Category: Food & Drinks

If you’re interested in Japanese desserts, then there are two concepts that you should check out and they happen to be located right next to each other. Over the weekend I passed by The Port food complex off the Fahaheel Expressway, it isn’t really that interesting of a place except for the fact it houses two Japanese dessert concepts, Kumori and Fuwa Fuwa.

Fuwa Fuwa
They opened up a few months back and have fluffy Japanese pancakes, Asian bubble waffles and Taiyaki ice cream cones. They offer delivery except for their ice cream items. @fuwafuwa.kw

Kumori
Unlike Fuwa Fuwa, Kumori has actually been around for some time now. Previously they were simply called Japan Bakery and I had posted about them back when Kuwait was going through a cheesecakes phase. They eventually rebranded to Kumori and opened up a location at The Port. Their cheesecake is still my favorite fluffy Japanese cheesecake but they also have other items like sweet and savory baked goods, bubble tea and some other fun-looking drinks with cotton candy. They also deliver. @kumori.kw

If you want to check both places out, here is the location to The Port: Google Maps

There are a number of other Japanese dessert concepts in Kuwait just not at The Port, for example, Kane Mochi and Kotton. I should probably put a comprehensive list together of all the Japanese dessert concepts since there can’t be that many, so if you know of ones I haven’t mentioned, let me know about them in the comments.

It’s been a while since I put together a breakfast list and since my last list, some new places opened up, some closed down because of the pandemic, and some just stopped serving breakfast due to lack of staff. Below is the latest list I’ve put together along with their breakfast timings (note: breakfast timings, not operating hours). This is also not a list of every single place that serves breakfast in Kuwait, this is a curated list. If there is a restaurant you think should be added here, let me know in the comments.

My two go-to places are still Cocoa Room and Baker & Spice but check out the whole list below:

Angelina
9:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Baker & Spice
Weekdays: 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Weekends: 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Bakehaus
8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Cocoa Room
8:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Dar Hamad
8:00 AM – 12:15 PM

Cheesecake Factory
Friday & Saturday: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Frankie’s
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Gia
Avenues: 7:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Avenues)
City / Salmiya: 6:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Ladurée
9:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Lazy Cat
Weekdays: 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Weekends: 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Lunch Room
360 Mall: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
City: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Madeleine
Wednesday to Saturday: 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Madison & Heig
8:00 AM – 12:45 PM

Magma
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Mana
Avenues: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

The Breakfast Club
6:30 AM – 3:30 PM

The Early Bird
Crystal Tower: 7:15 AM – 2:30 PM
Jabriya: 5 AM – 3:30 PM

The Kind Ones
6:00 AM – 6:00 PM

The Social Table
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Notably absent: Johnny Rockets, Barba, Bouchon, Princi and LeNotre. I couldn’t get a hold of them.

Since last week’s list proved to be popular, here are some more new places for you to try out.

Baba G – A shawerma place located in the city
Beef & Liberty – A smashed wagyu burger concept
Chickz – A delivery only fried chicken concept
Crust Pizza – A tiny pick-up and delivery only Neapolitan pizza concept
Eli’s Burgers – I don’t get their instagram account 🤔
Frank’s Steak Sandwiches – A delivery only concept based around Philly cheesesteaks
Good Fillings Pie Shop – They have 3 kinds of pies (definitely need to try this)
Robin’s – A European style cafe & bistro located in Massaleh Towers

If you want to share any new places, please do so in the comments.

I have such a long to-do list of places to try but honestly, just haven’t been in the mood to pass by and try most of them. Since my list isn’t getting any smaller, I’m just going to share it here in case anyone else is looking for a new place to try:

Bakehaus – They just opened up at The View Mall
Bob’s Drive-In – Burger place with branding thats a bit too similar to Big Boy
Bonjiri – A yakitori spot by the chef behind Tampopo
Deep Dish – A deep dish pizza place (might be an alternative to Boccini)
Its Hidden – A secret restaurant that seems over priced
Koto – New Japanese delivery concept
Madeleine – A brunch concept thats open only on weekends
Pb – Just opened and serving both pizza and burgers
PETE’S – Another pizza place but this one serves NY style
Phet Phet – A thai food concept thats delivery only and the only place on the list that I’ve actually tried. I like it and think they might have the best Pad Thai ever.
Top Notch – Another burger place, this one near AUK in Salmiya

Anything else new? Let me know in the comments.

A friend of mine put this list together on Twitter of the various trends we’ve gone through over the years and I thought it was so on point!

