2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The 2019 annual airline and airport ratings from AirHelp was released last week. Both Kuwait Airways and the Kuwait Airport scored extremely poorly on their list. Kuwait Airport was ranked as the second worst airport in the world, while Kuwait Airways ranked as the third worst airline.

AirHelp is an organization that specializes in air traveler rights. Their airline’s score is based off which airlines offer the best service, flies on time, and how they treat passengers if problems occur. The AirHelp airport’s score is based on punctuality, service quality and the food and shops options. Below are the top 10 lists for best and worst in each category:

Best Airlines of 2019
10. Emirates
9. Austrian Airlines
8. Luxair
7. WestJet
6. LATAM Airlines
5. Qantas
4. SAS Scandinavian Airlines
3. Aeromexico
2. American Airlines
1. Qatar Airways

Worst Airlines of 2019
10. Adria Airways
9. Aerolineas Argentinas
8. Transavia
7. Laudamotion
6. Norwegian
5. Ryanair
4. Korean Air
3. Kuwait Airways
2. EasyJet
1. Thomas Cook Airlines

Here is a link to the full list.

Best Airports of 2019
10. Viracopos/Campinas International Airport, Brazil
9. Tenerife North Airport, Spain
8. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, India
7. Changi Airport Singapore, Singapore
6. Sheremetyevo International Airport, Russia
5. Gdansk Lech Wałęsa Airport, Poland
4. Afonso Pena International Airport, Brazil
3. Athens International Airport, Greece
2. Tokyo International Airport, Japan
1. Hamad International Airport, Qatar

Worst Airports of 2019
10. London Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom
9. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Canada
8. Porto Airport, Portugal
7. Paris Orly Airport, France
6. Manchester Airport, United Kingdom
5. Malta International Airport, Malta
4. Henri Coanda International Airport, Romania
3. Eindhoven Airport, Netherlands
2. Kuwait International Airport, Kuwait
1. Lisbon Portela Airport, Portugal

Here is a link to the full list.

I’ve already mentioned this before but I think it’s pretty harsh having our airport and airline rank that bad. Yeah, they’re not great but I wouldn’t consider them the worst in the world. On the other hand, Qatar Airways and Qatar’s airport both came in first place on both lists. This I can agree on.

Screenshot from Long Shot

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Long Shot (7.2)
Pegasus: Pony with a Broken Wing (4.9)
Primal Rage: The Legend of Konga (4.9)
Stray (5.0)

Other Movies Showing Now:
A Vigilante (5.5)
Avengers: Endgame (9.2)
Captain Marvel (6.0)
Dumbo (7.1)
Godzilla: Resurgence (6.7)
Little (5.2)
Missing Link (7.1)
Shazam! (8.1)
The Curse of La Llorona (6.4)
The Intruder (5.4)
Wonder Park (7.1)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Fly Me to the Moon (4.5)
Galapagos 3D (8.6)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Penguins (6.7)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

If you’re not fasting during Ramadan and want to order food before Iftar, then below are some restaurants that will deliver early. This year there are a lot more places that deliver before Iftar and so I decided instead of listing them all here, I’d share a smaller curated list.

China Garden
Chinese / 11AM
Telephone: 1805080 / Carriage / Talabat / chinagarden.com.kw

Clean Eats
Vegan / 12PM
Telephone: 60488799 / Carriage

Domino’s
Pizza / 10AM
Telephone: 1800800 / Talabat

Eighty Six
Burgers / 2PM
Deliveroo

Enab
Lebanese / 2PM
Deliveroo / Talabat

Joa
Japanese / 2PM
Carriage

Kau
Burgers / 12PM
Carriage

Leila Min Lebnen
Lebanese / 2PM
Carriage

Mana
Variety / 2PM
Carriage / Deliveroo

Q at the Yard
Variety / 12PM
Telephone: 99696718 / Carriage

Rustic Thai Kitchen
Thai / 12PM
Telephone: 22204758 / Talabat

Sim Sim
Middle Eastern / 2PM
Carriage / Deliveroo

Tashi
Japanese / 2PM
Carriage

The Untitled Deli
Sandwiches / 1PM
Telephone: ‭22273354‬ / Carriage / Deliveroo

Tiger Tiger
Chinese / 2PM
Carriage

Vigonovo
Italian / 2PM
Deliveroo

Wendy’s
Burgers / 1PM
Carriage / Deliveroo

I’ll be updating the list above as I find out about more places, if you know of a place that delivers before Iftar (like 3PM or earlier) let me know.

