Category: Food

Earlier in the week someone from the KitchenAid dealer in Kuwait sent me an email thanking me for my post on their mixer. They person also asked me if I would be interested in trying the mixer out and since I like to bake I was like sure why not. So the next day they had a delivery guy drop off a pretty black mixer for me to try out.

There are two things that grabbed my attention right away. The first is how heavy the damn thing is. The mixer not only has a solid metal base but the upper body is also made of metal and even all the switches. The second thing I noticed was the Made in USA marking. I knew KitchenAid was an American company but I didn’t think they actually made the mixers in the US.

I was originally planning to bake a triple layered chocolate cake but decided instead to bake cookies since I’ve made cookies a lot of times before and so would be able to compare this mixer to previous mixers I’ve used. Instead of my usual cookie recipe I decided to try a new one from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. I’m not going to share the recipe here, if you want it then buy the book and support them. Anyway, those of you who follow me on twitter know by now that the cookies I baked turned out to be delicious! Even though The Hummingbird Bakery recipe was pretty similar to my old recipe the little changes they made were enough to turn my fairly good cookies into amazingly good ones. I was originally planning to eat just one cookie but ended up eating like a dozen!

Working with the KitchenAid mixer was very easy. I’m pretty aggressive when I mix (I like mixing at full blast) and by the time I add in all the flour and sugar the mixer usually starts to bounce around and I need to kinda hold it down or lower the speed to stabilize it again. With the KitchenAid it just breezed through the process without a sweat. It didn’t even do a little hop or shake a bit. The mixer is just really well built and I love how it looks. They come in a ton of colors but the most popular one I’ve seen is the Empire Red. The black one is nice and evil looking though.

I really loved the cookies and I really love the KitchenAid Mixer so it’s going to be sad to give it back. If you’re interested, the dealer is called Mabrook and their phone number is 24818242.

If you want the cookbook I used it’s available on [Amazon]

The Arabic says “Food for dieting”. Not sure what kind of diet that is but if you’re reading this Fahad, that’s the diet I want to be on!

A reader posted in the forum asking here he could find Matabbag in Kuwait. I hadn’t heard of it before but it looks and sounds pretty good so now I’m curious to try it. Where can I find Matabbag in Kuwait?

Note: According to the reader, Matabbag is very popular in Saudi Arabia, it’s made using thin bread dough and contains a mix of minced meat, egg and spices inside.

Around a month ago I found a video on YouTube of a guy in Kuwait making pizzas and since then I’ve been eagerly waiting for them to open up. I’m a huge pizza fan and the pizzas in the video all looked delicious but they hadn’t opened the restaurant yet and so I had to wait. Then a few days ago while I was in Lebanon I get an email saying they’re opening on the 15th but since I was busy yesterday I decided to pass by tonight instead to try them out.

Solo Pizza Napulitana is a new small Kuwaiti owned business that’s located in an old building in Kuwait City right behind the newly opened Japanese restaurant Tatami. From the outside it doesn’t look very appealing and on the inside it’s honestly not that great looking either. But the restaurant is as close as you will get to a mom and pop store in Kuwait. This is not a franchise, this is not a big business, this a tiny pizza joint where the owner makes the pizzas and from what I could tell his friends help him out waiting on tables and taking care of the payments.

I passed by after the gym in my shorts and t-shirt expecting the place to be empty but to my surprise it was pretty packed. I decided to sit on the one table outside but no one served me. So after growing impatient I popped my head inside and asked if I could have a menu. A minute later I got the menu which is pretty small, I think they had only 3 pizzas and 3 salads and maybe 2 desserts. I’m a fan of small menus as I’ve mentioned before and I quickly looked through it and decided to go with the Margherita since I couldn’t find a mushroom pizza on the menu. A few minutes passed by and no one came to get my order so I decided to move inside. I was seriously thinking of just leaving since I didn’t want to wait indefinitely for someone to come get my order but I kept reminding myself that they’ve only been open for 2 days and they’re already packed and probably not prepared for this much pressure. Finally a guy came over and was very apologetic for making me waiting very long. I told him it wasn’t a problem and asked him if they had mushroom pizza. He told me they did so I decided to go with that. From my table I could see the owner prepare my pizza and around 2 minutes after taking my order my pizza arrived. I was thinking to myself that’s ridiculously fast!

The pizza wasn’t sliced up which I thought was interesting since I don’t think I’ve ever had a pizza that didn’t come cut up into triangles. I took some shots quickly and then dug in. What a pizza, it was ammmaaaazing. The pizza crust, the tomato sauce, the cheese, the mushrooms… it was all just delicious and I couldn’t find anything to pick on. I was eating it and thinking to myself where have I ever tasted a pizza that was as good as this and I couldn’t think of any place. I mean sure we don’t have many pizza places in Kuwait to compare to but I’ve had a ton of pizzas in Lebanon and I even just got back from a trip where I tried two new great pizza places over there and yet here I was sitting in this tiny little restaurant in some dodgy back street of Kuwait City having what I thought was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had anywhere.

