Category: Food & Drinks

I’m already having a hard enough time trying to cut down on CHKN and DOH! and now I’ve got a third delicious treat to worry about. I tried the new Picklava frozen yogurt by PICK over the weekend and damn it was soooo goooood. It’s a temporary item just for Ramadan and uses a mihalabiya frozen yogurt with baklava pieces, so make sure you try it before Ramadan is over. [Link]

I just heard the great news today, a bylaw has been approved from the municipality to allow food trucks to operate with a license. I know many of my clients are going to be happy as previously only restaurants with a physical location were allowed to have food trucks. This is great news for Kuwait but I hope they don’t put a limit to the number of food trucks like other GCC countries (one country only allows 10 at a time!).

For any legal inquiries, please email me on [email protected] and my team or I will get back to you within 24 hours.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

If you’re not fasting and want to order food before Iftar, then below are some restaurants that will deliver early. It’s not a big list but it’s still better than nothing.

China Garden
Deliveries start after 11AM
Telephone: 25720010

China Kitchen
Deliveries start after 11:30AM
Telephone: 25738754

Marina Thai
Deliveries start after 12:30PM
Telephone: 23720040

Noodles
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 25749933

Osaka
Deliveries start after 10AM
Telephone: 22637331

Pastamania
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 1828585

Sea Taste Restaurant
Open 24 hours
Telephone: 66395655

Ubon
Deliveries start after 1PM
Telephone: 22260848

Upper Crust Pizzeria
Deliveries start after 11AM
Telephone: 22943200

I’ll be updating the list above as I find out about more places, if you know of a place that delivers before Iftar (like 3PM or earlier) let me know.

Update: Removed Poele from the list since it turned out they only had desserts and bread 12PM onwards. Also removed Beit Dickson since they had originally told me deliveries start 12PM onwards but now are stating 5PM onwards.

Arby’s are finally opening their first location in Kuwait and it’s going to be in Jabriya. A few days ago they updated their instagram account with the photo above and the caption coming soon but they didn’t mention a specific date to when they were planning to open up. The location they’ve chosen is where Fuddruckers Jabriya used to be, here it is on [Google Maps]. I can’t wait!

Every year I put a list of Ramadan buffets together and every year the list grows. Since it was becoming a bit cumbersome to navigate, I’ve decided to split the list up this year into two to make it slightly easier to go through. Below is this years list, the first half is a list of hotels with their buffet prices while the second half of the list are restaurants. Like always I’ve highlighted the price increases over the previous year in red, and the decreases in green. Check out the full list below:

Hotels

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10 (-2.000)
Telephone: 24590000

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14.950 (+0.950)
Telephone: 1848111

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD17.500 (+2.000)
Telephone: 22256222

Inn & GO Hotel – Al Dallah Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9.9 (+0.900)
Telephone: 22436686

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD19
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott – Al Thuraya
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22455550

Millennium Hotel & Convention – Lamar International Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD14
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22253100

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25673000

Safir Hotel – Fintas
Buffet Price: KD14.500
Telephone: 25455555

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD17.750 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD12 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25770000

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 25766880

Restaurants

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1821000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14.950
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Al Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9.000 (-0.950)
Telephone: 25756273

Applebee’s
Set Menu Price: KD7.950
Telephone: 1844466 or 25381481

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10 (-1.000)
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: Vegetarian KD3.100 – Non Vegetarian KD3.500 (both min 4 people)
Telephone: 25751081

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22529095

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.500)
Telephone: 22275555

Enab Beirut
Set Menu Price: KD12
Telephone: 90009874

Jeans Grill
Buffet Price: KD8.500 (+0.550)
Telephone: 22264503

Kababji
Set Menu Price: KD5.950 (+0.450)
Telephone: 1861616

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD9.750 (+2.250)
Telephone: 22251303

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD11 (-3.000)
Telephone: 22081999

