Search: “kuwait”

Every year I put a list of Ramadan buffets together and every year the list grows. Since it was becoming a bit cumbersome to navigate, I’ve decided to split the list up this year into two to make it slightly easier to go through. Below is this years list, the first half is a list of hotels with their buffet prices while the second half of the list are restaurants. Like always I’ve highlighted the price increases over the previous year in red, and the decreases in green. Check out the full list below:

Hotels

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10 (-2.000)
Telephone: 24590000

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14.950 (+0.950)
Telephone: 1848111

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD17.500 (+2.000)
Telephone: 22256222

Inn & GO Hotel – Al Dallah Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9.9 (+0.900)
Telephone: 22436686

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD19
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
Telephone: 24610033

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

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25673000

Safir Hotel – Fintas
Buffet Price: KD14.500
Telephone: 25455555

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD17.750 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD12 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25770000

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 25766880

Restaurants

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1821000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14.950
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Al Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9.000 (-0.950)
Telephone: 25756273

Applebee’s
Set Menu Price: KD7.950
Telephone: 1844466 or 25381481

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10 (-1.000)
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: Vegetarian KD3.100 – Non Vegetarian KD3.500 (both min 4 people)
Telephone: 25751081

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22529095

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.500)
Telephone: 22275555

Enab Beirut
Set Menu Price: KD12
Telephone: 90009874

Jeans Grill
Buffet Price: KD8.500 (+0.550)
Telephone: 22264503

Kababji
Set Menu Price: KD5.950 (+0.450)
Telephone: 1861616

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD9.750 (+2.250)
Telephone: 22251303

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD11 (-3.000)
Telephone: 22081999

La Brasa Argentinian Grill
Set Menu: KD11
Telephone: 99052419

Leila
Set Menu Price: KD10 (+0.500) – min 6 people
Telephone: 22996414

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22268666

Palm Palace
Buffet Price: KD9.250 (+0.350)
Telephone: 67009575

Pop A Loop
Set Menu Prices: KD9 to KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22271439

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD9 (+0.500)
Telephone: 25711101

Ruby Tuesday
Set Menu Price: KD7.950 (-2.000)
Telephone: 22444454

Saladworks
Set Menu Price: KD2.750 to KD4.750
Telephone: 22201888

Tallu Hbabna
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 51113700

Tandooriwala
Set Menu Price: KD6.750
Telephone: 25745458

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD6.000 (+0.450)
Telephone: 22597171

Veranda
Set Menu Price: KD12.450
Telephone: 22283141

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD9.500 (-0.500)
Telephone: 22650052

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD8 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22285203 or 97281007

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above [Email Me]

Note: The prices listed above are for adults. Some restaurants offer special prices for children. I will add more restaurants to this list as I find out about them.

Since Ramadan is starting this weekends list of events is pretty small. Check out whats going on this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Blue Nights curated by Mark Dean, New York
Level 44 Exhibition
Graish Shuwaikh
The Divan Movie Night: Naked Lunch
Movies at the Park: Lawrence of Arabia

Friday
Hatha Yoga in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering

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.

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Week:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (3.3)
Gifted (7.8)
The Bleeder (6.8) ♦

Other Movies Showing:
Alien: Covenant (7.0) ♦ ★
Everything, Everything (6.2)
Fast & Furious 8 (7.5)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (8.2) ♦ ★
Here Alone (5.2) ♦
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (7.2)
Monolith (4.7)
The Boss Baby (6.5)
Smurfs: The Lost Village (5.8)
The Circle (7.5) ♦

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

The Civil Aviation authority has banned illegal parking at the Kuwait Airport. Previously the long term parking lot would be filled with cars parked on top of curbs and in no parking areas, but this will no longer be allowed. Parking attendants will no longer let you in if the parking is full and if you do park illegally, you will now be fined KD150. Like most new decisions in Kuwait, I doubt this will last long.

Equinox is a popular luxury gym chain in the US and according to a reader, they’re going to open in Kuwait (and most likely the region). Alshaya are bringing the brand which will most likely compete with the likes of Inspire, The Burrow and Elite Fitness.

No information on when or where they’re planning to open as of now.

