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Staged in Kuwait Productions is back and ready to start a new season. They have bunch of try outs coming up so if you’re interested here’s some info:

Comedy Team Try Outs
Tonight, Wednesday 10th September, the SiK Comedy team meet for the first time at the SIK Studio in Fintas and start preparing for the first SiK Comedy Night of the season.

If you have always wanted to make the world laugh come along and try out in our informal audition/workshop first session.

The session meets from 7pm – 9pm. For full information check out this [Link]

Mad Musicals 10 – Join the Cast
What do you get when you take a song from each of the Top 25 longest running Broadway and West End Musicals and put them together into one massive Musical Theatre show? Mad Musicals of course! And this year it’s the tenth and final outing for this show series.

Come and join the ensemble for this fun show this Friday, September 12th, at 2pm for the first rehearsal. Location: Sik Studio, Fintas.

The show will hit the stage October 15/16/17 2014.

No Auditions – just turn up and get involved!

If you can sing a little, dance a little and want to meet new people and get involved in Kuwait’s most followed community theatre group this is the event for you. The first of five Friday rehearsals as we Put On A Show. For full information check out this [Link]

Drama Classes for Kids and Adults
There is just one week left to sign up for the SiK Drama classes for this term. We want to help you or your children build a performance skill set, develop your confidence and learn the foundations of good stage craft. These fun sessions will help you do all that and more.

Classes start next week and there are still a few spots left. Mondays is Adult class (16+), Tuesdays is for Children age 7 – 10 and Wednesdays is for children aged 11 – 14.

For full details, and to sign up, for this exciting addition to our season check out our website [Here]

The other day when I wrote about Semsom I mentioned if anyone knew of a place that made tabbouleh with quinoa to let me know. Turns out a small restaurant in Bnied Al-Gar does called Vine. Vine has been open for around nine months now and it’s a nice looking hole in the wall fusion mediterranean restaurant.

I passed by at around 12:30PM for an early lunch and the place was empty. Right as soon as I sat down this very friendly woman welcomed me. She looked like she might have been the head chef but it was difficult to figure her out since she was also the waitress and the person that takes the orders on the phone. Thinking about it she might even be one of the owners even. Right as soon as I sat down and without me asking, she brought over a bottle of Acqua Panna water and opened it for me. Not a big deal since I actually wanted water but that move would definitely irritate people who didn’t. The menu was located on their iPad so I flipped through it quickly and then asked the waitress for her recommendations. Even though they had a whole bunch of different kinds of tabbouleh I knew I wanted to try the quinoa version, I also knew I wanted hummus and after discussing it with her I went for the edamame one. She also recommended the kubba quinoa for starters while for the main course she recommended I go for the kafta yort oglo which I also did. So in the end my order was the following:

Tabbouleh Quinoa KD3.000
Kubba Quinoa KD3.250
Hummus Edamame KD1.900
Kafta Yort Glo KD4.750

Before the food started arriving I was served some complimentary bread and cheese. I also asked for some olives which turned out to be delicious. While waiting for the starters I took a good look at the place. There were around 6 or 7 tables which is pretty good for a hole in the wall and I also liked their purple colored window shades which were letting in some beautiful light. The first dishes to arrive were the tabbouleh and hummus, the tabbouleh served in a cute little jar. The hummus was alright, I didn’t taste a lot of edamame in it and I actually prefer the one at Katsuya more than this. The tabbouleh was pretty good but made slightly different from the one I had tried at a restaurant in Lebanon. The one I had in Lebanon the actual quinoa was fully cooked to the point where the germ had separated from the seed. In Vine’s tabbouleh, the quinoa wasn’t fully cooked so the germ was still inside the seed so I really couldn’t taste the quinoa in the tabbouleh. The kubba quinoa arrived soon after and even though I couldn’t taste the quinoa in it as well I still thought it was delicious and my favorite starter of the three. If only they had a healthier baked version instead of fried that would have been perfect. Finally my kafta yort oglo arrived which was composed of kafta covered in laban sauce and pine nuts. Like everything else the presentation was first-rate but also like everything else, it wasn’t a dish that stuck out or would make me want to come back again.

