Search: “maki”

I thought April would bethe final month for Cinemagic’s rooftop movies since they usually stop playing movies once the weather gets really hot but they’re still on for May and they’ve got some very cool movies lined up for everyone.

Thursday, May 5th at 7:30pm
CUBE
Director: Vincenzo Natali
Country: USA
Release: 1997
Genre: Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi
Running time: 90 minutes Language: English | English Subtitle Awards: Best Director, , Best Cinematography
Rated: R

Saturday, May 7th at 7:30pm
LADY VENDETTA
Director: Park Chan Wook
Country: South Korea
Release: 2005
Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Running time: 112 minutes
Language: Korean | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Film, Best Director…
Rated: R

Thursday, May 12th at 7:30pm
DANCER IN THE DARK
Director: Lars Von Trier
Country: Denmark
Release: 2000
Genre: Drama | Musical
Running time: 140 minutes
Language: Danish | English Subtitle
Awards: Palm D,or and Best Actress
Rated: R

Saturday, May 14th at 7:30pm
VOLVER
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Country: Spain
Release: 2006
Genre: Drama
Running time: 121 minutes
Language: Spanish | English Subtitle
Awards: Nominated Palm D,or, Winner Best Actresses
Rated: R

Thursday, May 19th at 7:30pm
UZAK
Director: Nuri-bilge Ceylan
Country: Turkey
Release: 2002
Genre: Drama
Running time: 110 minutes
Language: Turkish | English Subtitle
Awards: Grand Prize of the Jury, Best Actor
Rated: PG

Saturday, May 21st at 7:30pm
OF GODS AND MEN
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Country: France
Release: 2010
Genre: Drama
Running time: 122 minutes
Language: French | English Subtitle
Awards: Grand Prize of the Jury, Best Director
Rated: R

Thursday, May 26th at 7:30pm
THE HUNTER
Director: Rafi Pitts
Country: Iran – Germany
Release: 2010
Genre: Drama
Running time: 90 minutes
Language: Persian | English Subtitle
Awards: Nominated at Berlin festival for Best Film
Rated: PG

Saturday, May 28th at 7:30pm
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
Director: Sidney Lumet
Country: USA
Release: 2007
Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Running time: 117 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Rated: R

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

As you guys know I spend the whole week on a very strict diet and then Friday get to have whatever I want. This month it’s been extra difficult since my diet has been extremely boring and tough so this Friday I had a plan in mind. Basil, the owner of OFK had been posting pictures on twitter of various burgers he was experimenting with. So when I spotted the Cheeseburger Eggsplosion on the blog A Hamburger Today (yeah I am religious follower of that blog) I sent him a message telling him he should try making that as well. He told me he’d make it if I ate it so I set a date to have lunch at OFK today on my cheat day. I spent the last 2 days thinking about the Eggsplosion and another burger he had been working on called the Manhattan. When I got to OFK though I found out I was actually going to be having those 2 burgers in addition to 2 more! So below are the 4 burgers I had for lunch today in the order listed below.

This was the first burger I had called the Manhattan. Supposedly the most popular of the four but for me it came in third place.

This is the Cheeseburger Eggsplosion, it looks innocent until you take a bite and the egg bursts as you can see in the picture below.

Super delicious, I ranked this burger my second favorite from the four.

This burger was my least favorite, it was a double patty burger with chopped onions, lettuce, pickles, cheese and a yellow mustard sauce. Ranked last out of the four I tried.

Now this burger was the last burger I tried and I was originally planning to only have one bite since I wanted to leave room for dessert but ended up eating it all. It’s a very thick burger that just crumbled when I took a bite. My favorite of the bunch and I ended up eating it all. It just has caramelized onions inside but I personally think all it needs is cheese since the beef patty just tasted so good. The last burger I tried today and I ranked it #1 from the four.

