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Smoke House is a place I heard about recently from a friend. They opened up just two months ago in Mahboula and I posted about them a few days ago. Everyone who visited the place had good things to say about it so I got there with high expectations only to feel let down once I saw the place.

Smoke House is a very tiny restaurant with a very lame looking exterior and a pretty uninspiring interior. There is no love at first sight here more like what the frak brought me to this place! I passed by with a friend of mine and when we arrived 2 out of the 4 tables were occupied. We sat down and were greeted by a very friendly waitress and were given the menus to look over. I quickly decided to go with a chili cheese fries for starters, a Smoke House Burger (medium well) with cheese for my main dish and a side order of mashed potatoes with gravy. My friend ordered the lamb chops with a side order of coleslaw and sweet corn and butter. For drinks I decided to order root beer since I noticed one of the other diners was drinking root beer out of an A&W root beer jug so I decided I would have one also.

My burger arrived awhile later and I was totally shocked. It had to be the best burger presentation I had ever seen and I don’t mean just in Kuwait. The plate had a very gourmet like presentation to it and the burger looked very appetizing, I quickly took my shots before I bit into the burger. The burger didn’t come with any lettuce or tomatoes just a bit of thinly sliced onions and cheese. I think I’ve mentioned this before but I don’t think lettuce or tomatoes belong in a good burger, it takes away from the flavor which in this case was great. The patty was thick (not too thick) and very juicy. The bun was soft, looked wonderful and although was surrounded by some juice when it arrived it wasn’t soggy. The only negative thing about my burger was the fact the cheese wasn’t melted properly.

I went to Smoke House expecting a good burger but I didn’t expect this. I’ve decided to give this burger a 4.5 out of 5 making it the highest rated burger in my burger challenge so far. The root beer I ordered by the way tasted like crap. Turns out they weren’t using A&W root beer just their mugs but the waitress was nice enough to swap it with a regular coke and I wasn’t charged for the root beer. Other than that issue the sweet corn and butter was great, the coleslaw was very good, my friend’s lamb chops were supposedly also delicious and the quantity was huge. For dessert I had an apple pie and I ended up really liking that too. They really need a nicer and much larger place but according to the waitress if they do good for 6 months then they will be opening up a bigger place which makes good sense. The prices are also very affordable if anything maybe a bit under priced and I liked the way they dealt with my complaint, very professional. I’m actually going back there tomorrow with another friend and I am going to try and convince myself to have something other than the burger, maybe their Philly cheese steak. Good stuff.

Smokehouse is located in Mahboula
The cost of the Smokehouse Cheeseburger is KD1.950

Update: It seems they’ve changed their burger! Not sure why anyone would do this but their new burger doesn’t taste the same as the one in the review.

I really hate how trees are not given enough importance in Kuwait. Everywhere else in the world the planting and growing of trees is encouraged but here in Kuwait we cut them down, dig them out or landscape the hell out of them until they look “cute”. Yesterday a friend of mine living in Salwa told me about how the authorities came into Salwa and started destroying trees planted on government property. I thought that was very sad until I saw some pictures a forum user posted and now I’m furious!

I’ve seen the same thing happen near my place in Salmiya. There was a parking lot that had planted trees on the pavement around the lot and the authorities came and cut the trees and left. The square sand boxes where the trees used to be are still there just without the trees. Whats so bad about planting trees on government property? Why can’t the trees be left alone?

Thanks Ramez for the pictures!

I am going to divide this post into two, in the first half I will talk about Cinemagic’s weekly movie screenings and in the second about Oldboy.

Last time I posted about Cinemagic was a year ago and a lot of you might not know about them. They are a local organization that focuses on helping and establishing local film makers in the region. They have courses, trainings, connections, everything that’s film related. One of the things they also try and do is increase the public’s interest in the beauty and art of the moving image and one of the ways they go about doing this is holding movie screenings every week. They hold these screenings in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. Anyone can go and watch a screening for free and they even provide snacks and refreshments.