La Brasa Argentinian Grill
Set Menu: KD11
Telephone: 99052419

Leila
Set Menu Price: KD10 (+0.500) – min 6 people
Telephone: 22996414

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22268666

Palm Palace
Buffet Price: KD9.250 (+0.350)
Telephone: 67009575

Pop A Loop
Set Menu Prices: KD9 to KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22271439

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD9 (+0.500)
Telephone: 25711101

Ruby Tuesday
Set Menu Price: KD7.950 (-2.000)
Telephone: 22444454

Saladworks
Set Menu Price: KD2.750 to KD4.750
Telephone: 22201888

Tallu Hbabna
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 51113700

Tandooriwala
Set Menu Price: KD6.750
Telephone: 25745458

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD6.000 (+0.450)
Telephone: 22597171

Veranda
Set Menu Price: KD12.450
Telephone: 22283141

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD9.500 (-0.500)
Telephone: 22650052

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD8 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22285203 or 97281007

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above [Email Me]

Note: The prices listed above are for adults. Some restaurants offer special prices for children. I will add more restaurants to this list as I find out about them.

Whats your favorite fish and chips place in Kuwait? I’m drawing a blank just trying to think of a place other than Shrimpy that even has fish and chips on the menu.

Anybody who’s been to the Arabica coffeeshop in downtown probably noticed an opening soon hoarding across the street for a place called Skinny Fork. It had been under construction for the longest time, at least I noticed it ever since I first started passing by Arabica. Last week it finally opened and I got to pass by yesterday and try it out.

As you can guess from the name its a healthy restaurant. I was with a friend so we ordered a bunch of things including:

Kalafel: kale, chickpea falafel with tahini (KD1.300)
Lentil Tacos: brown lentils, cabbage, raw walnuts, spelt flour tortilla (KD2.500)
Messy Chickpea Burger: chickpea, avocado, homemade cashew sauce, oat bun and sweet potato fries (KD3.750)
Tropical Avo Dip: avocados, mango, lime (800fils)

Everything we had was actually pretty good and priced reasonably well. The place is small and cozy but I wish there was more natural daylight. They’re in their soft launch phase at the moment so their opening hours are bit tight if you’re planning to lunch there in the middle of the week. As of this post they open during the week only from 9AM to 2:30PM, Saturday 10:30AM to 4PM and they’re closed on Friday.

I took a picture of their menu and you can check it [Here] and make sure to check their instagram account for their latest opening hours @skinnyfork

Yesterday while leaving Sultan Center Shaab I ran into my friends mum outside. While talking to her she offered me some gluten free zaatar fatayer which she had just purchased. Even though I had just had lunch and wasn’t hungry, I took one and headed to my car. While driving off I started eating the zaatar and right away there was something different about it, it had a slight sweet taste to it and I loved it. So I sent her a message on whatsapp asking her where she got it from, I figured I could pick some up on my way home.

I was nearly home and she still hadn’t responded so I decided to call her up instead. Turns out she bought them from inside Sultan Center Shaab at JS & Buttercup which recently opened there. So even though I had just had lunch and even though I had left Sultan already and I was nearly home, I turned around and headed back again to buy some fatayer, thats how good they were.

The place is located on the left side when you first walk into Sultan Center Shaab. Turns out they only sell the zaatar in boxes of 30 pieces for KD12 but they were willing to sell me a box of 15 for KD6. I didn’t want 15 but in the end I decided to buy them and head over to my dads place and share them with him. They’re the most expensive zaatar fatayer I’ve had but they’re also the most delicious ones I’ve had. They’re also gluten free for those of you who care (I don’t). If you’re interested, here is a link to their instagram account @js.buttercup

PS: Turns out they naturally sweeten the fatayer with dates.

I’m not sure why seedless watermelons aren’t more readily available in Kuwait, they’re my favorite thing in the world until they invent seedless mangos. Yesterday I spotted seedless Australian watermelons at Sultan, so I picked one up and it was so deliciously sweet that I’m now looking forward to picking up another one today. They’re not cheap at KD1.400 a KG, but they’re totally worth it.

