that wasn’t the case. There is a little bagel shop in Kuwait City next to Solo Pizza called While I’m Baked. If you head there in the morning before they sell out, you can get some of the best bagel sandwiches in Kuwait. I always order either their Turkey Avo Boi or the Kramer, and now while I’m typing this out I’m craving a sandwich so I’ll probably pick one up on my way into work this morning.

If you want to check them out, here is their location on Google Maps and they’re on Instagram @whileimbaked

Tim Hortons, the popular Canadian coffee chain is reopening in Kuwait today at 5PM. According to their Instagram post, the first 50 customers will be getting free drinks every week for a year. They’re opening 5 locations today which include:

• Awtad Tower
• Argan Al-Bidaa
• Argan Square
• Blajat Corniche
• Dining DT The Dining Complex

I don’t know where the last two locations are, but if you do, let me know in the comments so I can link them.

GQ recently published a list of what they think are the 6 best restaurants in Kuwait. The 6 that made the cut are White Robata, Tatami, Dar Hamad, OVO, Roka and Cure.

Roka isn’t open yet and won’t be until the end of the year but the rest you most likely all know about. To check out the GQ article, click here.

I used to be a huge Subway fan back when I was in university in Lebanon and then again once I moved back here and started work. Then around 10 years ago I stopped eating there until just a few weeks ago.

Back in April, I posted about how the Subway brand changed ownership in Kuwait and moved to Kout Food Group. They ended up opening their first location in Salmiya next to AUK and it’s probably the nicest Subway I’ve ever been to anywhere.

Firstly there is a drive-thru, but more importantly, the branch is super clean. It’s tiny but everything inside looks really appetizing and the store smells of freshly baked bread. I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and since then have been back a bunch of times. So if like me you wrote off Subyway years ago, its worth giving another shot now. Here is their location on Google Maps.

SodaStream is a very popular company that makes home carbonation appliances. It’s a small kitchen appliance that allows you to create sparking water by forcing carbon dioxide into regular water making it fizzy. You can also add different flavors to create your very own mix. The only problem is that SodaStream is an Israeli company so we can’t get their machines or CO2 canisters in Kuwait.

But, there is now a local brand that just launched called Gulf Soda that sells a machine that does the same thing. They’re selling the soda machine for 50KD without the gas cylinder and come in three colors. The CO2 gas cylinders cost 15KD each and 5KD to refill. So you’re going to pay an initial cost of 65KD to start making your own home carbonated drinks.

If you want to check out their products, their website is gulfsoda.com and their Instagram is @gulfsoda

Dry Drink is an online store that sells non-alcoholic drinks. It’s a UAE-based company but they do deliver in Kuwait by the next day so they must have a local warehouse. I have zero interest in non-alcoholic drinks and I don’t understand why people drink them (there are better-tasting drinks if you don’t want alcohol).

But, if you’re one of those people who enjoy the taste of non-alcoholic gin (🤢) or other drinks, Dry Drink seems to have a good variety of options, most of which I haven’t come across before.

They offer free delivery if you order 30KD or more worth of drinks and they offer taster bundles which is a good way to try a variety of different drinks on a budget. If you want to check it out, here is the link.

Back in November, I posted about Pret A Manger being brought to Kuwait by One PM Franchising which is owned by Hamad Al Sayer. They had told me they would be opening their first location this year and a few days ago they finally revealed the location.

Pret is planning to open their first store in Al Hamra Tower this October if everything goes to plan. Opening in Al Hamra Tower is actually a great idea due to the number of employees working in the building. Back when I was working for the government my office was in Al Hamra Tower. During lunch, I’d go down to the mall and it would be packed with employees and most would be at PICK which always had a long queue. So Pret should do really well there.

Their Al Hamra location is going to be the first to open but they still have a second one planned for this year and now I’m curious to where that one will be. To stay posted on Pret A Manger’s news, follow them on Instagram @pretkw.official

After 40 years, the popular shawarma/kebab place Badar Al Badoor is moving locations because they’re demolishing their current building. The new location is still in the area, just down the street but it obviously won’t have the history of the current location which has become sort of iconic. According to an employee, they’ll be moving in around 10 days, right after Eid, so pass by while you still can.

Here is the location (pictured above) of the new Badar Al Badoor on Google Maps.

Bakers’ Point is a new supermarket that focuses on everything baking-related. They describe themselves as “the first all-inclusive baking destination” and they might be just that. I passed by over the weekend and the place is pretty nice and fairly big for what is essentially just a baking supplies store.

The supermarket is divided into three essential parts. The first area is filled with all the different ingredients you might need (they have a huge variety of flour btw), the second section is frozen and refrigerated items, and the last section is baking tools and accessories.

It’s a pretty nice idea and a lot of the items come in wholesale packaging which is great if you’re a pro-hobbyist. They oddly don’t have a website but they are open daily from 7AM to 10PM. If you want to check them out they’re on Instagram @bakerspoint.kw and here is their location on Google Maps.

Tim Hortons, the popular Canadian coffee chain is making a comeback in Kuwait after closing down all its locations a few years ago. They’re now coming back to the market with at least two new locations, one in Bida’a next to Melenzane and a second in Kuwait City next to Muthana Complex.

The UAE company Apparel Group is the master franchisee of the Tim Hortons brand in the Middle East. They also have a number of other brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Aldo, Jamie’s Italian, Cold Stone Creamery, and Rituals.

Thanks Basel