Once I was done with my pizza and I paid my bill (KD3.750 for the pizza), I decided to go up to the owner and introduce myself. I told him what I thought of his pizzas and he explained to me how he worked at some famous pizzerias in Naples and how he belongs to this group that’s trying to preserve the famous Naples pizza. He also asked me if I noticed how quickly the pizza gets done since it takes less than 60 seconds to cook. I wished him good luck and told him I would definitely be back again.

So if you are looking for what I think are the best pizzas in Kuwait then you need to pass by this place. It’s in a crappy location, it’s tiny and the interior isn’t that great looking but damn the pizza is just really great. Here is a link to their website where you can find a map and a phone number. They’re currently only open for dinner. [Link]

I just heard awhile ago from a source that Tesco and Sultan Center have just worked out a deal where Tesco will supply Sultan Center with an extensive range of British lines. This will include Tesco products and British brands that are not yet available in the region. I don’t know how reliable this source is so count this information as a rumor for now but if it is true it contradicts my previous post in which I said that Alshaya was bringing Tesco to Kuwait. Or maybe both things can happen?

Since I’m traveling for five days I decided to give my diet the finger tonight and headed towards Dandosh right after my gym to get a kebab. I first ordered a chicken shawerma since I wanted to make up my mind on if it’s better than Badar Al Badoor or not. After careful consideration I believe that Badar Al Badoor still has the better shawerma.

The second thing I ordered was the double kebab sandwich. I didn’t know they did the double until a reader pointed it out. While a single kebab sandwich costs 300fils a double costs 500fils and involves two kebab skewers. Personally I think I prefer the single kebab since it’s easier to eat but single or double the kebabs are amazing.

When I was done I decided to head over to Tabab and try their kebabs as well. I’ve heard A LOT about Tabab but never had the chance to try them out until tonight. I ordered a single kebab sandwich and since I had it right after Dandosh I found it easier to compare. Tabab didn’t seem as popular or packed as Dandosh and I don’t think anyone goes there for their shawermas.

People go to Tabab for their kebabs and thats actually the center of attention at the shop. The large kebab grill is outside the shop right in the middle with the cashier right next to it. I thought the Tabab kebabs were a lot juicier and greasier than Dandosh. Taste wise is where things get tricky. The Tabab kebabs taste great when you’re eating them but once you’re done all the taste is gone. On the other hand with Dandosh, while you’re eating the kebabs there isn’t much taste but once you’re done there is an amazing tingling flavor which really makes me want more.

But in the end there has to be one winner, or maybe two? Since both Dandosh and Tabab are near each other I would recommend you pass by Tabab first, eat a kebab there and then head over to Dandosh and have another. But, if I was stuck on an island and had to choose only one kebab place to be there with me… I would go for Dandosh. After I had a single kebab at Tabab I managed to leave without craving another. Dandosh on the other hand… I leave by force. To me that’s a sign of a great kebab.

Here is Dandosh on [Google Maps]
Here is Tabab on [Google Maps]

Since on Friday I didn’t cheat the way I wanted to I decided I would sneak in 1 kebab sandwich from Dandosh after my gym yesterday (don’t tell Fahad) based on the recommendations of some readers. I made sure I carried only 500 fils with me since I wanted to control my intake and 500 fils would buy me just one sandwich which costs 300 fils. I ordered my kebab with just tahina and fries and started eating it. It tasted like every other kebab I’ve had and was actually kind of let down. Then suddenly the aftertaste kicked in, wow what a shocker. I don’t know what’s in the sandwich but the aftertaste is just incredible. It has a slight tingling sensation since it’s kinda spicy but not too much and for some reason this tingling sensation kicks in around a minute after finishing the sandwich. Since I only had 200 fils left I checked to see if I had any change in my car and I found exactly 400 fils. So I went back and ended up eating two more sandwiches. I think they have the best kebab sandwiches in Kuwait, I left after 3 sandwiches still wanting more… or maybe it’s because I’ve been deprived from this kind of food for too long. Here is Dandosh on [Google Maps]

Things I’m craving:

– Caesars pizza (pictured above) and hotdog rolls
– Apple Pie from Choowy Goowy
– Shawerma from Dandosh
– Kit Kat Chunky Hazelnut
– Quarter Pounder with cheese from McDonalds
– Little Ruby’s french fries
– Goowy hot chocolate cake from Chocolate Bar
– KDD Silver ice cream
– Chocolate pudding from Slider Station
– Diet Coke

Sadly I don’t think I am allowed to have all that even on my cheat day so I’m going to have to choose…

I just found out we have a KitchenAid dealer in Kuwait. I never knew there was one locally since I never saw their products in any store but it seems that’s because in Kuwait they cater mostly to businesses. KitchenAid is an extremely popular brand for kitchen mixers which are used a lot in cooking shows. According to the dealer the mixer costs KD130 after discount which when compared to the KD75 selling price on Amazon… it’s nearly double. But ordering from Amazon isn’t an option since it’s pretty heavy and you have the voltage difference.

