Category: Food & Drinks

Murqab a reader of the blog sent in the above two receipts. One is for a tall hot chocolate he purchased at a Starbucks in New York and the other is of a tall hot chocolate he purchased at a Starbucks in Kuwait. So how much of a difference is there in price? According to the popular online currency site XE.com, Murqab paid 900fils for his hot chocolate in New York and KD1.500 for his hot chocolate in Kuwait. Thats makes the Starbucks in Kuwait 60% more expensive than the States.

I had been hearing a lot of negative stuff about Dean & Deluca like how everything they have is available at Sultan Center, or how their prices are too expensive and how they really don’t have many products so when I passed by this weekend I wasn’t expecting much.

The place ROCKS. I don’t know what people are complaining about. First of all I don’t think I saw anything there that was available at Sultan Center. Price wise, yes they have caviar that costs over KD2,000 and Black Truffles that cost over KD600 but those items aren’t meant for us, they’re for the people who can afford them. I checked out their meat section and found their prices actually cheap, at least I think KD3.600/kg for Wagyu beef is cheap. They have around 6 or 7 types of mushrooms and a whole range of fruits and vegetables that I haven’t seen before. They even have a great seafood section. I also found out they made gourmet sandwiches, kinda like the ones at Napket and also have ready made soup (Lobster Bisque for KD2).

I am really glad a place like Dean & Deluca opened up in Kuwait and I hope it does well so that it remains open. Places like this bring back the joy in cooking. If you haven’t passed by please do, they’re located in the Avenues, phase II.

(I couldn’t take any pictures because the two times I passed by it was PACKED so if you have any pictures email them to me)

Flooded McDonald’s is a film work by Superflex in which a convincing life-size replica of the interior of a McDonald’s burger bar, without any customers or staff present, gradually floods with water. Furniture is lifted up by the water, trays of food and drinks start to float around, electrics short circuit and eventually the space becomes completely submerged.

Yeah I know it sounds like a strange idea for a movie but thats what makes it interesting. Here is the link to the official site of the movie. [Link]

I just found out today that there was a fire at Al Mayass. I don’t know how I missed this but I guess it happened while I was in London. Hope it wasn’t too bad.

Cute. [Link]

via

Update: Found this REALLY cool page with Cookie Monster sounds! [Link]

I was checking out Safat when I found a post by Intlxpatr talking about a Kuwaiti restaurant located next to Marina Mall. She had posted a bunch of pictures and the place looked really interesting and since it was on the same street as my house I decided to pass by and try it.

I have no clue how I never noticed this place before but even if I had I don’t think I would have thought much of it since from the outside it looks pretty average. Once you walk inside though you’re suddenly transformed into an old Kuwaiti city. The private cabins are actually little old Kuwaiti houses and to get to a cabin you have to walk through small narrow corridors, kinda like the old tight streets between the houses.

The menu is full of Kuwaiti dishes as you can expect, I ended up ordering hummus for starters followed by mourabian (yellow rice with shrimps on top) for my main course. The hummus was fine, the bread was weird, kinda like crepes but it was good. My main course also wasn’t bad at all and for KD2.500 was pretty cheap for the quantity. I prefer Oum Habbibs mourabian but that’s also nearly twice as expensive and located all the way in Kuwait City while this place is just minutes from my house.

Nothing I had tonight was wow but the place is an experience and I still have a ton of stuff to try on their menu. Prices are VERY cheap and you can actually check out most of the menu in Intlxpatr’s post. I passed by around 9:30 and the place was pretty packed. Overall it was a good experience and will definitely pass by again. They are located on the same street as Marina Mall, opposite Kwik Kopy, first floor, entrance is from the back next to the red truck (motor hamar).

To check out a lot more pictures of Freej Soeleh check out Intlxpatr’s post by clicking [Here]

The Butcher Shop & Grill are opening tomorrow at phase II in The Avenues. They’re located right at the start of the food court, opposite Starbucks. The picture above isn’t of the actual place although it does look very similar.

Picture by Amro ABDOUN

Surprise surprise, yes the Burger Challenge is still on. I’ve got a few places I still need to try out before I end this but I’ve been very busy (i.e. lazy) so I haven’t been able to get around to it. Anyway two people previously commented that I should try out this burger place in Al Manshar mall so I decided to pass by today and see what it was about.

First lets get the weird part out of the way. The place doesn’t have a name. I don’t know how that’s even legally possible! How could a place not have a name? I asked the employee what the place was called and her reply was that they don’t have a name but that it belongs to the same owners of Papa Johns Pizza. I think that’s very strange but I have a theory on why it doesn’t have a name which I will share later on in this post. For now though I’ve decided to call the place “Papa John’s Burgers”. Cheesy I know but its there fault for not coming up with one themselves and I need a name for this post.

