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Getting an iPhone 4 is pretty simple but you need patience since the iPhone 4 is currently in short supply and can take up to 3 weeks to be delivered. To order an iPhone 4 you also need the following:

1) Local credit card
2) Aramex Shop&Ship account (not sure if it works with others like DHL)

Then what you need to do is go to the UK online Apple Store which is located at the following link address:
https://store.apple.com/uk

Once there click on the iPhones and then select the iPhone you want and check out. If you never ordered from Apple before you will have to create an account. Put your US Aramex mailbox as your billing address as your Kuwait base credit card address and then put your Aramex UK mailbox address as your shipping address. The UK iPhones are officially unlocked.

I placed my order on June 25th for a black 16GB iPhone 4 with a black Apple iPhone 4 Bumper. I paid the following:

iPHONE 4 BLACK 16GB 424.68 GBP
IPHONE 4 BUMPERS BLACK 21.28 GBP
——–
VAT 17.5% 78.04 GBP
——–
Final Amount (VAT included) 524.00 GBP

I paid with my NBK credit card and according to my bank statement the amount I paid in Kuwaiti Dinars was 236.570.

My iPhone 4 shipped on July 9th and arrived to my Aramex mailbox on July 15th. It showed up in my Aramex mailbox the same day and then shipped from the UK on July 16th. I received the iPhone today July 21st after being held in customs for 3 days.

The Aramex shipping charges were KD5.750 and that included the customs clearance fee. This was only for my iPhone 4, my iPhone Bumper is still held in customs. On a side note when the iPhone arrived it was unopened. Not just the actual iPhone box but the larger box the iPhone came inside had not been opened neither by Aramex nor customs.

I also passed by Zain and picked up a micro-sim card which you need for the iPhone 4. The sim card cost me KD5.

If you have any questions ask it below. Regarding antenna and reception problems, I believe this was blown out of proportion by the media and as Steve Jobs said it’s not a problem and 0.5% of the 3 million iPhone users have had reception issues. Many popular phones have similar reception issues which you will never have to experience if using the phone normally. If you have any questions regarding antenna problems click [Here]

Update: Some examples of phones that have a similar antenna issues
Samsung Galaxy S
Palm Pre
Google Nexus One
Google Droid
Nokia E71
Blackberry Bold

Another Lebanese place I passed by to try their burgers was Casper & Gambini’s. I had heard their burgers were good so I decided to try them out. I went to the Avenues branch on Saturday and it was empty except for another couple sitting behind us. The location was small but cozy and tucked away from all the weekend traffic. I found two kinds of burgers on their menu, I decided to order the one with the thick 200grams patty and I asked for it to be done medium.

When the burger arrived I noticed something strange. Instead of one 200gram patty there were two thinner patties stacked on top of one another. I guess they had run out of 200gram patties and decided to replace them with two 100gram patties? I tried to take my first bite and had problems. The burger buns were very dry and with the two patties stacked on top of another the burger was too high for me to bite into. After squeezing the burger hard I managed to take a bite. It was super dry. The burger was cooked well done and the patties tasted like the Khazan frozen ones (no offense to the Khazan burgers). Actually the burger taste reminded me of the burgers I used to order at the beach in Lebanon as a kid. The burgers were usually terrible but because you’ve been swimming and running around all day, by the time it’s lunch anything you eat at the beaches canteen ends up being delicious. Only problem in this case is I’m not 12, and this isn’t a beach canteen.

The final score is a 1.5 out of 5 and that’s mostly because the taste reminded me of my childhood.

For a list of Casper & Gambini’s locations click [Here]
The cost of the Gambini Burger was KD4.350

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Let’s Burger
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

They’ve closed down the Italian restaurant (Italo’s) that was located in the area on top of GAP over looking Lorenzino and there looks like a lot of construction taking place there. I wonder if that’s where Shake Shack will end up? I guess it could although there would be a problem. The way Shake Shack works is you wait in line to order your burgers and then you go find a place to sit. Originally the Italian restaurants kitchen was located to the side near Mango which means if they apply the same Shake Shack system here then you will have a line of people waiting in the main passage way causing a lot of traffic. But, the idea of having the seating area separate from the kitchen and main ordering area works like Shake Shack. I guess we will have to wait and see.

