2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
I was excited when I first found out Obika was opening and then even more excited when they did but for some reason I never ended up going there. I guess not many people did either since I heard they’re closing down. Too bad since it seemed like a healthy place to eat.
The American Japanese chain Benihana opened up yesterday for business and I passed by today and took a quick peek. The place is much larger than I expected since although it has a small shop front it actually expands quite a lot to the back and sides. I didn’t eat there but took a look at their menu and the prices seemed pretty good if not cheap in some cases at first glance. They had 6 pieces of crab maki for example for KD1.500, 6 pieces of California for KD2.500 and their most expensive special maki was like KD5. Their teppanyaki dishes ranged in price as well with some of their more expensive lobster dishes hitting around KD16. I’ll probably pass by sometime this week and try them out. I usually enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and their sushi bar looked pretty good and big.
Benihana is located in phase II of the Avenues, in the area behind the escalator next to Dean & Deluca. They officially launch on the 20th but are open for business right now.
Note: Picture above is from last week before they opened. They’re the shop in the corner with the red sign.
I was at Dean & Deluca when I spotted the sign above and I could make out the word seedless underneath the sticker. I love seedless watermelons and always have them whenever I am in the States but never knew why we never got them in Kuwait. So I asked an employee there if they had any seedless watermelon and he told me they ran out but are getting some again in a couple of weeks. Finally seedless watermelons in Kuwait!
Baskin Robbins have a buy one get one free offer just for today. You buy a single scoop and you get another single scoop free, buy a double and get another double free etc..
Oishi Nippon at Marina Crescent is opening today. Nat’s currently designing their menu and from what I saw they will have Japanese fruits, desserts and coffee and tea.
An interesting fact, I found out that in Japan fruits are sometimes given as gifts. I thought that was an interesting and healthy concept which I might pick up on since Oishi Nippon will be selling the Japanese fruits I had previous posted about. They even package them up as gifts for you.
Update: Nat just told me they opened up yesterday.
Update2: Sorry I mixed up in my post above. Turns out the place is called Kei Cafe and not Oishi Nippon. Oishi Nippon is the name of the fruit company.
The idea of dinner in the sky isn’t new. Just this summer they had one set up in Lebanon and people paid $200 each to get a seat at the table and be lifted up into the air to eat. Well Philadelphia Cheese setup something similar at Marina Crescent. It was an advertising stunt in which you could try and enjoy their products while sitting around a table filled with strangers up in the air. The best part? You get to experience eating up in the sky for free. Each experience lasts around 10-15 minutes and all you had to do was just wait in line for a spot. Pretty cool.
I just found out that Shake Shack is opening in Dubai in March while Kuwait still doesn’t have a launch date! This absolutely sucks. It’s the worst food related news I’ve heard this year even surpassing the mechanically separated chicken post.
Last month I posted about how Americana is bringing Red Lobster to Kuwait. Well I just found out the first location is scheduled to open up in April 2011. No word on when Oliver Garden will be opening up yet.
I am going to be in Lebanon for the next few days. I got here around 1pm and first thing I did after dropping my bags home was to head up to Faraya and have lunch at a place called Jalset El Erzal.
The weather was really great and the food was amazing. The strangest thing though is the fact the sun set at 4:30pm here. It’s 5:20 now as I write this post and it’s pitch black out side. Very weird…
Taco Bell is opening up their first branch in Kuwait next Thursday at The Avenues. It’s about time! The list of places still left to open keeps shrinking… Wendy’s, A&W, Five Guys, Jack in the Box, White Castle, Arby’s, Cheese Cake Factory and In-N-Out.
A new company is bringing Quiznos back to Kuwait and this time they’re planning on opening up 15 branches. I heard this time its going to be the proper deal. [Link]
Thanks desertgirl and Husayn
Update: The company that’s bringing back Quiznos just emailed me to tell me that they will be opening their first branch in December/January in Salmiya Salem Mubarek Street opposite Olympia Mall. The new owners of Quiznos are the same owners of Buffalo’s Cafe.
Spotted this new restaurant that’s opening up at the Avenues called Carluccio’s. I haven’t heard of it before but it seems to be a UK franchise that’s also available in Dubai.
Life with Cacao is a chocolate café thats located at the 360 Mall and Nat has been working on their branding for awhile now. Just a few days ago she finished working with a very cool illustrator on some funky iPhone and Blackberry wallpapers for Life with Cacao which I found very cute and worth sharing on the blog.
There are a total of ten wallpapers that come in four different sizes to fit the various devices. You can download them all in one zip file by clicking [Here]
Update: They’re now all available on Flickr [Here]
A twitter follower sent me a link to a picture he took of a Shake Shack now hiring sign he spotted at the Al Bairaq Mall food court. I really hope they aren’t opening their first branch there. [Picture]
Thanks Nawaf