Once I was done with my food I couldn’t ask for the bill since there was no one in the restaurant. I waited a bit and at one point I was thinking of going back into the kitchen to look for someone. I decided to stay put and finally after a few more minutes of just waiting, the waitress came out apologizing for being gone for so long. That made it slightly better and I asked for the bill. Price wise I think it’s fairly reasonable, I ordered enough food for two people and the bill came out to KD13.900 which isn’t too bad. Overall, even though the food wasn’t extraordinary and the service slightly careless, I actually had a pleasant experience. Maybe because I was in a good mood, or maybe because I love hole in the walls but I’d probably go back and try some of their other dishes. For more information you can check them out on instagram @vinekwt

Semsom is another restaurant that’s located in Arabella and also one that has been open for a few months now. They aren’t a traditional Lebanese restaurant, instead they describe themselves as a traditional Lebanese restaurant with a twist. The “twist” aspect is what attracted me and was the main reason I’ve been wanting to try them out for awhile now.

Semsom is split into two floors, the lower floor is smoke free while the upper floor is a smoking zone. As a non-smoker I thought that was great but I was with a smoker on this trip so we originally sat upstairs. I say originally because after sitting there for 5 minutes we decided to move down into the smoke free zone. The top floor was a bit gloomy and claustrophobic when compared to the lower level which had large windows spanning from one side of the restaurant till the other. Flipping through the menu I was kind of disappointed since I was expecting a lot more dishes as well as lot more twists compared to other Lebanese restaurants. In the end we settled for the following:

Hummus with with Sumac & Zaatar KD1.600
Tabbouleh with Lentils KD2.000
Makanek KD2.450
Taouk Light with Fattoush KD3.800
Regular Chicken Taouk KD4.600

The hummus was served first arriving pink in color which I was expecting from the pictures. Since hummus is such a common and traditional dish I always love seeing different variations of it and this one was a pretty interesting one. It was light in flavor but combined with their hot fresh puffy bread it was perfect even though I should have been low carbing that day. The tabbouleh also worked out really well, instead of using the traditional burghul, Semsom uses lentils. A nice twist yes but while in Lebanon around two weeks ago I discovered an even better twist. Instead of using burghul, the place I had tabbouleh at had replaced burghul with quinoa and I found that to be a genius combination. So if any restaurant in Kuwait wants to copy that combo please feel free to do so and then let me know about it. The last mezza to arrive was the makanek and from all the dishes I had, the makanek had to be the best one. Not sure what their secret is but I’m guessing its all in the sauce. Finally our main course arrived. The chicken although tasted good didn’t look very appetizing and it also lacked any sort of twist that would distinguish it from the countless of taouks you could have anywhere else.

Overall a positive but unexciting experience. The service was fast and friendly and the price of the dishes was similar to other Lebanese restaurants so that’s fine. I was just expecting more fusion dishes on the menu and as it is there really wasn’t enough to win me over. If you’re interested, Semsom is located in Arabella and you can visit their website for more information [Here]

ORA is a Japanese Tapas restaurant that opened around 3 months ago in Arabella. I was out of the country when I was originally invited for a tasting and then only managed to finally pass by and try it out last week. The story behind ORA is an interesting one, five friends from Kuwait who went to school in California met Executive Chef Tiger at Katsuya in Beverly Hills. One thing led to another and the five friends came back to Kuwait with Chef Tiger and together they created ORA.

Most of the people go to ORA in the evening but I headed there with a friend for lunch since I wanted natural daylight for my photos. At night the place is very dim and from what I’ve been told the place is usually packed and the atmosphere makes you feel like you’re in Dubai. That’s generally the best compliment you can give to a place here… when it doesn’t make you feel like you’re in Kuwait. We ended up ordering the following dishes:

Yellowtail Tacos KD5.500
Salmon Crab Avocado Salad (x2) KD9.000
Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna KD3.500
Tiger Shrimp Tempura Roll KD4.750
Yellowtail Chili Miso KD6.500
Donburi Short Rib KD5.500
Chocolate & Salted Caramel Bread Pudding KD3.750

