Category: Food

According to a source, Al Yasra are in talks to try and bring Pret a Manger to Kuwait. Pret is already available in the UAE and so it would make sense to expand around the region. I always used to wonder where one would open a Pret in Kuwait since it works well in an area with some foot traffic that isn’t a mall. Now With all the coffee shops in the city creating a bit of foot traffic, that might actually be a great location for a Pret especially since its surrounded by office buildings as well.

Clearly we have too many coffeeshops at the moment but I actually like that, I think we’ve found a sort of a loophole in the system. Since we can’t open bars in Kuwait people are opening coffeeshops with the same vibe as a bar, just coffee instead of alcohol, and it’s working.

My only issue is why is everyone opening a coffeeshop in Kuwait City right next to 20 other already good coffeeshops?

Earlier today I wanted to have coffee with a friend of mine in Jabriya and we realized there wasn’t any good coffee place in the area, so I recommended we drive down all the way to the city to Arabica. Then a couple of hours ago I was supposed to meet another friend over coffee in Salmiya, and the only place I could think of was Magnet, which I actually like don’t get me wrong. It’s just once you’re outside of the city you wouldn’t think there was a speciality coffee trend in Kuwait, it’s non existent.

So dear coffeeshops, please open up outside of Kuwait City closer to where people live. Thank you.

The Mandarin is a new little neighborhood shop that was opened last week by the popular Japanese restaurant EDO. It’s a small store which carries a variety of EDO food items including sushi rolls, salads and their popular ice creams, but they also carry items EDO use in the kitchen as well as a large assortment of different teas and tea accessories.

Currently they’re still in a soft launch phase and so are open from 1PM to 9PM. They’re located right next to the OVO restaurant in Bneid Al-Gar. Here is the location on [Google Maps] and you could also get a bit more info from the EDO instagram account @edo_restaurant

Last night I finally got to pass by and have dinner at HABRA, the new restaurant by the well known chef Ahmed AlBader. He’s the chef behind some popular places like Burger Hub, Prime & Toast, Pizzetta, Butchers Den and eight6 Bistro that used to be located in the Avenues back in 2009. He also used to host The Chef’s Table on YouTube which I think he should actually bring back. Anyway, I’m personally not a fan of Burger Hub, Prime & Toast, Pizzetta and Butchers Den so I really wasn’t planning on trying HABRA, but I’m glad I did because I think HABRA is by far his best creation yet.

I dropped by last night and ended up waiting an hour and forty five minutes to get a table for three. It was a Sunday so I can’t imagine how long the wait might be on a weekend. Luckily HABRA is walking distance to like 200 speciality coffee shops and a Pick Yo so killing time wasn’t an issue. We walked around, had frozen yogurt and coffee until we got the call that our table was ready.

The place is pretty small and very cozy. We sat down on a corner table and just started ordering a ton of stuff since everything on the menu sounded so good.

Kale and nori slaw KD1.750
Crispy brussel sprouts KD2.000
Bone marrow, chimichuri, sour dough KD3.750
Grilled avocado KD2.250
Grilled rapanini, jaggery, tamarind butter KD2.250
Rib and manchengo fries KD4.500
Baked sweet potato, cinnamon sugar butter KD 1.950
Chef’s burger KD6.500
Four and a half hour braised rib, Korean sweet chili KD6.950
Pulled lamb, dates, prunes KD3.500
Three-way Kalbi KD8.500
Charred cantaloup, ice cream, meringue, honey KD2.500
Pomegranate and pecan brownie KD2.750

Everything we had was delicious. My least favorite item was probably the burger while my favorite was the braised rib (pictured above). The bone marrow and Kalbi both came a close second (note: don’t share the bone marrow with a friend, be selfish and let them order their own). And don’t bother ordering the cantaloup dessert, it was impossible to eat. Our total came out to KD19 per person including tips and drinks which is reasonable considering the amount of food we had.

Was it worth the nearly 2 hour wait? I think so, I mean it wasn’t like I was standing in line for 2 hours, theres a lot to do in the area so just make sure you pass by and put your name on the list and then go do your thing. If you’re just gonna wait until the restaurant becomes less popular I don’t think thats gonna happen anytime soon. Every place in that area is busy all the time and HABRA doesn’t have that many tables inside. Speaking of the location, HABRA is located right next to Gia in Kuwait City, close to SOMU. Here is their location on [Google Maps]. They’re also located on instagram @habrakw and they’re currently open daily from 6PM to 10PM.