This does go against what I previously had heard which is that they are planning to open Shake Shack in front of PF Chang. The restaurant will be built where the elevator currently is and the elevator shaft will be used for the ventilation (kinda like a chimney). The seating will be in the open.

Update: OK so it seems Italo’s Cafe was closed down to make way for Cafe Meem. BUT, they had to give up the kitchen location next to Mango. So now I am assuming the space next to Mango that was used by Italo’s as their kitchen is now going to be the second Pinkberry location.

I personally think the food in Lebanon is a mixture of good and bad. We obviously do good Lebanese food, we also make some of the best pizza’s, we’ve got some really great crepes and most importantly we have the world’s best beer (Almaza FTW!). One thing we strangely don’t have is good burgers. For some reason no one has cracked a good burger in Lebanon. I’ve been recommended so many places and every time I try a burger there I am left disappointed. Let’s Burger is a Lebanese burger creation which I was hoping would break this cycle.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the menu is they had mayonnaise listed under the “5 Elements for a perfect burger”. That’s when I knew things weren’t going to end well. Mayonnaise??? I continued flipping through their menu and decided to go with the stuffed cheese burger. I wasn’t asked how I wanted the burger done.

A short time later my burger arrived and I quickly took my first bite. Two things grabbed my attention. The first thing is, I liked the beef patty with the stuffed cheese inside. Because the cheese was all soft and gooey it made the beef patty very juicy. The second thing that grabbed my attention is the bun, it was cold and cracking. That meant the bun wasn’t fresh and was refrigerated. Cold bread + hot beef patty = Doesn’t work. Their sauce also wasn’t anything to write home about since although the description in the menu said grainy mustard mayo sauce, what I tasted was mostly just plain mayo.

For the final score I’m giving it a 2.5 out of 5. The patty was fine but they need to fix the bun issue, it shouldn’t be too hard to get fresh buns every morning delivered. They also really need to cut down on the mayo, not only is it not an important element in a good burger… it shouldn’t be on a burger in the first place. Period.

Let’s Burger is located at 360 Mall.
The cost of the Stuffed Cheeseburger was KD3.450

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

Recently I noticed that when I sleep for over 9 hours I wake up with neck cramps and a sore ear. It turned out my pillow had become too hard and with the way I sleep was causing me neck pains. Nat suggested I get Tempur pillows so I did a quick google to find a local dealer and landed on Some Contrast’s blog. He had found and gotten Tempur pillows from a place called The Bed Boutique in Tilal Complex. Since I was planning to pass by the Tamiya dealer there anyway, I decided to drop by and see what they had.

The shop has pillows, quilts and mattresses. They had a few brands the most popular being Tempur and Temprakon. Now one reason I felt like coming to this store was because Some Contrast posted they had a small private room (pictured above) in which you could try the pillows which is what I ended up doing. I got around 4 different types of pillows and tried them while lying down which is much better than just trying to feel the stuff in your hands. In the end I ended up getting the Temprakon Ergomagic which is a very comfy pillow (picture and details on their website). It’s a down pillow with a three layered core, one layer is a comfort foam which provides support for the head and neck, the other two layers are foam inserts which are used to control the height of the pillow. If the three layers combined are too high for you, you remove one of the inserts. If it’s still too high you remove another insert. Very practical.

Nat on the other hand got the same pillow as Yousef from Some Contrast which is the Tempur Symphony (pictured above). I tried it and also it was very comfy I didn’t think it was high enough for me since I like high pillows. The Tempur material feels very organic since it takes your shape and molds around it. I tried the Tempur mattress and it felt like the bed was alive since however you moved it slowly takes your form.

Anyway if you’re interested, The Bed Boutique is located at Tilal Complex. Their phone number is 22256171.

Update: Was just reading about the brand Temprakon on their website and it’s even better than I had thought. Their pillows and quilts are made with NASA’s OUTLAST material which is used in the NASA space suits. They’re the only manufacturer in the world allowed to use the OUTLAST material to make pillows and quilts.