Chef Tiger was the Executive Chef at Katsuya in Brentwood, Los Angeles for four years before helping them open their locations in Hollywood and Glendale. He has an extensive background with Katsuya and that inspiration is reflected in his dishes. Like Katsuya you can’t compare ORA to regular traditional Japanese restaurants since the dishes are much more evolved. From all the dishes we had my favorite probably had to be the Yellowtail Chili Miso with my least favorite being the Salmon Crab Avocado Salad. I still think EDO has the best Salmon Crab Avocado Salad but my issue with the one at ORA was it was just a bit too safe of a dish compared to everything else we had. Unlike the other dishes it didn’t look like it was taken to the next step, one that would allow it to be distinguished from all the other Salmon Crab Avocado Salads in Kuwait. I wasn’t planning on having dessert but I was glad I did. Instead of using bread for their Chocolate & Salted Caramel Bread Pudding, ORA use croissant which makes it super fluffy while probably adding another thousand calories. But, the chef has somehow managed to make it taste very light which resulted in my original plan of having just one bite fail miserably.

One thing that really stuck out for me was the service, not only were the waiters quiet, fast and well informed, but at least with our waiter he made us feel like we were at a spa since he was very soothing and borderline therapeutic. The interior of ORA is another thing I liked about the place. It’s a beautiful minimal space and from all the restaurants at Arabella probably the nicest looking and most luxurious. Speaking of luxury, I found the prices at ORA fairly reasonable for this style of place. Sure if you order one of the lobster dishes you’re going to end up paying upwards of KD20 but majority of the items are all well within reach. Their prices are actually similar to Katsuya and MAKI but the place manages to feel a lot more upscale which makes it a perfect place for dates and special occasions. Our bill came out to KD45 and that included food, beverages and tips. The only negative aspect about ORA is the fact that it’s in Arabella which itself isn’t very luxurious. Right on top of ORA is Margherita the pizza place and right across ORA is Texas Roadhouse and there is a Pinkberry on top of that. There’s a large Red Lobster at the main entrance with an Olive Garden in front of it as well. Arabella kinda feels like an outdoor food court because of all the franchises.

I liked ORA a lot and it’s a place I would definitely go back to. Also unlike most restaurants who bring in big international chefs, Chef Tiger is here to stay and he’s brought along two of his sous chefs with him so the food should continue to remain good. ORA is open from 12PM to 4PM and then again from 6PM till 12AM. It’s always better to call ahead for reserverations and their number is 22275090. For more information you can check out their instagram @ora_kw

Yellow Lemon is a new small breakfast place that opened up around two weeks ago in Salmiya near Sultan Center Shaab. It’s been awhile since a new breakfast place opened up and I’ve kinda started getting bored with my usual spots so I was pretty excited to check this place out.

When we arrived to the place it was empty except for one other table that was occupied. In total there are only five tables in the place, two large ones enough to fit four, and three small ones that fit two. The menu is divided into three main parts, omelettes, pancakes and more eggs which are different dishes made using eggs. I opted for the Turkey Muffin, a no carbs dish consisting of baked eggs wrapped in smoked turkey and filled with tomatoes and feta cheese while my friend went for their signature Lemon Pancakes. We also ordered a small bottle of water and orange juice for our drinks.

There wasn’t any music playing so it was a bit awkward having a conversation in such a small place since it felt like everyone could hear us. But, just as our food arrived, more people came in and filled the place up creating a much more cozier and comfortable atmosphere. My dish looked great and had a side of chopped watermelon. It was a very light carb free protein dish that might have been just a tad undercooked but was still fine since I prefer that to it being overcooked. My friend enjoyed the lemon pancakes as well so we were both pretty satisfied with our choices.

My biggest issue with the place had to do with the price of the water and orange juice. A small bottle of water costs KD1.000 while a teeny tiny glass of orange juice was for KD1.500. There is absolutely no reason why water should cost so much at a small hole in the wall and the same goes with the orange juice. The food was more reasonably priced with my Turkey Muffin costing KD3 while the Lemon Pancakes KD3.750. Nothing on the menu exceeded KD4.

The question on would I go back is a difficult one to answer. On the one hand my favorite hole in the wall breakfast place is The Early Bird and one of the best things there is the atmosphere of the place which this place lacks. Yellow Lemon feels like they want to be an upscale hole in the wall breakfast place targeting posh girls, and you know what, that might actually work. On the other hand I would only go back if I’m looking for a quiet private place, maybe for a morning business meeting.

