Search: “salmiya”

Kuwait is currently oversaturated with burger spots but that wasn’t always the case. Back in 1969, when Wimpy opened in Kuwait, there weren’t any other burger brands.

Wimpy was a US burger franchise that first opened in 1934 with the name inspired by the burger loving character, Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons. In 1957, Wimpy International was created, and in 1969, Kuwait Food Company (Americana) brought the Wimpy franchise to Kuwait.

The first Wimpy location in Kuwait was in Salmiya which I’ve shared the pictures above. The other location I have shared is the Ahmadi Market location below.

Wimpy claim to have served the first ever cheeseburger to Arabia. I know from people who used to go to Hubara Club in Ahmadi in the 60s that they had a burger on their menu. But, that wasn’t really open to the general public. So, it would be safe to say, that Wimpy, at least helped introduce the burger to the mainstream population of Kuwait.

The oldest memory I have of Hardee’s is this 3D kids meal box. It’s from 1983 and I remember vividly picking it up from Hardee’s in old Salmiya, the location that was opposite Fay and Barakat (the shawarma place). The memory I have is being in the car parked outside Fay, and I remember as soon asI got in the car, the first thing I did was look through the red and blue windows to see if I could see anything inside. I also remember I had ordered a roast beef as my kids meal burger.

Back in 2015, I found the advert above in an old bookshop in the city which helped me re-spark that memory and I knew I needed to get the box again. Fast forward to last week, I finally found a box that was reasonably priced, was of Spiderman, and most importantly, included the comic. And now I have it thanks to eBay.

Update: I have an old photo of the building that used to house the Swan Lake music shop, Barakat and Fay. The photo was taken from my PDA, a Sony Clie UX40 back in the early 2000s and was posted on MoBlog back in 2004 (usurp.textamerica.com). Text America died and I never backed it up but I have the image as a thumbnail which I enlarged. Posting it here just for Google incase anyone in the future is ever looking for it. Hardees is the red lit up sign on the bottom left. Previous location of the first Wimpy location in Kuwait.

Random fact I recently discovered, the manager of the Swan Lake music shop in the 80s was the owner of the Bells music shop in the 90s.

This post is for my Lebanese readers, Malak Al Tawouk is opening in Kuwait right next to Johnny Rockets in Salmiya.

Malak Al Tawouk and another similar place called HaJal were my goto restaurant when I was studying in Lebanon during my university days in the late 90s. They served HUGE tawouk sandwiches for super cheap, like 600fils cheap. The sandwiches were usually filled with coleslaw, tawouk, fries and ketchup. Very budget friendly, very filling and tasted delicious which is why it was one of my favorites places.

Since they first opened in 1996, they’ve grown and opened multiple of locations in Lebanon, as well as locations around the world, mostly where Lebanese reside so Montreal, Paris, Dubai etc. I’m not to sure about their choice in their first location in Kuwait though, that strip where they’re opening has a pretty long history of restaurants failing. Only Johnny Rockets has survived there and nothing else.

Note: I found an old post of mine from 2006 where I mentioned Malak Al Tawouk was opening in Kuwait. Not sure what happened back then but they’re finally opening now. I also found a photo from 2006 of the sandwich next to my phone back then (pre-iPhone). I tried to find the original photo in my archive but I just wasted an hour of my life looking for it and eventually gave up since I have a more important post I’m working on.

Fashion Way, the complex right across the street from Fanar Mall in Salmiya is getting demolished. I personally don’t have much attachment to it but I know a lot of people do.

Construction on that building started in the late 80s and it was rumored to be Safeway the supermarket chain opening there, right next to Sultan Center. The building wasn’t covered in the ugly grey alucobond panels like today, I think I remember it being white ribbed metal panels. But then the 1990 invasion happened and the main Safeway store in Farwaniya got burnt down and they never reopened in Kuwait again. I also just realized while digging up old photos of Safeway that Americana owned it in Kuwait. I never knew that even though it clearly says Americana right next to Safeway on their sign. It now makes sense why Americana had their fast food brands there 90s onwards.