Thanks Andrew

The alarm has been sounded again in Kuwait after figures for 2017 show that around 60 per cent of Kuwaiti marriages have ended in divorce.

Figures released by the Ministry of Justice indicate there were 2,001 marriages in January and February, down from 2,425 in the same period last year. The figures also show there were 1,193 cases of divorce in the first two months of 2017, up from 1,180 last year. [Source]

That would put Kuwait with Luxembourg in 6th place on the World’s Most Divorced Nations list:

1- Belgium (71%)
2- Portugal (68%)
3- Hungary (67%)
4- Czech Republic (66%)
5- Spain (61%)
6- Kuwait and Luxembourg (60%)
7- Estonia (58%)
8- Cuba (56%)
9- France (55%)
10- Lithuania (53%)

Over the weekend I was told that preliminary approval from the Ministry to bring Adele to Kuwait was given. If everything works out she’ll be performing at the Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre which has recently hosted other big name musicians like Yanni and Googoosh. Although, bringing Adele would be on a completely different level.

I wasn’t given any dates on when this might happen, but based on her schedule, it would be safe to assume that if it will happen, it would be sometime in the second half of this year.

No idea why this weekend is so packed but it is, probably because it’s the last weekend before Ramadan starts. This weekend is filled with musical events and more, so check out the full list below:

Thursday
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Exhibition: Blue Nights curated by Mark Dean, New York
Musical: Peter Pan – The Never Ending Story
The Beatles Sing-Along Concert
Fête de la Musique

Friday
Hatha Yoga in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Musical: Peter Pan – The Never Ending Story
The Beatles Sing-Along Concert
Coded Hackathon
Architectural Photography Exhibition
Musical: Beauty and the Beast
CHKN 1 Year Anniversary Birthday Party
Concert: Sal Houdini
Music Festival: Fabrice Moreaux & Turk, Taymour, and South & Eden

Saturday
Yoga with the 3
Brunch at the Park
Musical: Peter Pan – The Never Ending Story
Coded Hackathon
Architectural Photography Exhibition
CHKN 1 Year Anniversary Birthday Party
JamJam – A Play on Rhythm
Concert: Treasure of Talents
K-TAP Dance Show

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.

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Week:
Alien: Covenant (7.0) ♦ ★
Everything, Everything (6.2)
Here Alone (5.2) ♦

Other Movies Showing:
A Family Man (7.0) ♦
Fast & Furious 8 (7.5)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (8.2) ♦ ★
Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom (5.9)
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (7.2)
Monolith (4.7)
Smurfs: The Lost Village (5.8)
The Boss Baby (6.5)
The Circle (7.5) ♦

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

Whats your favorite fish and chips place in Kuwait? I’m drawing a blank just trying to think of a place other than Shrimpy that even has fish and chips on the menu.

Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure), a contraction of the words costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture and a broader use of the term “cosplay” applies to any costumed role-playing in venues apart from the stage.

The video above by UrbanQ8 is of all the cosplay from last months ComFest event that took place here in Kuwait. From all the previous videos and photos of similar events I’ve seen, it looks like the local cosplay scene is growing pretty rapidly and I’d say we’ve got a pretty legit scene at the moment. It’s also not male dominant as you’d imagine it being, it’s probably close to a 50/50 split. [YouTube]

I know it has been a while since I have written here, but I have been busy at the law firm that I established last year. It has been very busy since. But, I want to share with you the positive changes happening in Kuwait in regards to SME’s (small and medium enterprises that have a capital of less then KD500,000 or less then 50 employees).

You might have seen the wonderful and colorful logo of New Kuwait or Kuwait 2035, the logo has been proudly displayed on governmental buildings, e-goverment websites and other major projects. New Kuwait is Kuwait’s National Development Plan that according to their website “sets the nation’s long-term development priorities. It is organized around five themes, or desired outcomes, and seven pillars, or areas of focus for investment and improvement.” In short they want Kuwait to be in the top 35% of the world in the Global Indicator Rankings (I know how much Mark enjoys sharing rankings!)

