It’s been a while since I last posted a restaurant review, but there really hasn’t been any that interested me until now. Midar is a new Kuwaiti restaurant opened by the team behind some of our favorite places like Burger Boutique, White Robata and Slider Station. I passed by Friday for lunch and left wanting to go back.
Midar opened during Eid a couple of weeks ago in The Gardens area of Avenues phase 4. I had seen pictures of the space ahead of time and it looked really pretty but in person, it looks even better. The restaurant was smaller than I imagined it being but I liked it more this way since it felt cozy. I had a reservation that I had made a couple of weeks earlier so I was seated as soon as I arrived. We were given a choice of either sitting inside or in their outdoor space, I chose inside and that’s what I would recommend. The outdoor space is pretty generic and so you’d miss out on the beautiful interior.
Once seated it took a pretty long time to be attended to by a waiter. Service was actually the only issue I had with the place, not because the service was bad or the waiters were not any good, they were just not attentive. Their menu like most places today was digital and you can check it out by going to midar-me.com/menu. Midar is a Kuwaiti seafood concept so all their dishes are seafood related and you won’t find any chicken or beef on their menu. I ended up ordering Jahra St. Hummus to start with and then a Grilled Medium-sized Seabass and Fresh Shrimp Mumawash for our mains, followed by the Sticky Date Cake for dessert. Oh and we also ordered their super spicy Special Mabooch on the side.
The food all looked great, the portions were fairly big, and everything we had ended up being delicious. The fish was brought next to our table and then cut open and plated, it reminded me of the one I have at Shemam except this one was obviously elevated and better. The Mumawash when mixed with the special mabooch and the sauce they bring with it on the side was my favorite thing (and really spicy). Finally the dessert, I mean it’s such a basic thing, a sticky date cake, but it was easily the best one I’ve ever had, it actually caught me off guard since I’m not really a sticky date cake guy. Once the meal was done we had a choice of complimentary regular or lumi tea which is a nice touch.
The final bill, including a mocktail, soft drink and water came out to around 35KD which is pretty reasonable for a place like this. Really the only odd thing was the service. The waiters just never seemed to be around even though the place isn’t that big. But, they also just opened and the whole restaurant industry is suffering with a lack of staff so it’s understandable and I’m sure they’ll work out the kinks quickly (their concepts tend to have the best service in the industry). I’d definitely go back and I actually have a to-do list of things I want to try next time.
Since Midar just opened they’re going to be really busy during prime hours, so even though they do accept walk-ins, you’ll have a better chance of getting a table if you reserve through their website midar-me.com