The building eventually finished construction and opened in the mid 90s I think. I remember Sbarro Pizza opening there, it occupied the whole area where Americana was today, but back then it was just Sbarro and it was a dine in experience. Hardees was located in a blue and white colored standalone building next door where Starbucks is right now. When that Hardees building got demolished, they eventually moved in with Sbarro and KFC into Fashion Way.

Inside Fashion Way was Mothercare with their huge animated tree inside. Mothercare was still there until they closed down a couple of months ago as well.

I just tried finding out when Sbarro opened in Kuwait but couldn’t find anything. I found an article from 1995 in the New York Times which mentions Gennaro (Jerry) Sbarro being 29 years old when he came to Kuwait to open Sbarro. I tried to find his date of birth online and I found multiple Jerry’s but the closest one might be 1966 which means Sbarro opened in 1994-1995. I contacted Jerry to find out and see if he has any photos, will see if he responds.

Anyway, the building is getting demolished. Not sure what the plan is, but my guess is they’re going to build an office tower in its place.

If you work at Americana, get in touch with me since I’d love to dig up old stuff with you together. I previously got in touch with the Wimpy social media team because I was working on a post about the history of Wimpy in Kuwait and they were a disaster. Firstly they replied saying they would get in touch with me if there was a potential for future collaborations. I told them they misunderstood and I wasn’t looking for them to advertise with me or send me free food. I explained that I just needed some information for a post I was working on. So then they gave me a phone number to call.. the Wimpy delivery phone number. I called them out on that move and they just copy pasted the same information all over again about how they would get in touch with me in the future if there is potential for a collaboration.

There are plenty of public beaches in Kuwait but not that many swimming pools you can access without being a member or staying at a hotel. But, some hotels do offer day passes to their pools so I called as many hotels as I could until I had enough to put a list together. This is the 2024 edition list so the prices are current.

All the pools on this list are singles friendly except for Seashell Julaia Resort which isn’t. None of the pools require you to be invited by a member except for SVN. SVN gets an exception for this list because it’s the nicest place with lots of very cool facilities. So for a very premium members only club, it’s actually great value compared to a lot of other places, so find a friend with a membership.

The list below is arranged from least expensive to most expensive:

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort
Telephone: 24590000
Price: 10KD

Seashell Julaia Hotel & Resort
Telephone: 1844444
Price = 15KD

Crowne Plaza
Telephone: 1848111
Weekday/Weekend: 20KD

Symphony Style Hotel
Telephone: 25770000
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 25KD

Holiday Inn Salmiya
Telephone: 25760000
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 29KD

Hyatt Regency Al Kout Mall
Telephone: 23931234
Weekday/Weekend: 25KD
Ladies only on Monday and Wednesday

Millennium Hotel
Telephone: 22050505
Weekday/Weekend: 25KD

Mövenpick Hotel Resort AlBidaa
Telephone: 22253100
Weekday: 25KD
Weekend: 30KD

Hilton Resort
Telephone: 22256222
Weekday: 30KD
Weekend: 35KD

SVN Club (member invite required)
Telephone: 1876777
Weekday: 30KD
Weekend: 40KD

Marina Hotel
Telephone: 22230030
Weekday: 35KD
Weekend: 40KD

Four Seasons
Telephone: 22006000
Weekday/Weekend: 40KD (70KD Couple)

Waldorf Astoria
Telephone: 24774444
Price 1: 40KD (Inc. 1 Mocktail)
Price 2: 50KD (Inc. Food + Mocktail)

If I missed a place where you can access a pool with a day pass, let me know in the comments.

There are a lot of great Thai restaurants in Kuwait but my favorite by far has to be Phet Phet. I think they have the best Pad Thai and Panang Curry in Kuwait, but I also really love their Spicy Potato Noodles. They have been delivery only since they launched a few years ago, but today they’re opening their first dine-in location.

Phet Phet was started by two female friends who used to go to Thailand a lot. When covid hit, they missed Thailand and the food they used to have there, and since delivery wasn’t available at one point, they decided to make their own recipes and cook their own food. Eventually, they decided to open up a restaurant and called it Phet Phet.