I got an email from a tipster (which was confirmed by another source of mine) telling me that Alshaya have acquired two new food chains to bring into Kuwait. The first chain is called Potbelly Sandwich Works which sells submarine sandwiches similar in style to Subway except supposedly better. The second chain is called Texas Roadhouse which specializes in steaks and has a western theme. I hadn’t heard of these two places until a few moments ago but I guess most of you will be glad the two chains are not burger joints. On the other hand I am still trying to find out some kind of information regarding the status of Shake Shack.

I was also told by another source that Pinkberry will not be opening in the Casamaroc location at Avenues like I had previously mentioned since the owner has refused to sell the place. But, they will still be opening a second branch of Pinkberry in that area.

Cinescape uploaded pictures of old movie theaters here in Kuwait to their Facebook group with the oldest theater dating back to 1954. I hope they upload pictures of Cinema Salmiya and the drive through cinema as well. [Link]

Thanks Mohammed

I just found out Pinkberry will be opening two new locations. They’re opening a second smaller location in Avenues in place were CasaMaroc is, near Pottery Barn Kids. This should help reduce the long lines at their main location opposite Dean & Deluca. The second location is going to make Nat happy since it’s near our house. They’re opening a new location in Marina Mall, in place of the recently closed down Waterlemon branch. That should turn out to be a pretty big location.

Personally, I’m still waiting till they introduce biscuit cones.

I was recommended by a couple of readers to try out the burger at the English Tea Lounge at Avenues phase II. It’s an ostrich burger and supposedly very good so I passed by today for lunch around 3pm to try it out. The place was empty with not a single person there so we had our pick of where to sit. We got the menu and I quickly flipped to the page with the burger on it. My sister was going to have a salad but Nat just wanted to drink tea.

Then Nat noticed the fine print at the bottom of every page which said that the minimum order per person had to be KD6. I told her that’s probably when its packed but not when it’s empty. I called the waitress over and asked her if this KD6 minimum charge was enforced? She said yes. I was like wait, so if me and my sister want to order lunch but Nat just tea we can’t do that? She said no it’s minimum KD6 per person. WTF? The place was empty with no one there!? It’s a TEA lounge! I told her fine and got up and left.

What a very disappointing experience. Didn’t even know restaurants with minimum charges still existed in Kuwait yet alone having it enforced in an empty place.

Fauchon isn’t one of those places that pops into mind when thinking about burgers but since a few people had recommended them I decided to give it a shot.

I passed by Fauchon at 360 Mall this weekend and ordered their Le Beef Burger a La Fauchon with classic fries on the side. According to the menu the patty is a prime US beef patty and comes with shredded cheddar cheese topped with their special dressing in their home made bun. The burger arrived and looked ok presentation wise except for the fact the whole thing looked kinda flat. When I first picked up the burger I noticed a problem and that was the bun was starting to fall apart. I hadn’t even taken my first bite so I realized that was going to be an issue. From that moment on I had to handle the burger very delicately at the risk of having the whole bun fall apart in my hand. After taking a few bites I realized two more things. First their special dressing tasted like a mix of cocktail sauce and salad dressing which doesn’t really belong on a burger. The second thing I realized is their beef patty might be the exact same ones I get from Sultan Center. Not a good thing since I’m not a fan of my home made burgers. The burger is pretty big and filling which is always a plus.

The final score for this burger is a 3 out of 5. One thing about this burger that I liked the most was the french fries that came on the side. They’re what I call hotel fries which is what I call fries that taste like ones you get from room service at hotels with a little portion of Heinz ketchup on the side. Price wise the burger cost KD4.450 which is fair for the fact it’s a burger at Fauchon although personally I don’t think it’s worth it since the burger wasn’t that great.

Fauchon is located at 360 Mall.
The cost of Le Beef Burger a La Fauchon was KD4.450

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

The list of the hottest emerging markets for retail just got released and for the first time ever Kuwait made it onto the list but not only that, Kuwait somehow managed to rank the second hottest market place in the world for retail! China is in first place as expected, India in third and Kuwait squeezed in between the two. This probably has to do with Alshaya being based in Kuwait and bringing in and opening all these foreign brands. I’m still waiting for some kind of news on Shake Shack..

“Kuwait is an attractive opportunity,” said Deepa Neary, a retail industry consultant at A.T. Kearney. She cited the country’s location in the Middle East, which is quickly becoming an exciting region for retailers, and its highly concentrated urban population, which helps make the market more accessible for retailers.