I ate all the burgers above except for the double patty burger which I ate just half of. I then had a chocolate brownie pudding for dessert since I was looking forward to it all week. Good lunch but now I’ve got to walk indefinitely until I burn all these calories off. These burgers are still not on the menu since they are still in the testing phase. Full disclosure I didn’t end up paying for the burgers just the drinks and dessert. OFK is short for Open Flame Kitchen and they’re located at 360 Mall.

Last month I posted on 248PM about these oreo stuffed cookies I had seen online and I quickly messaged my best friend Essa from Choowy Goowy and told him he HAD to make them as well. So he made some for me, after a bit of changes namely getting the size of the cookie right he’s now gone ahead and started producing them. He’s also started making stuffed brownie cookies which I haven’t tried yet. So if you’re interested in trying out the stuffed oreo cookies or stuffed brownie cookies you can order them by calling them on 22626559 or 22620011 or 99431177.

Sorry about all these food posts but whenever I get close to my cheat day (Fridays) all I think about is food.

A reader took the picture of the highway digital sign delivering a warning message and diverting traffic to the appropriate lane. According to him the signs got updated before the police arrived which means the sign was activated with the appropriate message from someone at the control center monitoring the road via highway cameras. If I still want to pick on the signs I would say they should have been twice as wide so that the font size would be much larger making it easier to read from a distance. Nevertheless it’s good to see these signs in action and not just telling time.

Thanks Mohammad

April might be the final month for Cinemagic’s rooftop movies since they usually stop playing movies once the weather gets really hot. Since the evenings now are still cool you should really take advantage of this.

Saturday, April 2nd at 7:30pm
MICMACS
Director: Jean – Pierre Jeunet
Country: France
Release: 2010
Genre: Comedy | Crime
Running time: 105 minutes
Language: French | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Director, , Best Cinematography, Best edit
Rated: R

Saturday, April 9th at 7:30pm
SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE
Director: Chan Wook Park
Country: South Korea
Release: 2002
Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Running time: 129 minutes
Language: Korean | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Actor, Best Film, Best Director
Rated: R

Thursday, April 14th at 7:30pm
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Director: Victor Fleming
Country: USA
Release: 1939
Genre: Adventure | Fantasy | Musical | Family
Running time: 101 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: 2 Oscars, 5 other wins and 8 nominations
Rated: PG

Saturday, April 16th at 7:30pm
AWAY WE GO
Director: Sam Mendes
Country: USA
Release: 2009
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Running time: 98 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: Nominated Best Actors, Best Film
Rated: 15+

Thursday, April 21st at 7:30pm
JAR CITY
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Country: Iceland
Release: 2006
Genre: Thriller
Running time: 93 minutes
Language: Icelandic | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Cinematography
Rated: 15+

Saturday, April 23rd at 7:30pm
WATER
Director: Deepa Mehta
Country: India
Release: 2005
Genre: Drama
Running time: 117 minutes
Language: Hindi | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Film, Director, Cinematography, Script
Rated: PG

Thursday, April 28th at 7:30pm
THE HEADLESS WOMAN
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Country: Argentina
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Running time: 87 minutes
Language: Spanish | English Subtitle
Awards: Cannes, in competition, Best film, director, actress
Rated: 15+

Saturday, April 30th at 7:30pm
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST
Director: Daniel Alfredsson
Country: Sweden
Release: 2010
Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Running time: 147 minutes
Language: Swedish | English Subtitle
Rated: R

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

As you already know by now I am currently being sued by the Las Palmas Restaurant Company who own Benihana and Subway in Kuwait. They’re suing me over my review which you can read [Here] in case you missed it. Anyway today was the first hearing and this is just an update of what happened.

My lawyer went to the court but I didn’t since it turned out I didn’t have to. At the court the Benihana lawyer basically stated their accusation which is the same one as the court order which is that I conspired with the company I work for against Benihana to benefit my company and their competitors which I mentioned in my post; Chocolate Bar, Maki, Wasabi and Pinkberry. They also submitted documents related to the case and now my lawyer has a month to study the documents and prepare our defense for the next session which is April 12th.

So there currently isn’t much to share other than that. Thank you everyone again for your support.