Now the best part about all of this is the type of movies they play. They don’t play any of the mainstream stuff which Cinescape plays, instead they share a lot of small indie and foreign movies. This week they will be screening one of my favorite foreign movies called Oldboy which I reviewed here back in 2005. It’s a Korean movie about a guy who got locked up in a studio apartment for 15 years by some unknown assailants. Then one day, he gets released and decides to seek revenge and find out who locked him up and why. Its a violent movie which never gets boring and has a really messed up ending.

So if you’re interested, they’re screening this movie on Thursday March 19 at 7PM. I find out about their movies via a weekly newsletter and I have no idea how you could sign up to it but they do have a website which I believe is updated weekly and you can visit it by clicking [Here]

Update: Here is a link to their facebook group. [Link]

The other day I posted about a new place called SmokeHouse, well their website just came online today and you can check out their full menu there. I don’t think I’ve ever tried smoked food so I am interested in trying it out. This is from their About Us section:

The ‘Smoke House’ is Kuwait’s first restaurant specializing in American southern style BBQ. We offer a premium selection of hickory Smoked and Barbequed meats all served with our signature ‘Smokehouse’ sauces. We use our own secret rubs and marinades and then slow cook our meats to bring you the best tasting smoked BBQ around. We also provide authentic southern style sides and delicious desserts. Whether you dine in, have your food delivered or request our catering services we guarantee you’ll be back for more.

The site sadly doesn’t include pictures of the place but it does have a map with directions. Will try them out this weekend and then post a review of their burger. [Link]

I was checking out Nemo’s blog when I found her post on a cafe located in Omneya complex in Salmiya called Book Cafe.

This is the description taken from the Book Cafe facebook page:

A quiet place
Provides you with Taekwondo, physical and mental relaxation
To think deeply, to read a book, to discuss a draft
My place is the beginning to achieve a place for you in the world
Start here

Judging by the pictures the place looks cool (color matches my blog) and the idea seems interesting but not too sure about the location. Nat also brought up a good point that usually when you want to read a book its more comfortable to read it while sitting on a sofa not a dinning room table. So bean bags or cozy sofas might be more suitable…

You can check out more pictures on Nemo’s blog [Here]
Here is the link to the Book Cafe’s facebook page [Link]

Picture taken by Nemo

I got home after work and took Geo my dog for his walk when I noticed three kids abusing a small white puppy. So I asked them who the dog was for and a kid answered that it was his and that he wanted to sell it. I asked him how much and he told me KD5. So I called Nat and told her that we were going to rescue a dog and that she should call Animal Friends League to see if they could pick it up.

We got some towels, food and water for the puppy which turned out to be really hungry and waited for a call back from Animal Friends so we could see what to do next. As a backup I told Nat to give PAWs a call but as usual no one from PAWs picked up. Animal Friends called us back and told us no one could pick up the dog tonight but we could drop it off at the International Veterinarian Hospital which we ended up doing.

It was a pretty cute and playful dog. Nat decided to call him Grumpy like the Smurf since it had a grumpy look on its face, probably from all the abuse it got from the kids.

Animal Friends League is a non-profit organization that rescues animals and strives to improve the quality of their lives in Kuwait. So please if you would like to help them out either with a donation or other means visit the following link to find out how. [Link]

Has anyone heard of a burger place in Kuwait called Smokehouse? Its on exit 211 in Mahboula, block 1. Supposedly they have really good burgers. I also heard a new burger place opened up in the Avenues in place of where GBK used to be.

Update: Someone from the Smokehouse commented the following…

At The Smokehouse we specialize in Southern BBQ. We serve a variety of smoked and barbequed meats, southern style sides and a selection of desserts. And Mark we do have three different burgers on our menu. We are located in Mahboula block 1, off exit 211of the Fahaheel expressway. Our website www.smokehousekw.com should be up within a day or 2, it has a menu as well as directions and map of our location. If you need help finding The Smokehouse call us at 97340070 or 97340080.

I was out of the country when the military parade took place recently in Kuwait but a reader of my blog who was at the event took some pictures which I’ve uploaded online. To check out the pictures click [Here]

Thanks Salem!