So what are these positive changes so far legally? They are too many to include in one post but I want to speak today about positive changes in legislations and bylaws. We have had amazing changes for SME’s and of course as a reflection of these legal changes we are seeing restaurants, speciality coffee shops, kaftan designers, apps and so on pop up at a tremendous rate, some with high success rates. Here are some of the changes I wanted to highlight:

1) Fairly New Company Law (2016) – Some important changes were made, one of them is that there is now such a thing as NPC – non-profit companies and the other being that we now have a one person company that is referred to as a sole proprietorship.

2) Kuwait Business Center – A one stop center to establish companies in Kuwait. Every time I visit the center there is new positive changes and I have had an overall great experience for my clients. Unfortunately, some of my clients found it difficult to find the location. It is located in Eshbilaa Coop which is out of the way from Kuwait city, but they have new signs up now (with encouraging words). KBC claim that the new process takes 5 days, from my experience with clients I would say that you will need to allow yourself two weeks. [kbc.gov.kw]

3) KDIPA – Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority is an authority in Kuwait that was established to encourage foreign companies to invest in Kuwait. One of the changes they brought forward was that you can now establish a company in Kuwait without a Kuwaiti partner. This isn’t available to all companies, just ones that meet KDIPA’s criteria. [kdipa.gov.kw]

4) Kuwait SME Fund – An independent public corporation that has allocated 2 billion Kuwaiti Dinars to finance SME’s in Kuwait. The fund finances up to 80 percent of capital for SME’s submitted by Kuwaiti nationals.

I hope to see reforms in other parts of Kuwait’s legal system, especially for employment laws and bylaws.

For any legal inquiries, please email me on [email protected] and my team or I will get back to you within 24 hours.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Brownbook magazine shot a short interview with architect Zahra Ali Baba who reflects on her research, the practice of architectural conservation and the importance of history in the development of Kuwait. Its less than 4 minutes, is interesting to watch and nicely shot, so check it out above.

Thanks absolving-disorder

Yesterday I mentioned I found an old copy of a Kuwait TV Guide from 1989, what I failed to mention is that I bought it from an antique shop. I thought I had posted about these antique shops before, but when I searched through my blog, I couldn’t find anything about them. There is a basement in old Salmiya near Marina Mall filled with shops that sell antiques.

I passed by there last week since I needed to pick up a few items to use as props for a clients photoshoot, and thats when I got the old TV guide and a few other things. The shop I was in actually had a whole bunch of old TV guides along with a whole lot of old magazines and newspapers (even books) from the 50s and 60s all the way up to the 90s. I ended up buying a few things, a copy of “Majala Al Kuwait” from 1975, two 8-track tapes, the old TV guide and most importantly, a 7-inch vinyl record for the song “Haydoo – Our Camel, Lovely Camel”. If you aren’t familiar with the history of this song, I posted about it back in 2006 and its still an interesting read today. Here is the [Post]

Off of my head I think there are around 8 shops located in that basement all of which sell old memorabilia. There is one store that specializes in old records and another in old coins and rare bank notes, but most sell stuff you grew up with as a kid. In between all this randomness you’ll also find some super odd things like Nazi memorabilia.

The opening hours of the shops are pretty random since from my experience the owners are rarely there. But the building caretaker has the keys and will let you in if the shops are closed. If you find something you like he can take a photo and whatsapp it to the owner to get you a price but it also makes haggling more difficult. If you’re interested in checking these places out, the shops are located in the basement of a corner building near Marina Mall. The ground floor has shops that sell hair products but the basement is all antique stores. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Another busy weekend with a lot of variety, check out all the events taking place below:

Thursday
“La Lune” Summer 2017 Popup Shop
Musical: Beauty and the Beast
Art Stick Liquid Lip with Eliano Bou Assi
Cosmic Circus x Solo Pizza at BARBA
The Divan’s Movie Night: Bab’Aziz

Friday
Hatha Yoga in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Musical: Beauty and the Beast
RBMA presents Ah! Kosmos – Boom Beats & Essa Hashemi
Khaleejesque Magazine Pop-up

Saturday
Yoga with the 3
Musical: Beauty and the Beast
Khaleejesque Magazine Pop-up
International Museum Day
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Workshop: Art of Timelapse with Nikon
Introduction to Sign Language
St. Spray Soup

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.