Note: I created a new category on the right which will contain all my posts related to the lawsuit.

This is just a reminder that the deadline to submitting your film for the Kuwait Young Film Contest is March 10th which is less than a month away. If you need more information about the contest, its rules, regulations and details on how to submit your film then visit their website [Here]

They’ve also set up a YouTube channel with tip and tricks to film making [Here]

In 2011 Cinemagic is continuing the journey of the old, the latest and the best. Films that would never see the light in Kuwait and films that you should never miss. From the list of movies this month the only one I have seen is Four Lions which although was funny I thought dragged a bit too long. Here is the full schedule:

Thursday, February 3rd at 7:30pm
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Country: Sweden
Release: 2010
Genre: Crime | Drama
Running time: 129 minutes
Language: Swedish | English Subtitle
Awards: Winner Best Actress, Best Foreign Film
Rated: R

Saturday, February 5th at 7:30pm
THE TIME THAT REMAINS
Director: Elia Suleiman
Country: UK | ITALY | FRANCE
Release: 2010
Genre: Drama
Running time: 109 minutes
Language: Arabic | English Subtitle
Awards: 3 awards, Best DIRECTOR, Best Film…
Rated: PG

Thursday, February 10th at 7:30pm
DEPARTURES
Director: Yôjirô Takita
Country: Japan
Release: 2008
Genre: Drama | Music
Running time: 130 minutes
Language: Japanese | English Subtitle
Awards: 34 wins, Best Film, Actors, Cinematography, editing, sound, costume.
Rated: PG

Saturday, February 12th at 7:30pm
FOUR LIONS
Director: Christopher Morris
Country: UK
Release: 2010
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Running time: 97 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: 7 Nominations, Best Director, Best Film, Best Screenplay
Rated: R

Thursday, February 17th at 7:30pm
THE SECRET OF KELLS
Director: Tomm Moore
Country: France | Ireland
Release: 2009
Genre: Animation
Running time: 75 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Animation
Rated: PG

Saturday, February 19th at 7:30pm
NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Country: Iran
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama
Running time: 106 minutes
Language: Persian | English Subtitle
Awards: Cannes – Un Certain Regard, Special Jury Prize
Rated: PG

Thursday, February 24th at 7:30pm
SURPRISE FILM

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

I’ve tried collecting all the coverage this case has gotten so far and will be updating this post throughout this trial as new sources pop up.

Thank you everyone for your support. It’s just been incredible.