Tried paella today for the first time at a place that was recommended called La Paella Real. It was delicious! Someone needs to open up a Spanish restaurant in Kuwait if there isn’t one already, they’ve got some amazing dishes here…

While in transit at the Frankfurt Airport I met up with a friend of mine who told me to try out a restaurant in Madrid called Sobrino de Botín. The place is the oldest restaurant in the world, established back in 1725! So I passed by tonight and had dinner there. The place is pretty cool, I didn’t like the food but that was my fault, should have gone with the seafood. The idea the restaurant existed 500 nearly 300 years ago is just crazy.

Found a small place in Madrid that specializes in fried calamari sandwiches. It’s such a simple idea, I loved it.

I just found about freelensing and can’t wait to try it tomorrow during the day. This is the definition of freelensing according to Luke Roberts:

Photos taken with the lens detached from the camera but held in place and moved around to focus. This also lets extra light in sometimes causing light leaks and giving a vintage look and feel.

Also:
* Gives extra bokeh by shrinking the area in focus (aperture is 0)
* Allows for super macro shots
* Delicious light leaks
* Tilt-shift effects

For some cool freelensing samples (better than mine above) click [Here], [Here] and [Here]

Update: Here are some more free lensing shots I took which turned out much nicer. In all the shots except for the last, I had the lens flipped backwards.

I was emailed the following:

Throughout the coming months there is going to be an eventful calendar of activities at different Starbucks locations. Ranging from insightful and inspiring photography exhibitions, to fun live music performances and gigs and many other more art forms to be included and surprises to be later announced.

Each weekend the photography exhibitions will take place in 3 Starbucks stores across Kuwait so choose the closest to you and come encourage young creative youth in Kuwait and spend a great weekend at Starbucks..

The schedule of events and locations are to be found for reference below:

6 -7 March
Starbucks Al Bidaa:
Ammar Al Othman & Samar Al Bader

Starbucks Behbehani Villa – behind Church – Kuwait City:
Saleh El Gaith & BaderAl Ajeel

Starbucks Mishref Coop:
Abdula Al Foudary & Nawaf Al Saleh

13-14 March
Starbucks Avenues (by Fountain):
Maha Al Asaker & Jarrah Al Boloshi

Starbucks Kuwait Free Zone:
Saleh El Gaith & Bader Al Ajeel

Starbucks Palms Spa & Resort:
Samar Al Bader & Sherifa Ben Ali

20-21 March
Starbucks Al Bidaa:
Maha Al Asaker & Jarrah Al Boloshi

Starbucks Salem Al Mubarak – Opposite Al Fanar:
Bader Al Ajeel & Ammar Al Othman

Starbucks Hilton Al Mangaf:
Abdulla Al Foudary & Nawaf Al Saleh

27-28 March
Starbucks Behbehani Villa – behind Church – Kuwait City:
Sherifa Ben Ali & Maha Al Asaker

Starbucks Palms & Spa Resort:
Jarrah El Boloshi & Saleh Al Gaith

Starbucks Marina Mall:
Ammar Al Othman & Abdulla Al Foudary

For more information visit their Facebook group [Here]

Thanks Maha!

Someone emailed me about an exhibition thats taking place in Kuwait for a “digital artist” called Anwar Ghader. So I googled him to check out his work when I found a cool post on Projekt Cyan showing how in under 10 minutes you can replicate one of his work. I really dislike how some people take a picture, apply a few Photoshop filters and then call it art. That’s not art, what I posted the other day is art. So if you want to find out how to create your own digital art like Anwar click [Here]

Update: Just so there is no miscommunication. The reason I don’t call Anwar’s work art is not because it was easy to create or because it is ugly or anything of that sort. Its because of the way the work was created. If I take an image and using the software Rasterbator I create something nice, does that make me an artist? If I use Obama Icon Me to create a cool looking poster, does that make me an artist? So why is it art when Anwar (or any other person) uses live trace to create the work?

K5 has an interesting post about this cool little store he found called Nawader Al Kuwait. The place has a huge collection of vintage Arabic vinyl records and also vintage radios and record players. The place also has other random items, personally I am interested in the painting of the musicians above so I might pass by tonight to check the place out. You can see more pictures and information about the place on K5’s blog [Here]