Category: Food & Drinks

Had a great salmon dish today and I think its currently my favorite salmon dish in Kuwait. Surprisingly I had it at The ONE restaurant in Marina Mall. Who would have figured.

Yesterday I passed by a small Jamaican restaurant that’s run by a Jamaican woman living in Kuwait. I only found out about the place last week from the owner of Caribbean Hut but turns out Taste of Jamaica has been around for awhile now. This is another hole in the wall place that had around four small tables inside an a few outside. The interior was decorated with Jamaican ornaments like flags and photos of Bob Marley while the radio was pumping out some Jamaican tunes. I think everyone who was working at the place was Jamaican although I should have asked just to be sure.

I never had Jamaican food before but one of my friends had before moving to Kuwait so we put him in charge of ordering and we ended up with the following dishes:

Caribbean Shrimp KD3.5
Jerk Chicken KD3.5
Braised Oxtails KD3.5
Curry Goat KD3.5
Spinach Rice KD0.800
Rice & Peas KD0.800
Baked Potato KD0.800

We had also ordered sides of Stir Fried Okras, Jamaican Patty, Corn Bread and Mac & Cheese but we were told they were out of them.

Once the food arrived my first impression was that the presentation of the dishes weren’t as good as Caribbean Hut. The dinnerware were regular looking and the food was just filled onto the plates like you would at home. The food on the other hand tasted a lot better than it looked. I’m not a fan of chicken on bone but my friend who had the Jerk Chicken thought it was pretty good. The caribbean Shrimp was good, nothing special but the Braised Oxtails and the Curry Goat were the two dishes with lots of flavor. Between the two, Curry Goat was my favorite but the oxtails was super tender as well. They both had new exciting flavors I hadn’t tasted before which is what I was hoping to experience by visiting this place.

On the negative side I thought the prices were a bit high especially when compared to Caribbean Hut which I thought was a super good deal. But other than that I found the place interesting and worth passing by just for the experience especially if you’re bored of your regular routine and are looking for something new to try out.

Taste of Jamaica is located in Mangaf, Block 4, Street 19 and Building #1. Their phone number is 67086852 and they’re open from 5AM to 11PM.

According to a reader, Tim Hortons at the Avenues will be opening this coming Saturday, August 24th.

After posting about The Flying Start Triathlon below, the Smoke House restaurant in Mahboula sent me the graphic above. Well played.

Caribbean Hut is a small tiny restaurant located in Abu Halifa and owned and run by a Puerto Rican chef who’s helped out by his father. I found out about Caribbean Hut by chance when I accidentally landed on trip advisors top restaurants in Kuwait list and I noticed Caribbean Hut was ranked first. A restaurant I hadn’t heard of ranked first in Kuwait? I knew I had to go check it out for myself.

First things first just so you don’t get mislead by the beautiful food shots. Caribbean Hut isn’t a big fancy restaurant in a nice mall. It’s a small place located in a dodgy part of Abu Halifa, the restaurants surroundings aren’t pretty and the restaurant itself doesn’t have a good looking interior either. They didn’t even have cute Caribbean music playing and the whole place was lit up by cold energy saving lightbulbs. So don’t go there with expectations of fine dining even though the food is very well presented. That’s really the only negative thing I have to say about the place because everything else about it was pretty great.

I got there at 3PM just as they were opening. The chef was there alone since his father works a full time job and only comes by to help once he’s done. I hadn’t had Caribbean food before so I had the chef help us choose our dishes and in the end we decided to go with the following:

— Appetizers —

Chicken Empanadillas
Puerto Rican styled patties deep-fried and prepared with chicken
KD0.500

Beef Empanadillas
Puerto Rican styled patties deep-fried and prepared with beef
KD0.500

Tostones (Plantain Chips)
Deep fried plantains
KD0.750

— Main Course —

Beef Carne
Mashed fried plantains filled with fried beef, seasoned with Caribbean spices, served with white rice
KD1.750