Their new location is located in Salmiya, on the same street as %Arabica and Joe and the Juice. It’s a very cute space and so close to where I live which is great for me. They’re open from 3PM to 11PM daily except for Sundays when they close. Here is the location on Google Maps, and their instagram account is @phetphetkw

Since a lot of record stores pop up and close down often, I tend to update this list every few years.

All the small online stores that sold new records have closed down, including @vinyldestinationkw, and so if you want a new release, your best bet is ordering from Amazon.

But, if you’re looking for old used records, you actually have multiple options in Kuwait.

The Antique Basement
This basement in Salmiya has various stores selling vintage and antique items, three of them also have a small collection of old records. They’re not organized but instead are either just pilled up on top of one another, or randomly stacked in boxes. Finding stuff is a bit of an adventure, but on the bright side, they’re mostly English records. Here are the instagram accounts of those stores:

@tathkron
@fahad___bokhaled
@alnasser_antiques_kuwait

Nawader
This guy has the most insane collection of old music since he acquired all the remaining stock of the old record label “Bou Zaid Phone“, one of the most important Kuwaiti record labels. Nawader has a huge collection of new-old-stock records, cassettes and even 8-track tapes. Nearly all of the records he has are in Arabic, and he also has many very hard to come by ones. I got my 4-volume vinyl set of the “Kuwaiti Television Artistic Group” from him, and although he wouldn’t sell me his copy of the Iftah Ya Simsim record, he did hook me up with someone else who sold me theirs. He has a location thats by appointment only, but you can also purchase or request items through any one of his three instagram accounts:

@nawaderq8
@q8nawader
@istuwanat

Moqtanayaty
If you’re looking for a vintage record player, boombox, 8-track or even reel-to-reel players to buy, the best store in Kuwait is Moqtanayaty, or “My Belongings” when translated to English. I bought my vintage record player from there and they can even repair vintage music players, VCRs, or really old TVs. You can check them out on instagram @vintage_radio_

If you know of another place that sells records, let me know in the comments.

Although I haven’t been to Palm Palace restaurant in Salmiya since the 90s, it is pretty sad seeing it getting demolished. They’ve been around since 1979 and they were located next to my home so I grew up right next to them. I actually wanted to go back to it for nostalgic reasons but never did and now it’s too late. Actually, I just realized the last time I was there I think was in the early 2000s? I remember a friend had just gotten the first Nokia with the camera and he was showing it to me there.

Amer Zahr, the popular Palestinian American comedian is coming to Kuwait to perform his hilarious stand-up show, “The Truth”.

Amer has previously headlined at New York City’s world-famous Carnegie Hall and John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. He also served as a national surrogate for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders back in 2016. His comedy tends to draw on his experiences growing up as a child of Palestinian refugees, performing on topics like politics, society, culture, Palestine, and more.

If you’re looking for a night out full of laughter, he’ll be performing in Kuwait on April 23rd at 6:00 pm and 8:30 pm. The show will take place at the American University in Kuwait Theater in Salmiya and tickets start at KD15.

Amer is proud to partner with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

To get your tickets head over to tktfox.com

Nando’s will officially be opening in Kuwait next week at The Warehouse Mall on February 21st according to the Nando’s team (20th will be a private event).

I was invited yesterday for a sneak peek and to take some pictures. The coming soon hoarding was still up so I couldn’t get a shot from the outside, but I did take some interior shots which you can check here.

I also found out that they will be opening Nando’s in Salmiya, and very near to where I live. Along with The Warehouse Mall and the Al Kout Mall locations, it would mean there will be at least three Nando’s in Kuwait opening this year.

Their Instagram account is now live so if you want to stay posted on the opening and more, check out @nandos.kw

Aladdin Sweets (بوظة وحلويات علاء الدين) has been an iconic part of Salmiya for around 60 years. I used to walk by it as a kid, and look through the window at all the sweets and ice cream on display. If I was lucky, my mum would let me go in and get my favorite ice cream combo, chocolate and strawberry.