The KitchenAid dealer turned out to be the Blendtec dealer as well. Blendtec is a very popular blender and they’re the same ones used on the website Will It Blend? in which they try to blend random everyday objects.The prices of the Blendtec blenders start at KD370 which is more than double the prices on Amazon. Ouch!

In any case if you’re interested to know, the dealer is called Mabrook and their phone number is 24818242

When I was walking back home from work the other day I spotted this shawerma place called Dandosh. What grabbed my attention was a red skewer of chicken which according to a friend of mine I met there was their “mexican mix”. So since I was taking a day off from my diet I decided to pass by tonight and try out their shawermas.

I didn’t try their meat but I ended up having three different combinations of chicken shawerma which are:

– Mexican chicken shawerma with regular garlic and fries
– Regular chicken shawerma with red spicy garlic and fries
– Regular chicken shawerma with regular garlic and fries

I had all the above without their onion/greens mix.

The Mexican shawerma was a bit too strange for me. It had a lot of different spices and I tasted a hint of green pepper which I don’t like. The regular chicken shawerma with their special red spicy garlic was good although I thought it was a bit too spicy. My favorite shawerma turned out to be the classic, regular chicken with regular garlic. The garlic wasn’t too strong and the overall combination I think might be better than Badar Al Badoor although I would need to go back and try it one more time just to be sure. They also have benches outside if you want to sit and eat.

I would definitely recommend the place and if you want to know how to get there here is a link to [Google Maps]. For those of you who know where Badar Al Badoor is then it’s very easy to get to Dandosh. Just go straight instead of taking the right turn that takes you towards Badar Al Badoor.

Over the weekend I spotted the new KDD ice cream package designs and names on iLSul6ana’s blog and I found them depressing. Gone are our Burgan’s and Failaka’s, gone are the cute little Kuwaiti kids on the package, they’ve now been replaced with generic Blitz. Maybe if we all complain loud enough we can get back the old names and package designs?

I don’t know how many people have noticed this but right in front of the Scientific Center there is an abandoned Kenny Rogers Roasters. I never knew about it when it was open and I’m actually curious to know why it closed down. Does anyone know anything about the place? For those of you who are Seinfeld fans you might remember the episode below when a Kenny Rogers Roasters opens up across the street.

[YouTube]

As you guys know I spend the whole week on a very strict diet and then Friday get to have whatever I want. This month it’s been extra difficult since my diet has been extremely boring and tough so this Friday I had a plan in mind. Basil, the owner of OFK had been posting pictures on twitter of various burgers he was experimenting with. So when I spotted the Cheeseburger Eggsplosion on the blog A Hamburger Today (yeah I am religious follower of that blog) I sent him a message telling him he should try making that as well. He told me he’d make it if I ate it so I set a date to have lunch at OFK today on my cheat day. I spent the last 2 days thinking about the Eggsplosion and another burger he had been working on called the Manhattan. When I got to OFK though I found out I was actually going to be having those 2 burgers in addition to 2 more! So below are the 4 burgers I had for lunch today in the order listed below.

This was the first burger I had called the Manhattan. Supposedly the most popular of the four but for me it came in third place.

This is the Cheeseburger Eggsplosion, it looks innocent until you take a bite and the egg bursts as you can see in the picture below.

Super delicious, I ranked this burger my second favorite from the four.

This burger was my least favorite, it was a double patty burger with chopped onions, lettuce, pickles, cheese and a yellow mustard sauce. Ranked last out of the four I tried.

Now this burger was the last burger I tried and I was originally planning to only have one bite since I wanted to leave room for dessert but ended up eating it all. It’s a very thick burger that just crumbled when I took a bite. My favorite of the bunch and I ended up eating it all. It just has caramelized onions inside but I personally think all it needs is cheese since the beef patty just tasted so good. The last burger I tried today and I ranked it #1 from the four.

I ate all the burgers above except for the double patty burger which I ate just half of. I then had a chocolate brownie pudding for dessert since I was looking forward to it all week. Good lunch but now I’ve got to walk indefinitely until I burn all these calories off. These burgers are still not on the menu since they are still in the testing phase. Full disclosure I didn’t end up paying for the burgers just the drinks and dessert. OFK is short for Open Flame Kitchen and they’re located at 360 Mall.

Last month I posted on 248PM about these oreo stuffed cookies I had seen online and I quickly messaged my best friend Essa from Choowy Goowy and told him he HAD to make them as well. So he made some for me, after a bit of changes namely getting the size of the cookie right he’s now gone ahead and started producing them. He’s also started making stuffed brownie cookies which I haven’t tried yet. So if you’re interested in trying out the stuffed oreo cookies or stuffed brownie cookies you can order them by calling them on 22626559 or 22620011 or 99431177.

Sorry about all these food posts but whenever I get close to my cheat day (Fridays) all I think about is food.

This month I’m on an incredibly strict diet so I’ve been craving a lot of random things including the McGangBang (pictured above and below). What is it? It’s when you take a chicken burger and shove it inside a double cheeseburger. I posted about it back in 2009 and from what I am remembering now it tasted pretty good.