Their burger surprisingly turned out to be really good. I had a cheeseburger combo with an extra cheeseburger on the side and although I wasn’t expecting to like it I actually ended up loving it. Their beef patties are ground fresh every morning and their buns are very McDonalds Fillet-O-Fish like so the end result is pretty similar to Johnny Rockets except for one thing, the sauce. The sauce they put with the burger is wayy better than anything I’ve had at Johnny Rockets, its kinda like the Rocket Single sauce except better.

Now the bad news. Their patties are pretty thin and I think that has to do with the price since their cheeseburger costs only 650fils. The result is too little meat for the bun, it looks kinda ok in the picture above but thats because I actually pulled the meat out so it would show in the picture. If it had double the patty it might have been a strong competitor for best burger in Kuwait but its not so I rate this burger a 3.5 out of 5.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way I can talk about other things not related to the review. First of all the price, its unbelievably cheap! Imagine a Johnny Rockets burger for only 650fils because that’s exactly what this is! A combo consisting of cheeseburger, fries and coke is only KD1.100! Thats cheaper than McDonalds and even cheaper than Naif! Their location really sucks, they’re located on the mezzanine floor of Fun Ahoy (an arcade/themepark) right next to Papa John’s Pizza. Which brings me to my theory on why the place doesn’t have a name. The owners of Papa John’s also own Fuddruckers so my theory is they needed a cheap burger place to serve the kids at Fun Ahoy so they probably use the same meat that they use at Fuddruckers and also have Fudds make their buns. Now legally I don’t think they can own another burger brand since they have Fudds so they just opened this random place that serves burgers and doesn’t have a name. Its only a theory of course so don’t take my word for it. If you do end up passing by which you should, be sure to do so in the middle of the week when there won’t be much kids around.

Papa John’s Burger is located in Al Manshar Mall in Fahaheel.
The cost of the Cheese Burger is KD0.650

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
The Burger Hub
The Little Oven
Wimpy

Back in September I posted the logo Nataly designed for the Choowy Goowy New Yorker Cheesecake. Well the packages are now also finally done and printed and they’ve started delivering the cakes in them. So if you haven’t tried the New Yorker yet now is the perfect time. It’s KD11.5 for a full cake and you get to choose any crust you want, my favorite is the brownie crust.

To order a cake call them on 22620011 or 22626559.

I am sooo hungry right now! [Link]

I just got an email from a reader saying he saw a Schlotzsky’s opening soon sign at opposite Alraya Mall in Kuwait City. I used to LOVE Schlotzsky’s back when they were open in Lebanon. They make the best sandwiches ever!

Thanks Aliman!

This looks like an interesting place to try out. Amaya Seafood as you can guess from the name is a seafood restaurant which is located at the Mishref Coop. I haven’t been there but judging by the picture above it looks like a cozy place. Amaya also seems very affordable, KD1.900 for sweet & sour prawns or prawn curry is actually really cheap. They have a website with more details on what they offer including the prices. I am going to try and pass by this weekend. [Link]

Thanks miss ghesquiere!

Looks like Burger King is trying to get on board the sliders train with their new offering, Burger Buddies. Was Burger Boutique the first to offer sliders in Kuwait or was there another place before?

Update: Just had it today and it wasn’t bad at all. The bun was very soft, the patty was juicy although as some people have mentioned slightly dry. My only negative would be the fact that each patty is shared among two buns which means you need to rip them apart and sometimes that results in one bun having more patty then the other. Six sliders is for KD1.300 while the combo is for KD1.750

A new Italian restaurant opened up right next to Maki at Marina Waves. The owner of it is supposedly the same owner as Pomodoro. I just got invited to their Pasta Tuesday but not sure if I can go yet, if I do I will post my review here. For now you can check out their website for more details. [Link]

I don’t like the Ruby Tuesday on the Gulf Road for numerous reasons so when I saw the one at Avenues opening I didn’t think much of it. That is until I heard that the Ruby Tuesday in Avenues was owned by someone else. Turns out there is a new owner of Ruby Tuesday in Kuwait and the previous owner is not letting go of the brand which makes things a bit of a mess. Anyway the Ruby Tuesday at the Avenues is the first location opened up by the new owner and I passed by and had dinner there tonight and I liked it.

Ruby Tuesday is located in the food court but its a big location and has an amazing view of the 5th ring road. The decoration was very cozy, the service was very friendly and the food was great. Overall it was a huge contrast over the Gulf Road version and I would definitely go back.

Update: According to a reader both the previous owners and the new owners are legit Ruby Tuesday franchise holders. If that is the case or not, it doesn’t change the fact that the new Ruby Tuesday at the Avenues follows the original US franchise a lot closer in my view. So far the menu seems to be exactly the same as the US one which you can view [Here]

Update2: I got the following in my email today…

Dear Mark,

National Arabic Company holds the master franchise in the middle east, they gave Sultan group a sub-licance to operate in the avenues. NAC is monitoring the Avenues Branch. The menu MUST be the same. There are no options regarding that.

thanks