2010: Year of the Cupcake
2011: Year of the Froyo
2012: Year of the Gelato
2013: Year of the Karak
2014: Year of the Pistachio
2015: Year of the Pudding
2016: Year of the Chicken Burger
2017: Year of the Lotus
2018: Year of the Coffee
2019: Year of the Healthy Diet Boxes
2020: Year of the Shawarma
2021: Year of the Matcha

The only thing missing is the San Sebastian cheesecake phase we went through back in 2018.

via @_M87

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Yesterday the popular restaurant STREET posted that they’ll sadly be closing down their Kuwait City location:

Guess it’s time to say goodbye. As much as it’s hard to look back at the beautiful 7 years in our first home, every chapter comes to an end. Every single one of you lived these beautiful years in our Kuwait City location and has great memories as much as we do. But It’s time to move on… Every young kid eventually grows up. We love & appreciate every one of you all, and for the endless support!! ❤️ ❤️ ⁣⁣⁣
On to the next!!!

I hadn’t been there since before the pandemic but used to really like the place. They’re closing at the end of the month so you’ve still got a bit of time to pass by and have one last meal there. @st_almakan

China Great Wall is my go-to hole in the wall for hot pot. Hot pot if you don’t know is a way of cooking at your table using a boiling pot of soup stock that you throw your raw ingredients into. You can order the pot in different flavors like spicy or none spicy or order a two-way pot which is a pot split in half and containing two different flavors of stock. You then have two pages worth of items you can order to cook ranging from different proteins like beef or lamb, to veggies like mushrooms and greens. It’s a lot of fun and the hot pot at China Great Wall is pretty good.

The price is also great costing just 2.5KD for a single flavored pot or 3.5KD if you want a two-way. In addition to the pot you then pay per ingredient, so a dish of raw beef for example is 2.250KD, pakchoi is 1KD, morning glory 750fils etc.. The place is fairly small with just 5 tables so it tends to get busy really quickly.

If you’re interested in trying China Great Wall, their instagram is @chinagreatwallrestaurant and here is their location on Google Maps.

Over the weekend I tried out the cotton candy experience at Spunsprinkles and it was wayyyy more fun than I thought it would be. I had pre-booked the experience for me and a couple of friends a week earlier since the few available slots they have get booked quickly. The space is pretty small but super cute and we had stools set up for us in front of the cotton candy spinner.

The first thing they made us do was pick the flavor of the cotton candy we wanted from 16 different ones available (not including their secret menu). After picking our favorite we got to choose all the various sprinkles and glitter we wanted with our cotton candy including edible stickers. Once we all chose how we wanted our cotton candy to look, we started building it. Although the experience is mostly catered towards children, it was honestly a lot of fun as adults which is why they get people of different ages booking the experience.

In the end, we all left with huge smiles on our faces and our tubs of customized cotton candy (my watermelon flavored cotton candy was delicious). The experience costs KD1 per person not including the cost of the cotton candy which varies from 1.5KD to 2.5KD depending on what you’re building.

Being stuck in Kuwait for the past 18 months has resulted in most of us looking for anything new and fun to try while here. This is something you definitely should add to your list to try with friends (or your kids). Their experience slots for the week fill up quickly but new slots open every Sunday at 4PM. Check them out on Instagram @spunsprinkles and if you want to book an experience yourself, here is the link.

I don’t post about coffee shops anymore because they’re just too many of them and too much of the same thing but GOODCUP has one cool thing going for it, the location. GOODCUP opened up a couple of weeks back and as soon as I saw photos of the space on social media I really wanted to pass by and check it out.

The coffee shop is located in an old building inside Souk Mubarakia and it’s pretty big with two floors. The coffee shop occupies one part of the ground floor and the rest is divided into smaller spaces that are available to rent to other businesses. As you can imagine and see from the photos, the coffee shop is very instagrammable so most of the people there were there to grab photos and leave since the seating is pretty limited.

Finding the location is easy, just find Freej Swaileh first in Mubarakia (Google Maps). Once you’re standing in front of Freej enter the souk on the right of it (Souk Al Hareem), and then around 20 meters in you’ll find GOODCUP on your right-hand side. They’re also on instagram @goodcupkw

One of the oldest Korean restaurants in Kuwait, Koryokwan is now called Korea Gwan. Don’t know why they changed it, maybe because nobody could remember the name Koryokwan? I know I couldn’t. They also gave the interior a bit of a facelift although I think the new lights are too bright. I didn’t see anything new in the menu though but it’s been given a facelift as well.

On a side note, I just spotted their very old original logo on their instagram account (pictured below) and it looks very familiar. There used to be a Korean restaurant on mezzanine 2 of Salhiya in the 80s and I remember they had a very similar logo outside the restaurant but don’t think they’re the same restaurant.

From what I know, Koryokwan was opened by Mr Kim in 1989, just before the Gulf War. Mr Kim was the General Secretary of the Boxing Federation in Korea and was then brought to Kuwait by Sheikh Fahad Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to coach the Kuwait boxing team back in 1982.