Blogs
Fake Plastic Souks: Benihana Bashes Bloggers
BoingBoing: Benihana Kuwait sues blogger for $18,000 over bad review
Trying to be Fahad: Defamation or Constructive Criticism?
Catalyze: How not to respond to negative feedback
Snow in Kuwait: 248AM Blogger getting sued
Chicken Nugget: Benihana suing mark from 248am
His & Hers Q8: Being sued for a review
Ansam 518: Mark vs Lawsuit
LWDLK: Benihana suing the blogger of 248am
SuddenlyTwo: Benihana Kuwait #FAIL
Sandier Pastures: Benihana Kuwait sues blogger
oi Nagham!: Benihana vs The People
Lebanon News: Benihana Goes Bananas; Manager Stereotypes Lebanese
+961: Benihana sues one of the most popular bloggers in Kuwait
Who Sane: A Very Unnecessary PR Disaster
Blog 37: Social suicide by Benihana
Desert Girl: Mark at 248AM gets sued by Benihana
Beirut Drive-By Shooting: Shut up!
Irrelevant Combinations: One beef negimaki, and a lawyer please
Mich Cafe: Brand fiasco unites bloggers
SuddenlyTwo: Benihana Kuwait #FAIL
Oman Collective Intelligence: Benihana Kitchen Nightmares!
The Side Talk: Mark & 248AM being sued over honest review
Siouxsie Law: Kuwaiti Blogger Sued Over Bad Benihana Review
American Girl In Kuwait: “BTW, are you Lebanese?”
qEight: Local blogger in Kuwait sued by Benihana
Buzfairy: A really bad move from Benihana Kuwait, suing 248am
BeirutSpring: Benihana In Kuwait is a Terrible, Terrible Place. Stay Away From It.
Electrony: مطعم يرفع قضية على مدونة إلكترونية ويطالب بخمس آلاف دينار وإغلاق المدونة
iBloogle: Bloggers Unite – for the Right to Freedom of Online Speech
Q8HK: نحن معك يا مارك … دعم لمدونة A-Sides
Kuwaits Blog: Mark kuwaiti blogger sued by Benihana
Blog Baladi: Blogger sued over restaurant review
Chaotic pOsha: Benihana suing Mark!
18 Seven: اي شي يا بينيهانا
n3alba7ar: المدون مارك و قضية المطعم اليابانى
Ashish Panjabi: The Benihana Debacle
Desert Blvd: Benihana, Shame On You!
Khaled Rambles: Restaurant sues blogger in Kuwait
Blogger Mathai: Benihana Kuwait sues local blogger for negative review!
Techania: مطعم في الكويت يجن جنونه بسبب تعبير صريح للرأي من قبل مدوّن
Cyrographics: Kuwait’s 248am Blogger being sued by Benihana over a negative review
Hell is other people: #benihanakuw I bet you feel foolish now dont you!
B&D: Everyone’s Outraged as Benihana sues 248am over Bad Reviews
Marketing in Lebanon: The Art of Creating a PR Crisis
The Market Buzz: How much is your reputation worth?
Life in Dubai: Sued for saying he didn’t like his meal.
Life & Beyond: Sued for Writing a Bad Review!
Mind Soup: Benihana: We sue customers to compensate for our bad food
BABBLEQ8: Freedom of speech and its importance…
Roashina: 248am Lawsuit on Wikipedia
4th Ring Road: Order in the Court?
p0ach: Benihana, you ruined my vacation
Ashraf’s Blog: I Sue You!!!
The Identity Chef: Exporting Your “Brand” has New Challenges in the New Media World – Benihana Learns Firsthand.
Ashish Panjabi: Hints, Tips, Reviews – How will Benihana keep track of them?
Mr Qatar: Kuwaiti blogger sued… for a review…
Expat Life Coach: Why an expat blogger is getting sued in Kuwait
Life in Dubai: Benihana Update
MakChicken: Weather: Sunny with a high chance of getting sued by Benihana…
Ammouret Lebnen: Sued for not liking his dinner!
Nimer: Mark mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com got sued because he did not like the food
The Right Profile: Ignominy
Daily Mail: Kuwait blogger sued for restaurant review
America Blog: Benihana suing blogger for mediocre restaurant review
UAE Community Blog: Benihana Kuwait and Justice
Village Voice: Benihana Sues Over Crap Review
Starving for More: Silly Food Lawsuits
KiwiBlog: Cooking up a storm in Kuwait blogging

News Media
DubaiEye Radio Interview
Twitter
The National
TNW Social Media
Gulf News
CNN iReport
KippReport
Emirates 24/7
Arabian Business
Emirates 24/7 (2nd)
Kuwait Times
Econsultancy
Slashdot
Reputation Online
Honk Kong Association of New Media
Stuff Magazine
Huffington Post
Global Voices
TechDirt
Fast Company
Zawya
The Atlantic Wire
The Muslim Observer
LA Weekly
The Stir
Digg

So last week I posted about how I was against making my street greener before the garbage issue gets sorted. Well the street is now 3 days away from being completed and it’s starting to look good. Maybe this new look will encourage people not to litter.

For 2011 Cinemagic will continue the journey of The Old, The Latest and The Best. Films that would never see the light in Kuwait, films that you should never miss, films that you might like and others might hate but agreed that it added flavor to your taste, films that we should all discover and cherish. I’ve watched two of the movies from this months schedule, Son of Rambow and City of God. Son of Rambow was pretty cool but City of God is like one of the best movies ever made. If you’re going to choose one movie to watch this month then watch City of God.