Shrimp Camarrones
Mashed fried plantains filled with sauteed shrimp, seasoned with Caribbean spices, served with white rice
KD3.500

Trinidadian Chicken Curry
Trini style chicken curry served with white rice
KD1.750

— Dessert —

Leche Flan
Made with condensed milk, sweetend milk and caramel
KD0.500

Tembleque
Made with coconut milk, sugar, and cinnamon
KD0.750

From the two Empanadillas I preferred the minced beef and would order that again. Even though they were deep fried they didn’t taste or look oily, if anything they actually looked and tasted like they were oven baked. The Tostones were very interesting and would have even been better if they had salsa on the side to dip them into. They actually do have salsa on their menu but it wasn’t available to order when we were there.

Once we were done with the starters the chef brought over our main courses. We started with the Trinidadian Chicken Curry which was in the menu under the section called “Our Neighbors” alongside the Cuban Stewed Beef and Jamaican Pulled Chicken. The Trinidadian curry tastes fairly different from the traditional Thai or Indian curry and although it was good, after trying the other two dishes I probably wouldn’t order this one again. The Beef Carne and the Shrimp Camarrones were both incredible dishes with lots of new flavors I hadn’t experienced before. The presentation looked great and I wouldn’t be able to choose between the two the next time I pass by. I’d probably order them both again.

Finally when we were done we had our desserts. From the two I preferred Leche Flan which is similar to Creme Caramel and like Creme Caramel, it’s not very exciting. While having the desserts I chatted with the chef who’s the owner as well. I thought they had opened a few months back but turns out in a few days it’s going to be their one year anniversary. It’s pretty surprising how a great place like that has been open for so long and isn’t well known yet.

If you’re looking for something new and different to try then I would definitely recommend Caribbean Hut. The food was great, the owner was really friendly, it’s a small family business and most importantly, it’s not another burger joint. Other than the location there really isn’t anything to complain about. Price wise it’s a steal. We had two starters, three main courses, two desserts and four soft drinks and the total came out to be KD9.550 and that’s mostly because of the shrimp dish which was double the price of anything else on the menu. If you want to find out more about the place or the exact location you can check out their website where they even have their full menu available [Link]

Nothing annoys me more than Ferrero Rocher commercials. Everyone’s all dressed up and at some fancy party with a waiter waltzing around the guests with a tray of Ferrero Rocher. Really; do they not know that we eat them like popcorn while in our sweats and glued to the couch watching TV? But since Ferrero Rocher is so awesomely delicious, I figured we’d give it some sort of special treatment – Deep-fried Ferrero Rocher Lollipops!

First things first – make the batter. You can do this two ways: either take the easy way out and use pancake batter, or you can use this batter recipe (which I LOVE). I used the batter recipe for this so put in a little effort and show your Ferrero Rocher some love. It takes minutes to put together and you can use it for just about anything.

While your oil is heating up on the stove/deep-fryer, take some lollipop sticks or wooden skewers and stick them in your Ferrero Rochers. Once your army of nomz is ready to hit the deep-fryer, do the sizzle test. Drop a bit of the batter into the oil and if the batter takes more than 3 seconds to bubble and fry, your oil isn’t hot enough.

Once the oil is hot, dip your Ferrero Rocher lollipop into the batter and coat it evenly. Make sure to get some batter on your lollipop stick/skewer since it helps hold the Ferrero Rocher in place after it’s all fried and delicious. Once the lollipop is covered with batter, hold it in the hot oil and watch that baby fry up till the batter turns a deep golden-brown. Take the fried lollipop out of the hot oil and let them cool for a bit before you eat them, unless you don’t care about burning your taste buds (like me).

Make your Ferrero Rocher lollipops even more delicious by dipping them in silky warm Nutella and rolling them in sprinkles, toasted coconut, ground nuts, chili flakes, cinnamon, or anything else you like – the world is your oyster. Have fun with it (but not too much fun like Mark, who thought rolling them in mayo and caviar would be an interesting combo).