Mr Kim (in yellow) helped Kuwait win two bronze medals at the Asian games and later helped train the Kuwaiti police and army. After leaving boxing in 1988 he teamed up with Carlton Hotel to open up Koryokwan. In 1991 after the Gulf War he got into a disagreement with Carlton and they split ways. He ended up opening a super trippy hair accessories store while someone else teamed up with Carlton to run Koryokwan. A completely random story which you can read in more detail here.

Korea Gwan is open daily from 10AM to 9:30PM. They’re also on Instagram @koreagwan_kuwait

Layla is a new Lebanese gourmet grocery store that opened up in Salmiya opposite Marks & Spencer. They carry a lot of imported Lebanese products ranging from Bonjous and Master Chips (Lebanese equivalent to Sunkist and Kitco), to Lebanese dairy products, fruits, bread, pickles and more.

It’s actually very similar to the other Lebanese store Lama, except instead of the Lama branded products Layla carries their own brand. If you want to check the place out they’re on Instagram @laylalbkw and here is their location on Google Maps.

Ora, one of my favorite Japanese restaurants opened up in Avenues a couple of weeks ago. The new location is called Ora Blu and it’s a much smaller space than the main Ora with a similar but also smaller menu.

They’re located in Phase 4 near Arabica and it’s walk-ins only so no reservations needed. If you want to check out their menu click here.

Back in the mid 90s we really only had two places to hang out as teenagers, a restaurant called Fuddruckers on the Gulf Road and Johnny Rockets in Salmiya. Both were pretty expensive for broke teenagers and we didn’t have malls or places like Starbucks where you can just go and chill for hours. But then McDonald’s came to Kuwait and they opened a location over Johnny Rockets and it became the go-to place for me and my friends to meet up at. The staff didn’t care if we just hung out without ordering anything and the street corner outside became a popular meeting point for teens. So when Mcdonald’s shut down and Shakir took over the location, I was kinda upset about it but also curious to see what Shakir would with the place.

Yesterday I passed by the new location to get a sneak peek and noticed they had removed the large hoarding that had covered the side of the building revealing a brand new facade. The old building no longer looks dodgy anymore and instead looks pretty great. As I walked into the space I was expecting to see some indoor seating since McDonalds had seating but there wasn’t any. The whole interior was designed and optimized around fast order pickups. Shakir is so popular that the whole indoor space is one large queuing system with a long railing that splits the interior in half. As you go in through the entrance, the railing leads you to the far end of the restaurant where the ordering windows are. After you’re done ordering the railing leads you back towards the pickup area which is near the exit doors.

Disappointingly, there won’t be V-Thru at this location which is what I currently use to pick up my orders at their Rai location. If you haven’t used V-Thru before it’s one of my favorite services, you order from a restaurant via their app and once you arrive outside the restaurant, they bring the food out to your car. I mostly use it for Arabica when I order beans and Shakir to avoid the long car lines.

Shawarma Shakir Salmiya is opening tomorrow, July 7th at 7PM. They’re on instagram @shawarmashakir

There is a cute little Filipino bakery down the street from where I live in Salmiya called Lailas Bakery. It’s a tiny place but they carry a good variety of Filipino baked goods including Cassava Cake, Chicken Asado, Ube Cheese Rolls, Putok, Ensaymada’s and a bunch of other things I also have no idea what they are. But there are two things I’ve had from there which were delicious, Pandesal which is Filipino bread rolls, and Spanish Bread which is bread that has a sweet, buttery paste in the center.

So if like me you love carbs and want to try something different, pass by and pick up something. Their instagram is @lailas_bakery55080728 and here is their location on Google Maps.

If you’ve ever had a kebab sandwich at one of those shawerma places in Bneid Al Gar then you’re gonna appreciate Raju & Sons which based of the same idea just elevated using better ingredients.

The small restaurant is located in Shuwaikh and is really small, but they have car service which is what I wanted. The menu is composed of 5 different kebab sandwiches, 4 of which are meat and the 5th being chicken. The difference between the various meat options isn’t much, it’s either you want it spicy or not and you either want it with round potatoes or not. I was with a friend so we ordered two spicy kebabs with round potatoes, two normal kebabs, round potatoes on the side to share, and one soft drink. The total came out to KD3.900 (their sandwiches range from 500 to 700 fils).

The round potatos were incredibly crispy, I have no idea how they managed to get them so crispy but I loved them and they’re a more exciting alternative to the usual french fries. The sandwiches were also delicious, I had mine without veggies and the spicy sauce wasn’t that spicy, kinda how the spicy sandwich at Shakir isn’t spicy just more flavorful than the regular tahina sauce. So even if you’re not into spicy that’s the one I would recommend you getting.

Overall I liked it, it wasn’t heavy, it tasted great, it’s reasonably priced and I’d definitely go back. If you want to check the place out, here is the Google Maps link. They’re also only Instagram @rajuandsons_