Pick opened up in Al Hamra Tower last week and I personally think this is their best location yet due to the amount of people who work in the tower. Currently there seems to be a queue all day long during office working hours but I overheard they’re getting a second cashier to cope with the high demand.

A standalone Adidas Originals also opened up in the basement of Al Hamra. Previously Adidas Originals was part of the regular Adidas store in the basement, but that location got shut down and they opened up this new Adidas Originals shop next to the old one. The mall is finally turning into a much more interesting place, even WH Smith Bookshop is opening up in the basement.

As Americans become increasingly health-conscious and junk food sales plateau in the States, fast food companies are spreading to new global markets, expanding their revenue — and the waistlines of their customers.

VICE correspondent Gianna Toboni travels to Kuwait, now one of the most obese countries on the planet, to witness the health effects on a country deep in the throes of an unlikely obsession with U.S. fast food. “Fast Food of Arabia” airs on HBO Friday, April 21 at 11pm.

I just watched this episode a few moments ago and although it doesn’t bring to light anything we (as in people living in Kuwait) didn’t already know, it did make me realize two things:

1) Some of the most prime seaside real estate is occupied by fast food chains
2) There needs to more education by the government on healthier living

I don’t have any numbers to back this up but I personally don’t think Kuwait is as obese as it used to be 10 years ago when I first brought to light the obesity issue. Back then we didn’t have close to as many gyms as we have today, people were a lot less active (even I used to be an overweight couch potato) and we definitely didn’t have as many healthy food options as we do today. But there still are a vast majority of people who don’t know how to eat healthy. We tend to assume everyone knows what is good or bad for them but thats not the case which is why I think there needs to be more education on this subject. Maybe nutrition classes should be mandatory in schools or something along those lines.

Here are also some interesting dates I got from this episode of VICE:

First KFC in Kuwait – 1973
First Hardees in Kuwait – 1980
First Pizza Hut in Kuwait – 1982
First Mcdonalds in Kuwait – 1994
First Burger King in Kuwait – 1997

I also found out that the Hardees in Kuwait was their first Hardees outside of the U.. So now I’m interested to know the story on how that came to be.

This episode of VICE is 30 minutes long but only the first half focuses on Kuwait so it won’t take too much of your time. Based on Gianna Toboni’s instagram account, she filmed this in Kuwait last August. If you have HBO NOW, you can watch this episode [Here]

Update: If anyone wants the lyrics to the Domino’s Pizza cult song, here they are:

Who are we?
Domino’s Pizza!
What are we?
Number 1!
What’s our job?
Make more pizza! Have more fun!
Make more pizza! Have more fun!
Make more pizza! Have more fun!
Wooow!

Domino’s asking all the right life related questions…

No idea if this is a legit 7-Eleven or not, but its popping up in Salmiya on Salem Mubarek Street. I’m guessing its the real deal since the logo doesn’t look altered, usually copy shops alter the logo because they think they could escape copyright infringement that way. There is even an instagram account as well called @7eleven_q8 that says coming soon, although there is no way to tell if they’re connected.

Thanks Hussain

My favorite dosa place in Kuwait has been Saravanaa Bhavan for some time now. But I’m kinda bored of it and want to try out a new place. Can someone recommend another Indian restaurant that does great dosas?

Since we’re on the subject of fried chicken this morning, my favorite chicken sandwich place, CHKN is now on Carriage along with Elevation Burger. CHKN was the only reason I installed and started using Talabat in the first place, so now that its on Carriage, I guess no more Talabat for me. Netflix, CHKN and DOH!, all day and all night!

Bonchon Chicken, the popular Korean fried chicken and wings restaurant has now opened in Kuwait. According to their instagram account they’re still in a soft launch phase and are open from 3PM to 10PM. They’re located in Dhai Complex in Bida’a and you can get the exact location as well as more details from their instagram page @bonchonkwt

Thanks Jen