Like always, I’ve highlighted the price increases over the previous year in red, and the decreases in green. The list is divided into two parts, hotels and restaurants so check it out below:

Hotels

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12 (+5.000)
Telephone: 24590000

Courtyard by Marriott – Atrium
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD16
Telephone: 1848111

Four Seasons – Jawaher Tent
Buffet Price: KD21
Telephone: 22006000

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 22256222

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD20 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott – Al Thuraya
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22455550

Millennium Hotel & Convention – Lamar International Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD14
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12 (+1.000)
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22253100

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD16 (+2.000)
Telephone: 25673000

Safir Hotel – Fintas
Buffet Price: KD11.9 (-3.100)
Telephone: 25455555

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD20
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD13 (-1.000)
Telephone: 25770000

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD19 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25766880

Restaurants

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD16 (+0.050)
Telephone: 24732100

Al Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 25756273

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11 (-1.500)
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Buffet: KD4.5
Telephone: 25751081

Baker & Spice
Set Menu Price: KD8.750
Telephone: 22407707

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD13.5 (+1.500)
Telephone: 22529095

Café Bateel
Set Menu Price: KD10
Telephone: 22270204

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD16
Telephone: 22275555

Enab Beirut
Set Menu Price: KD12
Telephone: 22063000

IKEA
Set Menu Price: KD2.250
Telephone: 1840408

Izmir restaurant
Buffet Price: KD5.950
Telephone: 66305554

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD7.900 (-1.850)
Telephone: 22201910

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD12 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22081999

La Brasa Argentinian Grill
Set Menu: KD17 (+6.000)
Telephone: 22322230

Maize
Set Menu: KD9
Telephone: 69688056

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD10.500 (-0.450)
Telephone: 22268666

Palm Palace
Buffet Price: KD8.900
Telephone: 67009575

Paul
Set Menu: KD7.950 (+0.700)
Telephone: 22208204

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD9
Telephone: 25711101

Sakura
Buffet Price: KD14.950
Telephone: 23733388

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD6
Telephone: 22597171

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD9.500
Telephone: 22650052

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above email me.

Below are some important Ramadan timings, if you’d like to add anything, leave it in the comments below.

Banks: 10AM to 1:30PM (Not including airport branches)
Government: 10AM to 2:30PM (Approx)

Cinescape: 8:30PM
GrandCinemas: 2:00PM
Sky Cinemas: 7:45PM
VOX: 11:10AM

360 Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8:30PM to 1AM
Al Kout Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8:30PM to 1:30AM
Avenues Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8PM to 1AM
Gate Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8PM to 1AM
Marina Mall: 11AM to 4PM and 8:30PM to 1AM
Salhiya: 10:30AM to 2:30PM and 8:30PM to 12:30AM

IKEA: 11AM to 4PM and 8PM to 1:00AM

Al Shaheed Park: 7AM to 2AM
Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre: 9PM to 12AM (Closed on Sundays)

Illustration by Windows of UAE

If you’re looking to fill up your free time this Ramadan with some TV shows, here are a few I’ve recently watched and liked. They’re fairly new so hopefully you haven’t watched them yet.

After Life
If you’re a fan of Ricky Gervais then you’re gonna love this show. It’s not funny in the same way his other stuff is funny since the subject matter of After Life is a bit sad and serious. This show actually reminded me of how when Louis C.K. came out with Horace and Pete which was also had a dramatic and serious subject with humor injected into it. After Life is available to watch on Netflix.

Black Monday
I’m a sucker for any show based in the 80s so when a friend told me about Black Monday I knew I had to watch it. The show is based around the big stock market crash of the 80s, but it’s a comedy and not a true life depiction of the actual events that took place. Black Monday has an all-star cast that includes some favorite actors of mine including Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells (from GIRLS), Paul Scheer (from VEEP), and Ken Marino (from Party Down and Burning Love). It’s a Showtime series so it’s not available on the usual Amazon Video, Netflix, Hulu or HBO streaming services, but Showtime do offer a free trial subscription which you could use to binge watch the show.

Huge in France
I found out about the comedian Gad Elmaleh around a year ago from a Moroccan friend who was surprised I hadn’t heard of him. Gad is also Moroccan and is a super popular comedian in France. He released a stand-up special on Netflix called American Dream which was his first stand-up in English and it was hilarious. Now he has a new series on Netflix called Huge in France in which he plays himself, a super popular French comedian who moves to the US where nobody knows or cares who he is. A really funny show and very easy to get into.