I’ve been meaning to post this updated list of coffee shops for a few weeks now but I kept on finding out about more coffee shops so I kept postponing the post. We’ve got so many coffee shops now that we even have two different ones with the same name. I don’t think I’ve missed any places but in case I have, let me know in the comments.

Abu Al Hasania
Dose Cafe
Tripple A Cafe
V60 Coffee Bar

Al Zahra’a
BRW

Jabriya
RumorZ Cafe
Wing Cafe

Kuwait City
7 Grams
20 Grams
33 Cafe
Alpha Café
Arabica
Ark Coffee Co.
ASPRO + PRO Coffee Bar
Awake Coffee
BLAKK Coffee
Bon Coffee
But First Coffee
CAF
Caffeine
Caveman Coffee
Coffea
Commons
Cova Specialty Coffee
CRL Bar
Dose Cafe
Drip Cafe
East
Grace
His Majesty
Jumo
Kaffa Kuwait
Kôfē – Espresso Bar
Let’s Coffee
Mood Coffee Bar
Muse Coffeesphere
Muse Espresso Bar
Not Just Coffee
OIA Coffee
OZ Coffee
Pause Coffee
Perhaps Some Coffee
Pirate Cafe
P R E S S
Richard’s Coffee
Savage Coffees
Sisters & Co
Street Cafe
The Breeze Cafe
Three and Barista
Toby’s Estate
ÜSHK
Vol 1
Volta
Wish Cafe

Mahboula
Ace Coffee
Made Caffe
OROMO Coffee Bar
Swing Coffee House

Mangaf
Mug
Vibes Coffee

Messila
Majnoon Qahwa

Rai
Amo Cafe

Salmiya
Magnet
Muse Lounge
Mr Koobs
New Brew Coffee

Shuwaikh
Arabica
Boost Cafe
Caffeine
Car Wash Cafe
Days*Cafe
Force Bar
Keys Coffee Shop
Shuwaikh Coffee
Ves Vas
Vol 1

Most of the places above opened up in the past 6 months or so. Insane.

Update (13/8/2017): I’ve updated the list above and split them based on their location

One of my favorite Lebanese restaurants just opened up in Kuwait. ‘Enab’ is probably the Lebanese restaurant I frequent the most when I’m in Lebanon and so was pretty surprised when I found out they opened here. In Lebanon they’re located in the popular Mar Mikhael area near all the nightlife so was super convenient to start off with dinner there before walking down to all the bars. In Kuwait on the other hand they’re located in the Menus Restaurant Complex in Abu Halifa, which means they’re so out of the way for me that I won’t be able to pass by frequently.

In case you’re interested, their instagram account is @Enabkuwait

This is an updated list of some popular breakfast places in Kuwait. Compared to the previous list I removed some places that had shutdown, added some new spots, updated the timings on some and also highlighted my favorite spots:

Baking Tray
8:00 AM – 1:00 AM

Baker & Spice
Weekdays: 8AM to 1PM
Weekends: 8AM to 2PM

Breakfast Club
KIPCO: 6AM to 12AM
Mahboula: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Cheesecake Factory
Friday & Saturday: 10AM to 2PM

Cocoa Room ★
8AM to 12PM

Dar Hamad
8AM to 11:50AM

Dough Cafe
8AM to 2PM

Early Bird ★
Fahaheel: 5AM to 3PM
Jabriya: 5AM to 5PM

Eggcellent
Weekdays: 6:30AM to 2PM
Saturday: 7:30AM to 3PM
Friday: Closed

Gia
Weekdays: 9AM to 12PM
Weekends: 9AM to 1PM

IHOP
Jabriya: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day
Mahboula: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Johnny Rockets ★
Salmiya: Open 24 hours but breakfast only from 7AM to 12PM

Ladurée
360 Mall: 9AM to 2PM

Le Pain Quotidien
Marina Crescent: 7:30AM to 11PM

McDonalds
Gulf Road: 6AM to 11AM

Prime & Toast
Seef: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Q at The Yard
Weekdays: 7AM to 1PM
Weekends: 8AM to 6PM

Ryoog
6AM to 11PM

Street by Al Makan ★
Saturday: 9:30AM to 2PM

Yellow Lemon
Sunday to Tuesday: 8AM to 4PM
Wednesday to Saturday: 8AM to 7PM

Zaatar W Zeit
Marima Crescent:7:30AM to 12:30AM

★ My favorite places

Was Pick called Pick Yo before? Because I keep calling them Pick Yo and I could swear thats because they were called Pick Yo.

