Category: Food

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

Last month IKEA launched the cheapest falafel sandwich in Kuwait priced at just 50 fils. Initially, the post was going to be about that, but I just realized, this might actually be the cheapest sandwich in Kuwait. I can’t imagine any sandwich costing less than 50 fils and I think the cheapest I’ve ever come across is 100 fils.

If you know of a sandwich cheaper than 50 fils, let me know. Also, what other sandwich can I get in Kuwait for just 50 fils if any?

Dubai’s beach-born concept SALT is coming to Kuwait next month and they’ll be popping up at the new Blajaat project in Salmiya.

Although SALT is mostly known for their iconic Airstream trailer, over the past few years their pop-ups have turned into beautiful and elaborate setups, so should be interesting what they’re planning for Kuwait.

The exact date hasn’t been finalized but they should be popping up the last week of November.

Back in May I posted that Nando�s, the popular South African franchise was coming to Kuwait and looks like it’s now official.

Yesterday two opening soon hoardings came up, one at The Warehouse Mall and a second one at Al Kout Mall announcing that Nandos was opening this December.

Nandos originally opened at The Avenues back in 2007 but ended up closing down shortly after. This time Apparel Group are bringing them back, the same company that has Tim Hortons and Jamie’s Italian (which is also opening in Kuwait).

Thanks Ram

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a small Asian supermarket that opened up in Salmiya and now a second one opened. Yamama which previously had a location in Shuwaikh just opened up in Salmiya. Yamama like Singarea is actually an importer of products so they tend to supply other shops.

What’s cool about this location is they have a small bar area with boiling water, microwave and a hot plate. That way you can say buy your noodles and eat them there. I’d imagine that would be popular with people in the neighborhood.

If you want to check it out they’re open from 9AM to 11PM and they’re located on the same street at Marina Mall. Google Maps

Iroiro is a new Japanese restaurant that just soft opened in the city. It’s by Dong Jin Kang, the same person behind The Kimchi at the Radisson Blu. Iroiroi is a Japanese street food concept with a focus around ramen and the place looks incredible.

The interior is what caught my attention initially. I had been following the construction on Instagram for sometime now and had really been looking forward to seeing the final look. The interior is meant to mimic the popular Izakaya alleys in Japan and they even shipped in a lot of the interior pieces from Japan to help add to the authenticity. It’s an extremely photogenic space so I expect it to be really popular with instagrammers and Tiktokers over the coming weeks.

I came by for a quick lunch and I’m writing this post while waiting for my dessert. Iroiro is located near my office and is a very chill spot on the 10th floor of the Oasis Hotel (the building right next to Pick). They have a soft launch menu now and I ended up just having the Kujirai Ramen. There are no prices on the menu since it’s a free tasting over the next few days before they finalize things. My ramen was really good and I’ll definitely be coming back for it but also to try their Yakitori and Udon.

If you want to pass by they have a soft opening till the 28th and you can call and book a slot. Their instagram is @iroiro.kw.

Image on the very top by @me.folla