Love, Death & Robots
This show caught me by surprise since I started watching it because of the name without knowing what the show was about. It turned out to be so good that I binged watched the whole season in just one seating. It wasn’t that hard to do since the episodes are fairly short, around 10 or 15 minutes long. Love, Death & Robots is an animation where every episode is a different animation style and a different story line not connected to the previous episode. Some episodes are extremely violent and gory while others aren’t at all so it’s difficult to recommend the show for everyone since it would be sort of a Russian roulette of gore, nudity and violence. A good litmus test would be watching the first episode, if you can get through it then you can handle the rest of the episodes. This show is available on Netflix.

You
Finally, this show was my least favorite on this list (and it’s also the oldest one), but it’s one of those shows you dislike but yet can’t stop watching. The show is about a guy who gets obsessed with this girl and uses the internet and social media to stalk her. It has a pretty high rating of 7.8 on IMDB which is surprising since although I couldn’t stop watching it, I wouldn’t have given it that high of a score. You is also available to watch on Netflix.

Have any other new show you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments.

Update: Just watched the first episode of the new HBO mini-series Chernobyl. It’s sooo good!

Al Salam Palace was built in the 1960s to accommodate visiting heads of state. During the 1990 invasion, the palace was completely destroyed and stayed abandoned for years until the restoration project started back in 2013. The palace is located right next to JACC and the plan was to transform the palace into a museum. I was lucky enough to visit the palace just before they closed it down for restoration back in 2014.

The museum is dedicated to the history of Kuwait told through its 15 rulers.

The restoration of the palace has now been finished and last week Al Salam Palace was officially inaugurated. The museum isn’t open to the public just yet, that’s supposed to happen in October of this year which is still a long way away. But in the meantime, the museum did publish the interesting video above which shows the process behind the restoration as well as the end result. If you want to stay posted on this project you can follow the museum on instagram @aspm.kw

A few days ago the new Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Causeway was officially opened and everyone’s been really excited about it because it’s our first overwater bridge. I decided to drive up and down both bridges (yes there are two) this past Friday and I have to say, it’s one super boring drive. Although in theory, the drive across the bridge sounds cool because you’re surrounded by water with a beautiful cityscape on your right, in reality, it’s just a pretty straight long 3-lane highway, you can also barely see the water or cityscape because of the high side rails and because of all the speed cameras, it’s a very monotonous drive. The nicest part of the bridge is pictured above when coming down from the highest point of the bridge.

As I mentioned there are two bridges, a long one that takes you from Shuwaikh Port all the way north towards Subiya, while the second smaller one takes you to Doha. The total drive time is around 18 minutes long on the main long bridge and once you get to the end there really isn’t anything there, just an empty desert. There are plans to build Silk City there (can we rename it to Sin City please?), but right now the road is blocked off and you have a choice of either heading back to Shuwaikh via the bridge, or taking the older and longer inland road back down to the city.

There are a total of 9 speed cameras laid out across the long bridge as well as average speed cameras. So if you were hoping for some spirited driving you’re out of luck. There are also two artificial islands along the way, the Southern Island and Northern island. These are two exit points along the way where you can get off the main bridge to stop and check out the view or to u-turn back. Eventually, there will probably be services on these islands like restaurants or mini markets, but right now they’re not open yet. The first island exit comes up 3 minutes into the bridge drive while the second exit comes up around 10 minutes in.

For some stupid reason, people have been parking along the bridge to take photos and selfies. It’s pretty dangerous since it’s basically a 3-lane highway with a speed limit of 100KM/h. But, when I was driving on the bridge there were police patrols making sure people kept moving and didn’t stop on the side. There’s a guy who posted the hilarious video below of him being the first one to make tea on the bridge, I doubt he was being serious, he’s most likely (I hope at least) poking fun out of the way people have been treating this bridge.

The second smaller bridge starts in Shuwaikh Port and heads west towards Doha. The total drive on this bridge is just 5 minutes which means you could be at Entertainment City in less than 10 minutes from Shuwaikh. Too bad Entertainment City isn’t open though or they would be getting a lot more visitors now. There are 2 speed cameras on this bridge as well as average speed cameras so no spirited driving here as well.