According to Neary, Kuwait can serve as an entry point into the Middle East.

Here is the top 10 list:
1- China
2- Kuwait
3- India
4- Saudi Arabia
5- Brazil
6- Chile
7- United Arab Emirates
8- Uruguay
9- Peru
10- Russia

You can read the article by following this [Link]

Thanks Zoogi

I love IVH, they’re the only place I trust with my dog. [YouTube]

I’ve been looking forward to trying the Eighty 6 Bistro burger for ages but I passed by a few months ago and didn’t have a reservation and got turned away. After that I figured it would be a hassle to pass by and never did until this past weekend. I passed by on Friday for lunch and to my surprise the place was empty. Like literally there was no table occupied. I thought that was strange but didn’t mind it since it meant I didn’t have to wait for a table to free up.

I sat down in one of the booths and started flipping through the menu. I was about to order their classic cheeseburger when I spotted something called the Bistro Burger. I asked the waiter what it was and he explained to me the burger came with lettuce, tomato, cheese, caramelized onions and mushrooms. He also said the patty what thicker than the classic cheeseburger and that was all I needed to hear. I ordered the Bistro Burger without the lettuce and tomato.

When the burger arrived the presentation looked good. It came on a long plate with a small pot filled with a few onion rings on one side, a small cup of fries on the other end and the juicy burger in between the two. I took a bite and noticed something, the caramelized onions were just overpowering the burger. I spent the rest of meal wishing I had ordered the burger with just the cheese. The bun was nice and soft, the onion rings and french fries although have no effect on this review were pretty bland.

Honestly, for a place that was empty during lunch time on a Friday at the most popular mall in Kuwait I was expecting the worst but I am glad that the burger turned out to be good. I decided to give it a 3.5 out of 5 and “might” have given it a 4 if I had ordered it with just the cheese. The cost of the burger is KD4.5 which is actually on the high side but I guess the fact that it comes with a side of onion rings and fries makes up for it. As I’ve mentioned before the price of the burger has no effect on the review or the final score.

Eighty 6 Bistro is located in the Avenues.
The cost of the Bistro Burger was KD4.500
For reservations call 22597961

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
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

I got back from dinner awhile ago from the soon to open B+F Open Flame Kitchen and I think I over ate… like big time. Open Flame Kitchen is the new restaurant from the guy who brought us Burger Boutique and Slider Station. It’s his third restaurant in Kuwait and I believe fifth over all (he has b+f in Saudi and Roadside Diner in Oman).

I am not going to review the food since they’re not even open yet but even though they’re still in the testing stage the food I had was great. What did I get to try tonight? Fried calamari, shrimp tempura, fried mozzarella, two types of salad, a sushi dish, a cheese burger, chicken liver, BBQ ribs, rib eye steak, lobster with shrimps and scallops, french fries, and three types of dessert, chocolate pancakes, fried banana with toffee and the chocolate brownie pudding (the sequel to the chocolate pudding from Slider Station). I don’t know any of the actual names of the dishes so I just listed the stuff based on ingredients. I also might have left stuff out since there was really a lot of food. I basically won’t be stepping on the scale anytime this week.

The interior design and ambiance of OFK is just amazing. I passed by right after the gym, my best friend and favorite food buddy Essa from Choowy Goowy and his wife were there waiting for me. The place was packed and there was music playing and it really didn’t feel like I was in Kuwait. Then Nat and another friend joined us and we started meeting other friends who were having dinner there which we hadn’t seen for ages, it just felt like a very social and cool place specially with the good music and dark interior. There really aren’t that many places like that in Kuwait.

B+F Open Flame Kitchen is located in 360 Mall right under The Meat Co. and right in front of Life with Cacao. They’re not open yet, they’re currently in the training stage. In the beginning of July they start the food tasting/sampling with the soft launch happening sometime mid July.

Seems someone is bringing the concept of fried oreo cookies to Kuwait. I tried it while in New York and although they are extremely unhealthy they tasted pretty good. There is some kind of talent expo being held at Movenpick Free Zone from the 24th to the 26th of June 5 to 11PM and the fried oreos will be available to try at the O Station booth. Not much else info but you can check out their Facebook group [Here]