While walking by the other day I spotted a sign on the window saying they were closing down, moving to a new location and renaming to “Revani”. I asked them when there last day would be and they said January 30th.

If you want to pass by one last time, you have till tomorrow. They’re the ice cream place located between White Tower (برج ابيض) and Marina Mall. Google Maps

Dubai’s burger concept SALT is opening their beach pop-up next week at the new Blajat project in Salmiya.

The pop-up is located right on the sandy beach and has both indoor and outdoor seating. The pop-up will be there for 6 months.

Both the Blajat and TEC accounts just dropped a teaser video awhile ago, you can check it out on their accounts @tecq8 and @blajatkw

Last night I passed by Sultan Center in Boulevard to pick up a Christmas tree, but when I got to the top floor where the Christmas decorations would be, the shelves were all empty. I asked one of the staff where the Christmas trees were and he told me that the baladiya had told them to remove them. I didn’t think much of it and decided to walk over to Ace Hardware on the other end of the mall. When I got to Ace it was the same situation, all the Christmas decorations were removed and the shelves were empty. I figured ok, someone must have been in Boulevard and seen the Christmas decorations and complained, which is why the shops Boulevard were asked to remove the Christmas stuff.

Then I decided to head to Daiso in Souq Salmiya. As I’m walking into Daiso I spotted Christmas trees on the opposite end of City Center. I was like great I can pick up a tree from here. Once I got close to the trees I noticed staff were busy packing up all the Christmas decorations as well. They still hadn’t packed the trees so I picked one up and then headed to Daiso. Once in Daiso I noticed they were also packing up their Christmas decorations. So I asked the staff there and they told me the same thing, that they were told to remove the Christmas decorations.

Looks like its going to be one of those years where Christmas is banned in Kuwait. I’m hoping the shops in Avenues haven’t been told to remove their Christmas stuff as well. There were some Christmas tree ornaments I was hoping to pick up this weekend but now have to head there today to try and get them before they get taken off the shelves.

AAB World, my favorite photography store, recently opened a new store called AAB World Marketplace that specializes in selling certified used cameras and lenses, new old stock products, as well as open box items.

I passed by the store last week to check it out and they had a pretty large selection of cameras and items on display. The used cameras and lenses are carefully selected and rigorously tested before being put up for sale. They also have little notecards in front of them with a description on the condition which I thought was pretty cool.

Their “new old stock” products on the other hand are brand-new items that have just been in their inventory for an extended period of time. They’re being sold at discounted prices and could be very useful for people with old cameras or drones.

Finally, their open box items are products that were part of their showroom displays or maybe items that had their packaging damaged during shipping or customs checks.

With the opening of their marketplace shop, AAB World now also have a permanent trade-in service. You can bring your photography gear and their team will evaluate your items on the spot. If you agree to the evaluation, they will offer you a voucher which you can redeem at their stores.

The trade-in items are what they end up offering as “Certified Used” at the AAB World Marketplace and each item goes through rigorous checks and comes with a 3-month warranty.

The AAB World Marketplace is open daily from 10AM to 10PM except on Fridays when they open at 2PM. They’re located in the basement of Symphony Mall in Salmiya in place of where their old service center was. Their Instagram account is @marketplace.aab

The Gulf Road waterfront from the Yacht Club in Salmiya all the way to the Kuwait Towers is currently going under a major facelift to include amenities like a dedicated bicycle and jogging path among other things. I posted about that project back in September (pictured above) and you can read more about it here.

Last week while digging near TGIF, workers came across a large number of projectiles and cluster bombs dating back to the invasion. If you’re too young to remember, or you weren’t here back in 1990, the Iraqi army had assumed the allies were going to invade Kuwait from the sea. So they dug trenches, planted mines and had tanks and artillery lined up all across the Gulf Road.

It’s kinda unreal to imagine just a few decades ago the Gulf Road waterfront was covered in mines and trenches. The bombs found were all safely defused but the idea that I was riding my bicycle all these years near unexploded bombs is pretty freaky.

Here is a link to two articles that covered this story. Link 1 and Link 2.

And just to clarify, only the first photo on top is new, the rest were taken in 1991.