Category: Food & Drinks

This is a simple, but fun and very cute idea. Local design studio Mud Architects were commissioned to design a stall for Doh! at the new food hall in Khiran Mall.

Taking inspiration from the location of the food hall being in a beach town, Mud decided to create a large donut floatie. The design choice was a nod to both the brand’s fun identity, and the coastal vibe of Khiran, creating an eye-catching and engaging presence inside the food hall.

Photos by @mashkanani

Yesterday SALT, the Dubai based burger concept opened in Blajat and the line to get in was HUGE. Their marketing agency sent me a couple of photos of the line, and I measured the distance of it using Google Maps and the line was basically at least 70m long. Insane.

A lot of people online were poking fun out of people who were waiting in line and I don’t get why. Sometimes if you want to experience something thats popular, you’re going to have to wait in line. Thats how it is.

When I was in Paris a couple of years ago I waited in line for over an hour and a half to try out a ramen place. I also waited 40 mins in line to try Shake Shack in NY back in 2010. I waited more than FIVE HOURS in line for a Foo Fighters concert because I wanted to be up right in front of the stage. So I have zero issues with people waiting in line for things, be it a burger, a Pokémon card or whatever. There is nothing wrong with it.

Let people be.

If you want to pass by check the place out, they’re open daily from 4PM to 12AM (last order at 11:30PM). Here is their location on Google Maps.

Principale, the Italian chef-driven restaurant on the Gulf Road is launching a new seasonal outdoor restaurant in their garden right by the sea.

If you aren’t familiar with Principale, it’s the rebirth of the old popular Italian restaurant Nino, and opened up in Nino’s original location near the Kuwait Towers.

Olivio is being described as a “pure alfresco Italian restaurant inspired by coastal Italy” and will have a fixed menu serving mostly grilled food. They will be soft launching tomorrow (Sunday) but by invitation only. It will remain by invitation only until the official launch of the restaurant on January 25th.

I’m invited tomorrow so I might post updates here after. But, to stay posted on their opening, follow them on @oliviokw

Update: Here is some more info they just sent me, there will be light art installations at the pop-up and they were created by Berlin-Kuwait based architecture and design practice BBPJ DESIGN. The installations were inspired by Pantelleria Island located off the coast of Sicily.

Dunes is a new project by TEC located in Blajat and its going to be a beachside kashta experience.

There will be different kashta setups to pick from and they will include catering. The menu will be two kinds of cuisines catered by Meat Moot and L’ETO

You’ll be able to book a kashta through the TEC app either for the whole day, or just for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They’ll also be open daily from 10AM to 11PM.

Dunes is expected to open in the coming two weeks, to stay posted follow them on @duneskwt

Dubai’s burger concept SALT is opening their beach pop-up next week at the new Blajat project in Salmiya.

The pop-up is located right on the sandy beach and has both indoor and outdoor seating. The pop-up will be there for 6 months.

Both the Blajat and TEC accounts just dropped a teaser video awhile ago, you can check it out on their accounts @tecq8 and @blajatkw

Below is a list of places I found that offer Christmas-themed lunches & dinners as well as cakes. If there is a place you know I haven’t listed, let me know so I can add it:

Dine-In
BBQ BROS – KD15
Hilton Kuwait – KD19.900
Jumeirah Messilah – KD23
Kerala Express – KD2.650
Radisson Blu – KD21
Symphony Style – KD20
Thakkara – KD2.650
Vigonovo – KD15

Xmas Cakes
Baker & Spice
J’s Bakery
LaBaguette
Madison & Heig
November & Co
Paul
Sable

Back in July, Chipotle announced that they had signed an agreement with Alshaya Group to open locations in the Middle East next year. The initial plan is for two locations each in Dubai and Kuwait.

According to a source of mine, Chipotle’s first location in Kuwait will be at The Avenues in place of where Blaze Pizza was located, near Gait and VOX Cinema.

All the Blaze Pizza locations in Kuwait recently closed down and I’m assuming permanently. Blaze, I believe, was Alshaya’s third attempt with pizza, the first two being 400 Gradi and Spontini (I loved Spontini) both of which also closed down.

I reached out to Alshaya for confirmation regarding Chipotles first store and they responded stating they would not comment on speculation, but that as they’ve previously mentioned, Chipotle is set to open in Kuwait in 2024.

This is an interesting and random project, BBT is opening a haunted house next month on the Gulf Road. The project is in collaboration with TEC and is located near where Jeans Grill used to be in Salmiya (the good old days).

The haunted house looks to be hospital themed which gave me Raccoon General Hospital vibes from Resident Evil. In addition to the haunted house there will also be a new BBT location right next to it.