You can try this recipe without the sticks/skewers all the same since they’re just as delicious. We just like gussying things up around here so enjoy.

Note: Lollipop sticks and presentation stands can be found at Tavola.

Posted by Farah Bishara

I was having trouble finding sprinkles for the upcoming “The Belly” post when a friend of mine told me about a place in Shuwaikh that specializes in baking called Tavola. Not sure why sprinkles are difficult to find but I headed out to Shuwaikh looking for Tavola and found it after calling them up and getting directions over the phone.

Once I walked in I headed right to the back to their baking section and I just stood there for a minute or two with my jaw wide open. The employee there asked me if he could help me with anything and I told him I just needed a minute to absorb the place in. It was incredible, they had everything including stuff I didn’t know you could even buy. They had like a million different cupcake and muffin cups, tons of stuff from Wilton like display packaging and stands for your desserts, they had cookie cutters, molds, baking books you name it they had it.

Once I was done picking up what I needed from their baking section I decided to explore the rest of the store. Turns out they’re the dealers for two brands I love:

Zwilling J.A.Henckels
Boushahri used to be the agent years ago and they also had a little small store at Radisson SAS but then they disappeared. Turns out Tavola picked the brand up and they had a large selection of their products on display at the store.

WMF
WMF is used by a lot of luxury hotels worldwide and is a great brand for stainless steel pots, pans and cutlery plus a lot of kitchen accessories. I definitely need to go back and pick up some items for my kitchen.

They’re also the dealers for Bodum, Leonard, Alessi and Peugeot mills. I’m in love with the store, it’s one of those places where I was like I need to share this with everyone.

If you’re interested they’re located in Shuwaikh behind London Market and their phone number is 24825761. They have a map as well as photos of their different products and brands on their Instagram page [Here]

For other places I’ve previously focused on click [Here]

Update: They’re also the dealers for Cuisineart. Also here is their location on [Google Maps]

Everybody’s got a preference, right? Some people like Nutella. Some people like peanut butter. Some like their peanut butter plain. Others like it with jam. I like my peanut butter with bananas. And bacon. In a cronut. For those who have no limits when it comes to caloric intake (and if you’re a human garbage disposal like me), keep reading.

This can be put together in any vessel you like; toast, crackers, artisan bread.. I just happen to like the idea of a deep-fried croissant-donut hybrid holding it all together. I mean, look at this baby. Wouldn’t you?

Let’s get busy.

Cronuts! Making cronuts was a challenge – I tried several croissant dough recipes until I found the one I like. Make your dough and chill it in the fridge. Working with cold dough is really important; the flecks of cold butter will give your cronut the layers of deliciousness you’re looking for.

Roll our your croissant dough on a floured surface and cut your donut rings out – you can find donut cutters at Williams-Sonoma in Grand Avenue. Make ’em as big or as small as you like. Bigger cronut = more nomz; you know what to do. Deep-fry those babies till they’re golden brown and puffed up. If you’re the kind who can’t resist sneaking bites (read: me), fry up the cronut holes and eat those to hold you over.

The filling is pretty basic: creamy peanut butter (or crunchy if you like texture), caramelized bananas, and bacon! Fry up your bacon till its nice and crispy, yeah? Soggy half-assed bacon is against the law here. For the bananas, slice a banana on the diagonal and sprinkle it with a bit of sugar before you fry it in some butter. Once you see the sugar start to brown, take the bananas off the pan.

Now, slice your cronut in half, heap your favorite PB on both “slices”, and layer the crispy bacon and bananas. Close your eyes, say a prayer, and take a bite. Heaven, right?

Damn. I just realized how fatty this is. Not sorry and you won’t be either, enjoy!

Posted by Farah Bishara

Dubai Municipality ordered the “fruit punch mixed fruit drink” and “peach flavoured tea” varieties of the drink Snapple be removed after they were found to contain 0.48 percent and 0.05 percent of alcohol respectively, Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reported. [Source]

Buy them while you still can before they disappear forever like Lucky Charms did.