I recorded a video of the full drive across both bridges starting from the first island exit all the way to Subiya, turned around headed back down to Shuwaikh and then up the second smaller bridge to Doha. It’s a pretty long and boring video but here are some timestamps in case you want to skip through it:

0:00 – Southern Island
2:50 – Popular selfie point
7:50 – Northern Island
16:00 – End of the bridge
29:05 – Police car telling a guy parked to keep moving
29:55 – Lots of cars parked on the side
35:20 – Back to Shuwaikh taking bridge to Doha
41:15 – End of bridge to Doha

If you’re interested in cycling on the bridge it’s doable but there isn’t a protected bike path. You’d have to ride on the emergency lane and I didn’t see any “no cycling” signs, but I did see some cyclists. The way I’d do it if it was me is to park on the first island, get my bike off the car and then ride back and forth between the first and second island. But it’s too scary with idiots parking on the side so do so at your own risk.

Update: According to the MOI, since the opening of the bridge they’ve issued over 1,800 fines. It seems anybody who’s been parking on the side of the road, littering or doing anything illegal is being spotted by the hundreds of surveillance cameras located all over the bridge and are being issued tickets.

pic.twitter.com/R70AGY0wAZ

— وزارة الداخلية (@Moi_kuw) May 5, 2019

This is the last weekend before Ramadan starts and there are a few cool things taking place. Below is the list, if I missed anything, let me know in the comments:

Thursday
Exhibition: Foreign Architecture / Domestic Policy
Xe Loves You by Kuki Jijo
Abolish153 Exhibition
Exhibition: Digital Flow
Carnivale de Arte
Kuwait Baseball Club Closing Ceremony
SIK Open Mic Night #2

Friday
Xe Loves You by Kuki Jijo
Abolish153 Exhibition
Exhibition: Digital Flow
Fun Day with the Kuwait Sailing Club
The Cypher Effect #Kuwait 2.0

Saturday
Xe Loves You by Kuki Jijo
Exhibition: Digital Flow
2019 WFF Middle East Championships Pro-Am
Goodwill Tribe – Silent Sound Vol 2
Book Club: The Art of War by Sun Tzu

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

Screenshot from The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
A Vigilante (5.5)
Godzilla: Resurgence (6.7)
Office Uprising (6.3)
Strike (5.9)
The Intruder (N/A)
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (6.5)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Avengers: Endgame (9.2)
Boar (5.0)
Captain Marvel (6.0)
Dragged Across Concrete (7.3)
Dumbo (7.1)
Little (5.2)
Missing Link (7.1)
Shazam! (8.1)
The Curse of La Llorona (6.4)
Triple Threat (5.6)
Wonder Park (7.1)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Fly Me to the Moon (4.5)
Galapagos 3D (8.6)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Penguins (6.7)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

I’m currently in Dubai courtesy of Ferrari. They’ve put me up in the gorgeous and very lavish Bvlgari Resort, and they’ve given me access to two cars to drive, their new Ferrari Portofino and the Ferrari 812 SuperFast. I actually have a lot of work back in Kuwait and shouldn’t really be here, but how could I say no to this right? When they first got in touch with me about this trip I was excited obviously but in my head I was also thinking, ok so I’ve already test driven these two cars, and I’ve already posted them on the blog, so how can I post about them again? Then it hit me, I could do Jebel Jais!

Jebel Jais is a mountain in the UAE with an elevation of nearly 2,000m. I found out about it from the popular car show Top Gear, (or maybe it was The Grand Tour?) and ever since I’ve wanted to drive it. The mountain has an incredible 3-lane winding road that takes you to the very top and is usually featured in “Top Roads You Need to Drive on Before You Die” style of lists. There isn’t anything on top, the bottom or along the way to the top, it’s just an empty beautiful road to nowhere.

I’ve contemplated shipping my Lotus to Dubai before so I could do the Jebel Jais drive but it was just too costly. I even considered maybe including it as part of a Oman drive where I’d ship my car to Dubai, do the Jebel Jais drive and then drive to Oman and do a drive there before sending my car back to Kuwait. It never materialized so when Ferrari told me I’d have access to the Portofino for a day I thought to myself, that would be a great car to drive up the mountain. So I accepted their invitation and here I am in Dubai.