Thursday, January 6th at 7:30PM
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Country: Sweden
Release: 2009
Genre: Crime | Drama
Running time: 152 minutes
Language: Swedish | English Subtitle
Awards: Winner Best Actress, Best Foreign Film
Rated: R

Saturday, January 8th at 7:30PM
THE MAID
Director: Sebastien Silva
Country: Chile
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama
Running time: 95 minutes
Language: Spanish | English
Subtitle Awards: 24 awards, Best Actress, Best Film, Best Director…
Rated: PG

Thursday, January 13th at 7:30PM
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES
Director: Juan Jose Campanella
Country: Argentina
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama | Mystery
Running time: 129 minutes
Language: Spanish | English Subtitle
Awards: 34 wins, Best film, best actors, cinematography, editing, sound, costume…
Rated: R

Saturday, January 15th at 7:30PM
THE WHITE RIBBON
Director: Michael Haneke
Country: Austria | Germany
Release: 2009
Genre: Drama | Crime
Running time: 144 minutes
Language: German | English Subtitle
Awards: 24 wins, Best Director, Best Film, Best Cinematography
Rated: R

Thursday, January 20th at 7:30PM
SON OF RAMBOW
Director: Garth Jennings
Country: UK
Release: 2007
Genre: Comedy
Running time: 96 minutes
Language: English | English
Subtitle Awards: Best Script, Best Film, Best Director
Rated: PG

Saturday, January 22nd at 7:30PM
CITY OF GOD
Director: Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund
Country: Brazil
Release: 2002
Genre: Crime | Drama
Running time: 130 minutes
Language: Portugese | English Subtitle
Awards: 55 Wins, Best Film, Sound, Editing, Cinematography, Script…
Rated: R

Thursday, January 27th at 7:30PM
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD
Director: Ji-Woon Kim
Country: South Korea
Release: 2008
Genre: Crime | Comedy
Running time: 139 minutes
Language: Korean | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Cinematography, Director, Editing, Soundtrack
Rated: PG

Saturday, January 29th at 7:30PM
IL POSTINO
Director: Michael Radford
Country: Italy
Release: 1994
Genre: Drama
Running time: 108 minutes
Language: Italian | English Subtitle
Awards: Best Film, Music, Script, Director, Acting…
Rated: PG

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

This is definitely the coolest thing Kuwait Times have ever done. Today’s issue of their free Friday Times newspaper was wrapped with a copy of their first issue ever dating back to September 24, 1961. Their first issue was only 4 pages but there are enough gems in there to make it worth picking up. Here are the coolest things I found in the paper:

– An ad announcing a new 1962 model of an RCA TV arriving at Morad Yousuf Behbehani

– An ad from the then not yet opened Gulf Bank (pictured below)

– Kuwait Airport arrival and departure timings. The only destinations were Bahrain, Damascus, Beirut, Abadan, Doha and Cairo. No European or any other countries

– A classified ad for a car “Immediately available Austin 55 – 1969, roughly used by it’s careless owner, with one head lamp broken (by courtsey of a fellow motorist) dented all over it’s sleek frame, springs making noise only when driving on bad roads (bad roads non-existent at Kuwait), if you are still interested, send offers to K.T. Box, No. 524 Kuwait.” What I found funny is the honesty and the fact you need to send him a letter if you’re interested. The postal service must have been very reliable back then

– Kuwait Cinemas schedule, Psycho was playing at Al Andalus, Al-Hamra was closed due to repair, Al-Firdous was playing The Golden Horde, the open air cinema in Hawalli was playing Bayabit Al Ward and finally the open air cinema at Fahaheel was playing Tomb of Love.

I highly recommend you pass by a bakala or newspaper stand and pick up today’s free issue of the Friday Times. And if anyone from Kuwait Times is reading this, if you still have all your old issues, please convert them to PDF and upload them online!

