Category: Kuwait

What the hell?! I was just checking my traffic violations online and I have 20 fucking speeding tickets which add up to KD650! Why doesn’t anyone call to tell me something like “Hi Mark, we’ve noticed you’ve gotten 5 speeding tickets and we just wanted to call and tell you to start driving slower so you don’t get anymore. Drive safely have a good day”. Seriously what the hell…

Note: You can check your fines [Here]

I got an email today from a reader informing me of a new burger place that opened up called Cheeburger Cheeburger. Its an American chain that opened up their first international branch here in Kuwait last month and according to their website, their burger was voted the best burger in 28 cities. The problem was where they opened up their location, Souk Salmiya. I hate that place, its probably one of the worst designed malls in Kuwait containing some of the crappiest stores and its always over crowded and parking is always nearly impossible to find. Still, I decided it might be worth the visit and so after work I headed straight to Cheeburger Cheeburger.

The place is located on the top floor in the food court and their location is surprisingly pretty big. The interior is themed like Johnny Rockets which is the 1940’s-50’s style although I doubt they copied Johnny since both restaurants launched around the same time back in 1986. When I got the menu I noticed they had a limited time special offer going on where 1/3 lb burger with fries and coke was priced at KD2.250 while everything else on the menu had 25% off. I decided to go with their combo and I ordered a side order of onion rings with dipping sauce. The way you order the burger at Cheeburger is you choose the thickness of the burger, you then choose the type of cheese you want on it (they have 8 kinds) and then you choose what toppings you want and if you want any certain sauce. I didn’t get too creative with mine since it was my first time, I just went with swiss cheese, ketchup, tomato and lettuce.

A few minutes after placing my order my coke arrived and it was in a jar! I thought that was pretty creative since I don’t recall ever getting my softdrink in anything but a cup. While waiting for my appetizers I noticed a bunch of Trivial Pursuit cards on the table near the salt and pepper shakers. At first I assumed that some kid had left them behind but then I noticed every table had a bunch of cards. Turns out they have them there for the customers to entertain themselves with while they wait for their food to arrive.

The first thing the waitress brought me were my onion rings and fries followed shortly after with my burger. The onion rings were skinny but delicious, the dipping sauce had a lot to do with it. Anyone who’s had the awesome blossom at Chili’s will recognize the sauce immediately, I love it. The fries were good but nothing to set it apart from the competition. My burger, well I can’t imagine it being voted the best burger in 28 cities. It wasn’t bad, on the contrary it was good, it just wasn’t special. Thats probably my fault though since I went pretty safe with the toppings. The bread was good, the meat was good, it was everything else in the burger that didn’t stand out. Maybe next time I could try their one pound burger, according to their website if you can finish it they would put your picture up on the wall and I can’t imagine it being that difficult to finish.

The place in general wasn’t disappointing, they had a lot of little things that made it special and thats what I liked about the place. For example nyone who’s eaten at Johnny Rockets knows how crap their paper napkins are, they are too tiny and too thin. Well at Cheeburger Cheeburger their paper napkins are kitchen paper rolls which is fantastic. I know napkins aren’t usually important in a restaurant review but I just wanted to use it as an example of the little things I am talking about. My biggest disappointment in the place is the location and location is everything. I hate Souk Salmiya and I know I am not the only one. If Cheeburger Cheeburger was open at say Marina Mall or in Jahra then I would go back again over and over but sadly I doubt I would go back to Souk Salmiya unless I really had to. If it was located anywhere else it would most probably get a 4 out of 5 but because its in Souk Salmiya I am giving it a 3. My bill came out to be KD3.150 which I think is a steal. You can check out their menu by clicking [Here]

According to 4thring, the new Nissan GT-R will be on display at the Kuwait International Automobile Exhibition that is being held in Kuwait this month. If its true then it looks like this years motor show will be the best one yet featuring the Nissan GT-R, Spyker cars and the BMW concept car, the CS.

I passed by the animals section of Friday Market today and it was sickening. I hate going there and it had been a really long time since I was last there but I was curious to see if things had changed. They haven’t.

Isn’t there an animal care and control bureau here in Kuwait? Look at the picture of the dog above, it was spray painted, had strange stains all over him and what looks like wounds from a dog fight. Why doesn’t the government or animal bureau do anything about it?

The Stallion commented in my previous Kuwait motor show post that Fouad Al-Ghanim will be bringing Spyker to Kuwait and they will have cars at the exhibition. I checked the Spyker website and it confirms that they WILL be at the exhibition so thats going to be pretty cool. [Link]

Probably the only exhibition at Mishref that is worth going to and its going to be held from November 28th till December 4th. One automotive event I am surprised they haven’t repeated again is the 4×4 one that was held at Marina Crescent like 2 years ago. [Link]

Kuwait is fourth and Saudi Arabia is first. [Link]

I just got the following email which I found strange since not only is the event in a few hours but its also being held nearly at the same time as the premier of the movie Sharq.

Dear Lovers of cinema,

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland, in cooperation with the Kuwait Cine Club, has the pleasure to invite You to the screening of the film “In the name of” directed by Beata Hughes.

The event will take place at the premises of the Kuwait Cine Club (map enclosed) on Sunday, November 18th at 7 p.m.

The film tells a story of three women and their struggles on the path to fulfillment and happiness. Its aim is to indicate that every human being has a potential that can develop into a passion, individual’s fight against the odds and standing up to mediocrity. One can also give up one’s dreams and follow the crowd’s expectations.

