Category: Food & Drinks

So I’m in Lebanon right now and I’ve kinda left my diet back in Kuwait. Yesterday for example I passed by a place in Tabarja (an area near Casino Du Liban) and had some amazing dessert at a place called Al-Antabli. If you’re a calorie counter this is NOT the place for you. Seriously. You have to come in with the understanding that everything you will eat is fattening like crazy. Personally I started off with Halawet El Jeben and followed it with a Ousmalieh. I downed everything with a large jug of jaleb and ended with a delicious scoop of Ashta ice-cream. Amazing stuff. Everything is pictured below in the order listed above.

The new Quiznos in Salmiya has finally opened up. The brand is no longer run by the same company that used to have the Baitak Tower branch, it’s now a completely new owner so hopefully the food will be closer to the American counterpart than the previous Quiznos was. They’re open in Salmiy right behind Olympia Mall on Salem Mubarek Street.

There is a new Mexican restaurant that’s opening up tomorrow (Friday) in Mahboula called Lita’s. It’s a small place that’s owned by Khaled Mulla who is half Kuwaiti and half Mexican. From what I understood he wants the local community to experience real authentic Mexican food which currently is lacking in Kuwait. They’ll be making their own flour tortillas on the spot and the Chef is a family member that is coming in from Mexico to run the place himself who’s been in the business for over 30 years. This along with the announcement of a Mexican Embassy opening up soon should be great news for the small (200+) Mexican community in Kuwait.

I’m currently in Lebanon for a few days so I won’t be able to pass by and try it but if you’re interested the place is in Mahboula, Block 1 off of street 210. Here is the [Map]

Thanks Edgar

The Lebanese store Lama recently opened a new and much larger store near my house in Salmiya. They’re mostly known for importing and supplying the local supermarkets with Lebanon fruits, but if you visit their store you’ll also find other interesting food products. Most of the products don’t mean much to anyone except the Lebanese in the same way strangers to Kuwait won’t understand the obsession with Sunkist and KDD Gold for example. But, if you’re Lebanese you’ll be interested to know that Lama carries some of our favorites including Gandour products like Tarboush, Unica, Pik-One Safari, dry biscuits and more. They also carry BonJus, SMEDS, Picon, Lebanese bread from the Wooden Bakery as well as Taanayel dairy products.

If you’re interested in passing by they’re located in the street that’s parallel to Baghdad Street. Just take a right after Dodo and head down until you reach the main road, the store should be in front of you.

For other In Focus posts click [Here]

Me Blogging just posted about this new place that’s opening up in Kuwait City called Pick. From what I understood the place will have sandwiches in a similar style to Pret A Manger in London. They’re located in Kuwait City near the stock market so if you’re close to it then it should be easy to pop in for a quick bite. Right now they’re open from 4pm to 11pm until the end of the month and then they start opening for breakfast. Hopefully by breakfast they also mean lunch. [Link]

According to my source, Shake Shack is scheduled to open the first week of July if everything goes on schedule. Can’t wait!

I spend all week on a very strict diet that includes the likes of grilled chicken, tuna, lots of salad and boiled eggs, but when the weekend comes, the fat person inside me takes over and it’s not a pretty sight. Yesterday I had lunch at Elevation Burger as I said I would last week. But this time, instead of the double patty I went for the triple patty which I realized is the right way to do it and would highly recommend going that route over the double.

Today on the other hand I passed by Cocoa Room to test out their new burger. Every time I fall asleep and dream of burgers and unicorns, the burgers always have one thing in common, they’re thick and juicy. Ever since I’ve know Basil I’ve been asking him to make a thick burger and it seems my wish has finally come true. It’s still in the concept stage but he’s got the most important ingredient perfect right now which is the patty and what a patty… I already told him it’s magical. He’s going to end up having only one burger on the Cocoa Room menu but he’s still deciding between two different kinds although I think he’s leaning towards my favorite which is the one in the picture at the very top of this post. It’s a super thick wagyu patty with aged cheddar cheese and charred onion brought together with a hard crust bun. The second burger above has a similar patty but contains Swiss cheese, onion marmalade and a soft bun instead. When the burger is complete, it’s easily going to be the holy grail of all burgers.

There’s so much good burgers in Kuwait right now that someone needs to officially slap the Burger Land moniker on us. AHT are you listening?

I was having lunch at Leila when I noticed they had two new drinks on the menu and one of them was Diet Jellab. I love Jellab but haven’t been able to have it for ages since it was one of the things Fahad took off my diet along with my 5 spoons of sugar chai haleeb. But since this one is just 52 calories I’ll probably be sneaking a cup every now and then since it also tastes exactly the same as regular Jellab. Now someone needs to invent a diet quarter pounder with cheese.