They just opened up this morning. Their working hours are from 11AM to 1AM and here is their location on [Google Maps]

Similar to Kuwait, speciality coffee places are starting to pick up in Beirut as well. On my latest trip I passed by two which I’d recommend checking out if you’re planning to visit Lebanon over the holidays. Check them out below:

The Backburner
This speciality coffee place opened up a couple of months ago in Saifi Village. It’s located on a quiet street next to the Trunk concept store and around the corner from Meat the Fish. It’s a small place with mostly indoor seating and a small bench right outside. They’re walking distance from downtown so they’re pretty convenient, here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @thebackburner

Kalei Coffee Co.
Kalei has also just been open for a couple of months now and is currently my new favorite spot in Beirut. They’re located in the popular Mar Mikhael area, walking distance from all the popular pubs, but they’re also tucked away in a quiet hidden alleyway, isolated from all the hustle and bustle. They’ve got an extremely cozy outdoor area and a spacious beautiful interior. Their desserts are pretty good with the carrot cake and flourless chocolate cake being the two I’d highly recommend. Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @kaleicoffee.co

Alghanim Industries will be bringing the American franchise Slim Chickens to the region next year and they will be opening their first location in the same complex where they’re opening Wendy’s on Plajat Street. [Source]

I hadn’t heard of Slim Chickens until a few moments ago but the reason I find this partnership interesting is because back in August I posted about a rumor that Al-Sayer was bringing Chick-fil-A to the region. I mentioned then that burgers and chicken seem to go side by side when it came to franchise ownership, and Alghanim bringing Slim Chickens gives that theory more merit. Americana have Hardees and KFC, Alshaya have Shake Shack and Cane’s Chicken, Alghanim Industries will have Wendy’s and Slim Chickens and hopefully Al Sayer will end up with Five Guys and Chick-fil-A. Yum.

PantryBee is a new local business that just soft launched over the weekend. It belongs to a friend of mine and it’s a concept similar to the popular Blue Apron except of course, its local. PantryBee is for people who love to cook or want to cook but aren’t that great at it (like myself). Every week they have a bunch of new meals available which you can order from and they’ll send you all the ingredients required for that meal in the exact quantity along with a step by step guide to help you make it.

They’re still in a soft launch phase so the menu is currently limited to just a few meals but nevertheless I love the idea. So check out their website [Here]

Update: Was just informed that they’ll always have 4 meals to choose from and they’ll eventually change every week, but currently they’ll change every two weeks while they work on improving operations and fixing kinks.

Over the weekend I passed by the new VOL.1 thats opening up in Mayar Complex to get a sneak peek. I was curious to see how the place was turning out so I asked the owner if I could drop by and check it out. The new location is going to be located in Shuwaikh and is around 3 to 4 times the size of their current location in the city. The new space has a much larger circular bar and the same bench style seating surrounding the walls. The new location also has an second floor which will contain their offices as well as a small space where they’ll be holding classes or coffee cupping sessions. They’re expecting to open sometime next month but no specific date has been set yet.

The Mayar Complex where VOL.1 is located is surprisingly a pretty good looking space. I didn’t think it was going to turn out the way it did and I love the way they’ve used marble everywhere. I took a walk around it and a bunch of shops have already opened with a bunch of others opening soon. There is going to a gym there, two spinning studios, a bunch of fashion and accessories stores and a few restaurants. The only issue I have with the complex is there isn’t enough parking, but thats to be expected I guess. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Shakshooka, the nomadic farmers market is coming back again this year. If you are a passionate person who likes making things from scratch, are crafty and a foodie then they’re looking for someone like you. The food has to be handmade by you, nothing processed, no nutella, no lotus, no cookies and no cupcakes.

To be part of the Shashooka market contact Mimi on [email protected]

Burger & Lobster is a British franchise that opened around a year ago in Kuwait. Their menu is very straight forward and simple with just 3 items, a burger, a lobster roll and a lobster, each for the same price which in Kuwait was just KD8.950.

That simple formula I guess didn’t do so well in Kuwait because last month Burger & Lobster expanded the menu by adding a lot more items while also revamping their pricing system. Now their 3 primary items have 3 different prices, the burger got dropped down to KD7, the lobster roll to KD8 while the lobster had its price increase and is now KD10. As I mentioned, they also added a bunch of other items to their menu ranging from soups to sliders. You can check out the full menu [Here]

Personally I go there for their lobster roll so none of their new items interest me. But, if it means these new items will help drive traffic and keep the place open, then I’m all for it. Their lobster roll is so good.