Kout, which also owns the Maison Blanc bakery chain in southern England and more than 40 Burger King and KFC sites in Britain and Kuwait, bought Little Chef from RCapital, the private equity firm said on Sunday.

I hadn’t heard of Little Chef until today but from what I’ve read it looks like an iHop competitor. [Link]

Classic Burger Joint, the most popular Lebanese burger joint is opening in Kuwait right next to The Village. They’re also opening right next to another new burger place called Big Smoke Burger. I’m not a big fan of CBJ and I have no idea why they’re so popular in Lebanon since I didn’t think their burgers were any good. You can check out my review on CBJ [Here]

A whole bunch of new restaurants are opening up in Jabriya soon. The complex above is near Starbucks and will have iHop, Shake Shack and possibily a third brand as well.

The second complex above is near Champions and will have Johnny Rockets, Nino’s and Caribou Coffee.

Finally there is another new complex opening right across from The Early Bird but no clue yet to what restaurants it will contain. One things for sure, traffic in and around Jabriya is already unbearable and these new restaurants are only going to increase it.

Thanks Patrick

After finding out about the Nutella Kunafa a few days ago I asked @PinkElephant73 if she could attempt to replicate it since she had already replicated Cronuts a few weeks ago. Next day behold I get a large pan of Nutella Kenafeh delivered to my door. Surprisingly, Kunafa and Nutella do mix well together (then again what doesn’t mix well with Nutella). It’s an extremely heavy and super fattening dessert thats for sure. No idea how many calories and not interested to know either. I felt so guilty after eating a quarter of the tray that I went for an 8KM run right after to try and burn off whatever I could. If you’re interested in making it yourself, @PinkElephant73 was nice enough to share the recipe along with pictures. Check it out below:

——————————————-

Let me start by saying that this recipe is not for the faint at heart – it’s basically a lot of butter, a lot of Nutella, and only some kunafa dough. But it’s freakin’ awesome.

The cast of characters! Yes, that is 400g of butter (Sorry, Mark!). You won’t be using the whole thing, I promise! But, it makes for a more flavorful kunafa! Also, a big jar of Nutella and some kunafa dough that you can find fresh or frozen from Sultan Center.

First things first: preheat your oven to 220°C! A nice hot oven makes for a great crunchy kunafa!

Cut the kunafa dough with a pair of kitchen scissors till you get small shreds. If you’re going to use frozen phyllo dough, be sure to thaw it a few hours before using it! It makes cutting it so much easier.

Next, pour the melted butter onto the kunafa little by little and stir it in to ensure all of the dough is evenly coated with butter. Watch out for this step! You don’t want to over-soak the kunafa with butter; otherwise you’ll get a really greasy crust, and no one likes a greasy crust.

Spoon and press the buttery dough into two 9″ round pans. In one of the pans, press some more of the dough up and around the sides of the pan to make a shallow “well” for the Nutella. Bake those babies for 30-40 minutes, checking immediately after 30 minutes to make sure they haven’t burned.
When the crusts are a deep golden brown, they’re ready! Take ’em out and let them cool.

Then, pour the Nutella into the pan with the kunafa sides as little or as much as your heart desires. Resist the urge to lick the spoon when you’re done (I couldn’t).

Flip the other kunafa onto the Nutella-filled one. I couldn’t take a picture of this step because I was too busy trying not to royally screw it up. I would say this is the hardest part.
Then, flip the entire thing onto your serving dish and voila! Nutella Kunafa!

You can do deconstructed versions of this by just toasting the buttery phyllo dough on a sheet pan as you would granola and layering it with Nutella into small serving cups. However you choose to eat it, factor in some time for a quick work-out after you’re done. Enjoy!

– @PinkElephant73

Too much drama. [YouTube]

Knafeh with Nutella. I found this on my Facebook feed, supposedly a place in Egypt makes it. No idea if anyone in Kuwait does as well.