Fahad just posted his extremely comprehensive ice cream post with his signature “Approved” and “Not Approved” rating system. You can check out his post [Here]

Summer is here and my bakala guy just installed a brand new freezer filled with beautifully arranged KDD ice cream. Since the KDD packaging doesn’t contain any nutritional information I decided to get all the calorie information from the KDD website and list it over here in one easy to read list. Now Fahad is putting together an ultimate ice cream guide but until that’s ready the list below should be useful. These are just some favorites arranged from the highest calorie count to the lowest.

Lulu 257 calories

Silver 222 calories

Gold 185 calories

Burgan 126 calories

Sandwich 91 calories

Failaka 61 calories

Sarokh 53 calories

Raspberry Lolly 49 calories

If your favorite KDD ice cream isn’t here you’ll find it on their [Website]

My buddy Essa just sent me pictures of their new location at Dubai Mall where they’ve opened right on top of the ice skating rink. So if you’re in Dubai make sure you pass by and try their cookies.

Yesterday I finally got the chance to pass by Elevation Burger at The Avenues. I had heard from a friend that they’re always packed so I tried to pass by early and got there around 1:45 which clearly wasn’t early enough since the place was already full. Luckily I found one table clearing up in a corner and had Nat wait at the table while I ordered at the cashier. The interior is pretty dull and kinda reminds me of a food court which is fine since it’s more like an upscale fast food joint then a restaurant but one thing that really bothered me was the lack of proper ventilation. I quickly tweeted that and the owner of the place replied saying they’re working on it. That’s great because I already have a hard time getting Nat to go to a burger place yet alone a burger place that will also make her smell like burgers.

I took a quick glance at the menu and right away knew what I was going to have. I ordered the Elevation Burger which is a double patty double cheese burger and added Elevation sauce to it, I also added a side order of french fries and a fountain drink. I took my receipt and went and waited for my order. A few minutes later my burger arrived and it looked really good. I quickly took my picture and then dug in. The burger was pretty thick, a lot thicker than it looks in the picture since after I picked up the burger I noticed the patty had slid down to the other side. Note to everyone, I love thick burgers. I took my first bite and in under a minute it was gone. I was originally worried the bun wouldn’t be soft enough but it was and it also did a good job of soaking up all the burger juice which there was a lot of. The beef patties were super greasy, by the time I was done with the burger there was a large pool of grease lying at the bottom of my plate. I thought the sauce could have been thicker since it was washing away with the grease but it might have been thick to start with and then got diluted with the grease I’m not sure. In any case the burger was good and I was considering ordering a second helping but since I still had my fries I decided not to.

I’m not a fan of their fries and wouldn’t order them again. If you’re a fan of home made fries you’ll like the Elevation ones but the next time I’m there I’ll be skipping the fries and ordering a second burger instead. The main direct competitor for Elevation burger right now at the Avenues is Johnny Rockets but in a few months time it’s also going to be Shake Shack. Would I go back? Yes I would. It’s located in a convenient location, it’s a no frills in and out dinning place with good burgers. The biggest issue really is their ventilation which is getting fixed this week. Elevation Burger is located outside in Avenues Phase II, on the top floor.

According to Arabian Business, Magnolia Bakery will be opening in Kuwait within the next 18 months. Magnolia are known for their cupcakes but I personally think they have an amazing chocolate swirl cheesecake. Whenever I passed by their New York locations they always had a queue of people lined up outside. In Dubai on the other hand whenever I passed by it was always empty which is obviously a lot more convenient.

So now we’re going to have Magnolia and The Hummingbird Bakery in Kuwait along with Shake Shack. It’s going to be hard to stick to my diet. [Link]

Thanks Lomo

I’ve been getting really bored of regular tuna and so when I found this John West packet at Sultan Center it looked like an interesting alternative. I checked the back label and it said I could heat it up in the microwave and it was just 156 calories. I bought a packet to try it out and it turned out to be actually pretty good. You just open the packet, empty the tuna onto a plate and microwave it for 30 seconds.

It looks extremely unappetizing but it actually tasted much better than regular tuna. Wouldn’t mind having a few packets at home for those late night cravings. The biggest issue though is price, 1 packet costs KD1.750 for the “Sweet Thai Red Chilli” although they did have different flavored ones for around 500fils cheaper.

I just found out that Alshaya are currently in negotiations to bring The Hummingbird Bakery to the region. The Hummingbird Bakery is based in London and they have the best Chocolate Devils Food Cake in the world. It’s an incredible place and I use their cookbook to make some amazing cookies and apple pies.

If you haven’t heard about The Hummingbird Bakery before, here is a link to their website [Link]

Note: Someone NEEDS to bring Ben’s Cookies to Kuwait. They already have a few branches in Saudi and they’re now opening up in Dubai as well. What about us over here??