Ferrari dropped off the Portofino yesterday morning to my hotel at around 10AM. I had two conditions, the first is I needed to have the car back by 5:30PM, the second is I could only do a maximum mileage of 350KM. Both weren’t going to be an issue. Before coming to Dubai I had already figured everything out, the drive from my hotel to the top of Jebel Jais was 160KM and it would take just over 2 hours. So, 160+160 is 320KM and say a 5 hour total journey time, that would still leave me with time to spare. The calculations worked, I was able to take the car to Jebel Jais, come back to the city, grab and lunch and have the car back at my hotel before 5:30 with around 15KM mileage to spare. It was close, but good enough.

The drive to Jebel Jais was pretty uneventful and boring, but I had a bunch of podcast episodes of Business Wars lined up and that made the time pass by quickly. There were also a ton of cameras along the way so I just put the cruise-control on the highway limit of 120KM and just cruised to Jebel Jais. Once I got to the bottom of Jebel Jais, I dropped the top down, put my favorite Spotify music playlist on and just blasted my way up the mountain.

There was no one, just me, the mountain and the incredible 3-lane winding road with no speed cameras all the way to the top. I loved the drive and the Portofino was just insane on that road. It’s such a fast car and it sounded amazing and aggressive all the way to the top. The temperature was around 28 degrees so it was perfect to drive with the roof down and I think I got a bit of tan as well. The drive up the mountain is around 16KM long and it took me around 20 minutes give or take. I stopped a bit on the way up just to check out the view, but I stopped a lot more on the way down to take some photos of the car.

Once I was back down the mountain I really wanted to just U-turn and make my way up again, but I knew if I did that I would end up exceeding the allotted mileage given to me by Ferrari, and I didn’t want to do that. So I put the roof back up and headed back to the city.

I finally got this drive off my bucket list and I couldn’t have asked for a better car to do it in. It was a difficult choice choosing between the Portofino and 812 SuperFast for the Jebel Jais drive, but I made the right choice because it doesn’t get better than flying up the mountain in a fast loud red Ferrari convertible. Ferrari are now dropping off the 812 SuperFast in a few minutes so if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, sorry but I’m in a rush!

Remember the phase when cops were towing away illegally parked cars in the city or removing their license plates? Yeah well they’re over it now which makes me wonder why can’t they ever stick to a decision?

Eggslut, the LA-based gourmet food concept where all the items on their menu feature eggs finally opened up a couple of days ago. Because of all the controversy the name caused when their original hoarding went up, they’re now sticking with the confusing “censored” version of the name Eggslt. Confusing because it reads like Eggslot, but they’re calling it Eggslt yet everyone knows the name is actually Eggslut.

I haven’t tried them yet but here is a copy of their menu. They’re open from 7AM to 11PM inside Crystal Tower in Kuwait City. Their instagram account is @eggsltkw

If you haven’t been to the race track this could be your last chance since the season is ending. This Friday there are two events taking place at Kuwait Motor Town, the open track day on the main circuit, and Drag 965 at the dragstrip. The weather is great and there will be food trucks, music, lots of cars and much more.

Below is a list of all the events this weekend, if I missed anything, let me know in the comments:

Thursday
Exhibition: Foreign Architecture / Domestic Policy
Xe Loves You by Kuki Jijo
Garden Rendevous
Aliya Cycon Concert
Spring Festival

Friday
Xe Loves You by Kuki Jijo
Drag 965
Open Track Day at KMT
Adult Softball Championship Games
Spring Festival
Games at the Park

Saturday
Xe Loves You by Kuki Jijo
Drag 965
#Trashtag Kuwait Beach Cleanup
Guided Tour: A Photographers Tour
Ballet: Alice in Wonderland
TEDxAUK – Voyages
Movie discussion: Blade Runner (1982)
Spring Festival
Abolish153 Exhibition
Games at the Park
Movies at the Park: Matilda
Let’s Draw the Ice Skating Rink

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

Screenshot from Avengers: Endgame

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Avengers: Endgame (9.2)
Boar (5.0)

Other Movies Showing Now:
After (6.3)
Captain Marvel (6.0)
Dragged Across Concrete (7.3)
Dumbo (7.1)
Hellboy (6.2)
Little (5.2)
Missing Link (7.1)
Shazam! (8.1)
The Curse of La Llorona (6.4)
The Hummingbird Project (6.6)
Triple Threat (5.6)
Us (7.3)
Wonder Park (7.1)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Fly Me to the Moon (4.5)
Galapagos 3D (8.6)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Penguins (6.7)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.