Both the haunted house and the new BBT are expected to open mid next month. Tickets to the haunted house will be through the TEC app. If you want to check the place out it’s still under construction but here it is on Google Maps.

Jamie’s Italian by the popular British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver opened yesterday at The Warehouse Mall.

The franchise was brought to Kuwait by Apparel Group, the same group that are bringing Nando’s to Kuwait.

If you haven’t been to the Warehouse Mall it’s actually really nice. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Because of my Popeyes post this morning a few people asked me if I had any updates about ALBAIK opening in Kuwait. ALBAIK is a very popular Saudi fried chicken concept and from what I’ve been told, they’re planning to open in Kuwait next year with the first two locations in Al Khiran and Aswaq Qurain. They also have plans to open two more locations in the north but they haven’t decided where yet.

Thanksgiving is in a couple of days so I’ve put together two lists, one of restaurants that are serving Thanksgiving dinner, and the other of restaurants that have turkey to take home. If there is a place you know I haven’t listed, let me know so I can add it:

Dine-In
Four Seasons Hotel @fskuwait
Hilton Kuwait Resort @hiltonkuwaitresort
Radisson Blu Hotel @radissonblukuwait

Take Away
Baker & Spice @bakerandspicekw
Dean & Deluca @deandelucame
IKEA @ikeakuwait
Little Deli @littledeli
Madison & Heig @madisonandheig
Safir Fintas Kuwait Hotel @safir_fintas_hotel
St. Regis @stregiskuwait
Sultan Center @sultan_center
SVN @svn_kw
Symphony Style @symphonystylekuwait
The Hungry Vegan @thehungryvegankw

Popeyes, the popular fried chicken chain is coming back to Kuwait. Tanmiah, the Saudi food company that owns and operates Popeyes in Saudi Arabia announced in a press release that they will be expanding into two new markets, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Popeyes used to be open in Kuwait until they closed down back in 2014. Interestingly, we’re now seeing a trend of brands making a comeback in Kuwait with Nando’s, Magnolia Bakery, Little Caesars, and now Popeyes all reopening again. Hopefully A&W and Arby’s are next!

Cantina is a new restaurant that I’ve been looking forward to opening for a while now. It’s for Chef Basmah Marouf (@chefbasmah) who I’ve known since she got back to Kuwait from culinary school and was part of the Madison & Heig launch team. I’ve been a fan of her food and flavor profile ever since, and she’s now opening her own restaurant which she’s calling Cantina.

Cantina is a Mediterranean restaurant with heavy Italian influence. I first got to try a few items a couple of weeks ago when I passed by to see the progress of the space, and then last night I was invited along with some other close friends for a private tasting. Firstly, the space looks amazing, it has a very ‘Mad Men’ feel without being too retro. I love the colors used and I love the cafe curtains all around that help cozy up the place.

I got to try a lot of different things, but I already have my favorites. For starters, I highly recommend the ‘Whipped ricotta with crispy pasta sheets’ and the ‘Sea bass carpaccio with chili and coriander.’ For the main course, my favs were the ‘Chicken Milanese with preserved lemon aioli and radicchio salad’ and the ‘Ricotta Ravioli.’ The Ricotta Ravioli I first tried a couple of weeks ago when I passed by, and since then it’s become my favorite dish in life right at this moment. I’d go back just for this dish over and over again.

Basmah is set to launch Cantina next week and is currently accepting bookings, but due to limited staff, the seating capacity initially will be very limited. Cantina is located inside the new Lot90 complex in Shuwaikh which is right behind the restaurants Cure and Ovo. If you want to book a table, you need to DM her @cantina.kw

Magnolia Bakery, the popular New York chain reopened in Kuwait yesterday.

Magnolia originally opened in Kuwait back in 2012 but eventually closed down all their locations. They’re now back in Kuwait again and have reopened in 360 Mall, on the top floor, right next to Bloomingdales.

My favorite item of theirs is their banana pudding but the Magnolia cupcakes gained a lot of popularity after being featured on the popular TV series Sex and the City.

UAE’s Al Tayer Group are the local franchisee.

13 years ago I posted about a person called Sa’ad, a pizza fanatic who had submitted his pizza ingredients to Serious Eats and ended up getting featured there. The Serious Eats article is no longer up on their website but you can still access it through Web Archive by clicking here.

Fast forward to today and Sa’ad has finally opened up his own pizza place called What?izza. I haven’t tried it yet but it’s on my to do list since based on the photos on his instagram account, the pizzas look really appetizing and they sound like they have a very nice crisp to them. It’s a pretty cool story and he’s obviously still a pizza fanatic so check him out @whatpizza.kw