The film could be described as minimalist, with hidden meanings, surreal and open for interpretation.

During the event a discussion with film’s director and cameraman are planned.

Hope to see You on Sunday evening,

Best regards,

Watch the trailer [Here]

I’ve been wanting to try out Ricardo ever since I was a kid. I used go have lunch at Al Hambra Restaurant with my family before the Gulf War and when I was done I would wonder around the large hotel lobby and then all the way to the back where Ricardo is located and it always looked mysterious and a place for grownups. Fast forward to the present, I no longer pass by Sheraton as much since there are a lot more restaurants available in Kuwait and more competitively priced. But, when I do pass by its always back to Al Hambra where they have one of my favorite buffets in Kuwait. Yesterday night though I decided to break my routine and finally go and try Ricardo.

I made reservations earlier in the day and we got there on time and were quickly seated in a non-smoking section as I had requested. Problem is like every other restaurant in Kuwait, all the best tables are in the smoking section. Still, ours wasn’t bad and we had a good view of the live band that was playing. When we got the menu I realized they had a much larger variety of dishes then I had expected. I was expecting a small menu with a few appetizers and a handful of main courses but instead I was greeted with two pages of appetizers, around eight pages of main courses and two pages of specials. Too many choices. In the end we settled for fried calamari and prawns and cream of mushroom soup for starters, then I had the salmon tortelloni for my main course while Nat went with the giant prawn ravioli.

Our starters didn’t take too long to arrive and when they did I was surprised by the quantity. They aren’t stingy thats for sure. The mushroom soup was one of the best I’ve ever had and the calamari and prawns was also really great. The tartar sauce that came with the calamari and prawns was the same one they use at Al Hambra which is what I use as a basis for all tartar sauces, its just delicious. So far I wasn’t disappointed.

Soon after our main courses arrived and thats where I wasn’t impressed. My tortelloni sounded a lot better in writing, salmon stuffed tortelloni covered with a creamy sauce containing two types of caviar and salmon and prawns on the side. The sauce though wasn’t that great and since the sauce was one of the primary sources of flavor the end result was a good dish but nothing special. Nats ravioli was also just good but the problem with her dish was that it was over priced mostly because the prawns weren’t really giant.

We didn’t have dessert although I was tempted to but as I said earlier, their food quantity is good and so we were really full by the end of our meal. Overall the experience was good, the music although not my style suited the candle lit table and the service was excellent as expected. The price on the other hand I have mixed feelings about. Our starters, the calamari and prawns cost KD6 while the mushroom soup cost KD3.5 which I think is very fair for both dishes. My main course the salmon tortelloni cost KD12 which isn’t too bad either. Nats dish on the other hand, the giant prawns ravioli was for KD15 which I think is over priced, it should also have been KD12. Over all the prices are a lot more decent then I was expecting them to be. Most of the pastas on the menu were under KD10 while the main courses ranged in prices from KD12 to KD20 with only one lobster dish costing KD35. In the end though I am going to have to give it a rating of 3.5 out of 5. Maybe if we had ordered different main courses the score could have been as high as a 4.5 but based on what we had and not on what we could have had plus the fact that I didn’t think the prawn ravioli should have cost that much, 3.5 is what I am forced to give it. I will be going back again thats for sure if I can pull myself away from Al Hambra that is.

Since when have the Kuwait Towers been lit with blue flood lights? It looks pretty cool and slightly eerie.

This is the second time I pick up my laundry from 5àSec only to find tags stapled into my shirts and tshirts! The first time I spotted the stapled tag in my tshirt it pissed me off but I was like maybe it was just this once and I let it go. Yesterday though I found two staples with a tag in one of my nice shirts and now I am really pissed. I am guessing they staple these tags to keep track of the items but come on there must be a better solution. When you staple clothes you are basically punching holes in them and ruining them so I don’t know why people are allowing them to do that. Personally I am no longer going to use them ever again.

I’ve been wanting to watch the movie Sharq ever since I first saw the trailer back in February and it seems the movie is finally getting released. The new website is up and running at www.sharqfilm.com and you can now book tickets to the early screenings of the movie for November 18 and 19th. If you don’t know what the movie is about then check out the trailer on their website. I just booked two tickets for the 18th. [Link]

update: According to reader comments it seems the movie was already released a few months back and is available on DVD.

Just a reminder, don’t forget to check www.itsthefastestever.com at 9PM tonight for the launch of Zain’s new product. The site will be up only from 9PM to 10PM so don’t miss it.

So a friend calls me up and tells me to tune into 99.7 at around 7PM. He tells me there is this DJ, shes new, been on the radio now for maybe 6 months and she sucks really bad, like worse than Dr La Bouche. So I was in the car on the way to have dinner when I decided to turn the dial to 99.7. Once the song Barbie Girl finished playing (yeah they still play it) the DJ came on and thats when I wished Barbie Girl would play again. OK maybe she wasn’t THAT bad but she was bad, she had an annoying voice and she wasn’t make any sense. What is she doing on the air and who is she? Under normal circumstances I would check the official 99.7 website except that their site is still suspended. I did record some of the radio broadcast though using my phone and you can listen to it by clicking [Here]

Earlier I posted about the paper bags at the Co-op’s, well the group behind it turned out to be CEC, a local environmentally friendly company. Seems they are running a one month campaign called Environment Friends Campaign which involves different activities including the paper bags at the Co-op’s. So sadly I am assuming that once this one month campaign is over the Co-op’s will be going back to plastic bags. [Link]

Thanks Drunk_n_Gorgeous