2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
PinkGirlQ8 spotted a Shake Shack coming soon hoarding outside Fanar Mall in Salmiya. I thought the location was a bit odd but I guess they want to drive traffic away from the Johnny Rockets branch that’s just a few shops away.
I also found out the Harvey Nichols launch date at Avenues Phase III is now confirmed to be around end of September early October. This will be their first store in Kuwait.
The new food court called Tick-it Lounge 6 that includes Potbelly, Pinkberry, Starbucks and a new place called Tick-it has finally opened up at the airport. Local blogger Baba 3od has more pictures and information [Here]
Two days ago I get an email from Smoke House telling me they’re planning to launch a Hashi burger and if I was interested to try it out. Hashi turns out means baby camel and since I hadn’t tried camel meat before I figured why not.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect, I’ve tried ostrich meat before and found it very lean and chewy so I figured camel meat would probably be the same but maybe have a stronger flavor. I wasn’t expecting it to be good but thought it would at least be worth trying just for the experience.
It turns out camel meat actually tastes pretty much like regular beef. I had the burger with caramelized onions, cheese and BBQ sauce, strong flavors which slightly overpower the patty but in this case a great combination since hashi meat is slightly drier than beef so the toppings helped keep things juicy. I’m not sure why other places don’t have Hashi burgers as well, could be a good diet patty due to the fact it contains less fat than beef.
Smoke House haven’t introduced the burger yet nor do they have a price for it but they’ll be updating their Twitter account once they do as well as their website. Fahad if you’re reading this I didn’t have lunch so I could have this burger and I won’t be having dinner. Diet still on.. kinda.
Tonight I invited myself to Shawarma Shuwaikh, a new shawarma place that’s opening up soon. The place actually belongs to a friend of mine, Bader Alsalem who also happens to be Basil Alsalem’s brother (the guy behind OFK, Slider Station, Burger Boutique etc..). I was supposed to pass by on Wednesday with Marzouq and some other friends but I couldn’t wait that long and headed there right after my gym a few hours ago.
It’s a small place that’s very nicely designed with one wall setup with screens playing different videos and another wall featuring some art and mirrors. The menu is small with around 8 sandwiches, 7 being either beef or chicken shawerma and the last being a halloum sandwich. They also have fries and drinks. The sandwiches are split up into groups based on if they come in Lebanese bread, Sammoun (hotdog bun) or Sajj. I ended up ordering the Shawerma Gass which is their regular beef shawerma in sammoun, a Shawerma 1961 which comes in a sajj bread with chicken, roca, fries, onion strips and chili ranch sauce and also had a cup of fries as well.
[YouTube]
The food reminded me a lot of the shawerma from Falafel & Co which is a really good thing since I used to love their shawermas before they closed down. I also think their prices are very reasonable ranging from 500fils to KD1.000 for the specials like Shawerma 1961. The place is still NOT open so you can’t pass by and try it out just yet. They’re planning to hopefully open next week and once I get a confirmed date I’ll post it with their exact location so stay tuned.
Spotted the above at Sultan Center Shaab. It’s for Alban Dairy and I’m guessing they’ll be selling cheese there but no idea how it’s going to be a cafe. Coffee and cheese? Not sure about that…
Last June I posted about Magnolia Bakery opening in Kuwait but I didn’t know where. But, Magnolia Kuwait recently opened a twitter account and according to their latest tweet they announced they’re opening in Hamra Tower. I’m not sure when they’re opening but since the mall is now open I’m guessing its ASAP.
According to Abo Flan, a second Hungry Bunny branch is opening soon and this time in Egaila. I still haven’t been to their Jahra branch because I thought it was far but Egaila is even further. [Link]
Just found out that Alshaya are bringing Garrett’s Popcorn to Kuwait. According to my source it seems Alshaya accidentally leaked this news in an internal company memo ahead of time.
If you guys remember around 3 years back I posted about Smoke House who at one point I thought had the best burger in Kuwait (that’s pre-OFK, Elevation, Fatburger and Shake Shack days). Well things went from perfect to a mess, they had consistency issues, they changed their burgers and some people ran into issues with their management.
But it seems things have finally been sorted out. They posted a very honest and fun to read update today on their website where they talk about some of the problems they had and how they’ve gone ahead and changed or improved things. After reading their post I actually have a much better impression about them and I’m now interested in going back and trying them out again. Why can’t more businesses be this down to earth and honest with their customers? Check out their post [Here]
I have no idea when the new Gulf Road Fuddruckers branch is going to open but it looks huge so I can’t wait.
Based on a comment left by a reader it seems like the British chain ShakeAway will be opening in Kuwait. I’ve never tried them bu according to their website they’re the largest milkshake bar company in the world and they’re already open in Dubai. No idea on when and where they will be opening.
Update: According to a reader their first branch will be at Discovery Mall and they will be opening in 12 weeks time.
There’s a new burger place called Hashtag that opened up next to Solo Pizza in Kuwait City and I got to try it out tonight. I don’t usually have burgers in the evening but since I had been eating super healthy and clear for nearly 3 weeks I kinda had a weak moment when Fahad posted about it on Instagram. Once I was done with the gym I headed to Hashtag to try it out. I was actually hoping the place would be packed since it would have given myself an excuse not to cheat and drive off but it wasn’t so I parked my car and went in and ordered a burger.
If I was to open a burger place it would be very similar to Hashtag. It’s a very tiny joint in the middle of no where with just 4 burgers on the menu (my place would probably have just one). I ordered a double Hashtag which is 2 beef patties, 2 slices of cheese, grilled onions and their special sauce. I also ordered water as my drink and no fries since I didn’t want to cheat too much.
The burger didn’t take long to make and I sat down and quickly dug in. First impression it looked messy, juicy and delicious. Taste wise it also didn’t disappoint. The bun was soft the patties very juicy and tender and the onions were grilled just the way I like them which is slightly raw. The sauce on the other hand wasn’t that great and I didn’t think it did the burger any justice. Next time I’d probably have it with just ketchup and mustard instead.
My biggest issue is that the place is fairly expensive. A double burger and a bottle of water came out to KD5.250 (4.5 for the burger, 750fils for the water). I think that’s pretty pricy for what should be a small casual burger joint. If you’re interested to try them out (you should), they’re located in Kuwait near Solo Pizza in the building behind Tatami. Here it is on Google Maps [Link]
Just found out there is another mall/plaza popping up in Salmiya right across the street from Laila Gallery (next to Omnia Mall and Sultan Center) called The Cube. Based on the rendering it looks like it’s going to be another restaurants project similar to Bidaa and The Village but my biggest question is where will everyone park? The street is already heavily congested and the only proper parking spaces nearby are behind Sultan Center and Laila Gallery but those two lots already get super packed. [Link]
Over the weekend I passed by Alghunaim Photography store to pick up a tripod (I got the Manfrotto 190XPROB for KD35) when I noticed a cool looking baqala had opened up next door. It’s the cleanest and coolest looking baqala I have seen in Kuwait and the best part is the baqala is simply called “Baqala”.