Thanks Q

Cinemagics have launched a film festival in hopes of paving the way for the new generation of film makers in Kuwait. You can find information on this competition on their website but here is the list of categories you can participate in:

– Cinematography
– Editing & Sound for cinema
– Advertising for Cinema & New Media
– Acting for Cinema
– Directing & Filmmaking

This competition is only for students (school/university) and people under the age of 30. If you are interested in participating in the film festival you can visit their website for more information and details. There is plenty of time to create something if you don’t have a film ready since the submission deadline is March 10, 2011. [Link]

A few days back I posted about Benihana opening up at the Avenues and yesterday night I decided to pass by with Nat and try it out. The service wasn’t too bad for a restaurant that’s just been open for a few days and the staff were really friendly. The restaurant itself is made up of islands and bars with a grill in the middle of each one. You sit around the grill and the chef will come to your table and prepare the food right in front of you which makes things entertaining. It’s actually why I prefer sitting at the bar in Japanese restaurants in general, since you can talk to the chef and watch them put your dish together. The problem with my experience last night though was with the food, it was disappointing to say the least.

[YouTube]

We ordered beef negimayaki for starters followed by an Orange Blossom maki and a Hibachi Chicken. The negimaki arrived looking good and was probably the best thing we had there even though I prefer Maki’s negimaki which has a richer teriyaki sauce. The Orange Blossom was very ordinary, wouldn’t order it again. Now the Hibachi chicken which is basically grilled chicken, that was the worst. The chicken was very chewy (I could swear it was undercooked if not raw) and tasted terrible. Even after I had the chef add some more teriyaki sauce in hopes of improving the taste it didn’t work. I tried to dip it into the sauces that came with the chicken but it was hard to figure out if they were actually making things worse or not. Nat only ate one piece of chicken and left the rest while I needed my protein since I’m on a strict diet and forced myself to eat my whole plate (I can do that) but the after taste was really bad. Even the rice and the veggies that came with it tasted bad AND were under cooked. Once we left I considered picking up a frozen yogurt from Pinkberry even though I hate frozen yogurts but I just needed something to get rid of the aftertaste. A few moments later we ended up at Chocolate Bar ordering the gooey chocolate cake (bye bye diet).

\
[YouTube]

I shot the two videos above of the chef preparing our meal. Benihana are known for the live shows they perform when preparing your dish so I was expecting to see [This] but ended up with the above . Would I go back to Benihana? No I wouldn’t. Their sashimi and maki’s are pretty cheap (KD1.5 for 5 pieces of Salmon sashimi for example) but there are two other Japanese restaurants at the Avenues, Wasabi and Maki, and I would prefer either one of those to Benihana.

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Update: Comments have been closed.

Update2: If you read the comments below you will see that the Benihana GM Mike Servo threatened to sue me. Well, Benihana have actually gone ahead with the lawsuit, I got served my papers and my court date is in March. I have been receiving a lot of support from people via twitter, email and blogs. For now my lawyer has advised me not to discuss the case or talk about Benihana, but as soon as he gives me the go ahead I will be sharing all the details.

Update3: I’ve been given the go ahead by my lawyer to talk about the case, here is the court order and more details regarding the lawsuit [Link]

Update4: The amount of support I have been receiving is phenomenal, here is a link to the full media coverage the subject has received so far [Link]

The American Japanese chain Benihana opened up yesterday for business and I passed by today and took a quick peek. The place is much larger than I expected since although it has a small shop front it actually expands quite a lot to the back and sides. I didn’t eat there but took a look at their menu and the prices seemed pretty good if not cheap in some cases at first glance. They had 6 pieces of crab maki for example for KD1.500, 6 pieces of California for KD2.500 and their most expensive special maki was like KD5. Their teppanyaki dishes ranged in price as well with some of their more expensive lobster dishes hitting around KD16. I’ll probably pass by sometime this week and try them out. I usually enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and their sushi bar looked pretty good and big.

Benihana is located in phase II of the Avenues, in the area behind the escalator next to Dean & Deluca. They officially launch on the 20th but are open for business right now.

Note: Picture above is from last week before they opened. They’re the shop in the corner with the red sign.