For more information on Yellow Lemon including a map, check out their instagram account @yellowlemonkwt

[YouTube]

Zaina is a Kuwaiti Zumba instructor who was in Japan recently and had a pretty cool experience which I thought would be interesting to share here:

Quick background story: I was in Osaka, Japan with some friends right outside the metro station en route to Kyoto. On the way in I noticed a bunch of different dance crews practicing in their own corners, with their own boom boxes. I sat around and watched for a while until my friend suggested we Zumba!

Despite the major language barrier between us, we managed to find a way and communicated through dance. This is definitely one of the best moments that I’ve encountered on my journey in the Zumba and dance world. OH I also need to mention that this video is the first and only shot. This amazing group of dancers had never heard the song or seen ANY of the choreo prior to what you see!

I loved the whole thing from the story to the video which is why I wanted to share it here. If you’re interested in Zumba you can follow Zaina on instagram @zainzumba or on Facebook [Here]

A couple of friends and I passed by the Turkish Steakhouse Sultanchef yesterday for lunch. I hadn’t heard of the place before but my friend had and supposedly it was really good so we decided to try it out. The restaurant is located in Al Tijaria Tower which I consider a dead mall so I was pretty surprised to find the restaurant fully packed when we arrived. This was a mid week lunch in a mall with very little footfall yet we had to wait 5 minutes for a table to free up in what is a pretty large restaurant.

Once we were seated we asked our waiter what he would recommend to which he replied telling us if it’s our first time visiting we should come with him to the fridge so he could explain all the different cuts of meat and dishes they had. We headed to the far end of the restaurant where two large fridges displayed all the meat… a lot of meat. One by one he took us through everything and in the end we ordered the following:

Goat Cheese Salad (x2) KD4.000
Sultanchef Cheesy Meatballs KD4.750
Marinated Sliced Beef KD9.800
Sultanchef Burger KD4.600
Rack of Lamb KD34.600
Sultanchef Special (x2) KD15.150
Special Antep Baklava (x3) KD8.850

The first dish that arrived were the cheesy meatballs. Even though they’re called meatballs they weren’t really balls but more like large semicircles. The presentation didn’t look that great but damn they were good. If we hadn’t ordered so much food we would have definitely ordered another portion of these. Once we were done the sliced beef on skewers arrived and those tasted even better than the meatballs. It was a great start to what would be a protein overdose lunch. Just a quick note, by default everything is cooked medium well so we had to tell them to cook everything medium for us. The burger arrived after chopped in four and even though it was overcooked it was still pretty juicy. The burger had caramelized onions, cheddar cheese and a slice of smoked beef all packed between a delicious bun. A good burger that we ordered out of curiosity but this really isn’t the place to order one. The goat cheese salad arrived somewhere between all this and I didn’t really like it. Not that it was bad (my friends liked it) but I just thought it was unexciting compared to everything else we were having.

Once we were done with our starters one of our main courses arrived, the rack of lamb. When you order the rack of lamb the chef comes from the kitchen to slice it up for you table side. The chef is a character of his own, he puts on a great show and even feeds you the first bite which is hilarious and awkward at the same time. The rack of lamb was delicious and the quantity was huge. We were three guys and the portion was more than enough for us. Once we thought everything was done the Sultanchef special arrived which is thinly sliced beef fillet drenched in butter. By this point even though we had eaten enough meat to feed an adult tyrannosaurus, we still managed to dig into the Sultanchef special as if we had just started our lunch. Just like the rack of lamb, the chef comes to your table to serve you the food. Once we were done with our food we decided to order dessert. If there is one thing you should have at Sultanchef it’s their baklava. The chef also comes to your table to prepare and serve their special baklava and come to think of it the chef is a pretty busy guy. He comes table side with the baklava and some ice cream, he then splits open your baklava, spreads the ice cream inside and then closes the baklava creating a baklava ice cream sandwich. That’s just INSANE. 50,000 calories later and right before we slipped into a food coma, we asked for the bill while sipping on some traditional tea.

Even though the place was packed with every table occupied the service was incredible and surprising for a place that has been open for just two months. Usually places take a lot longer to get their service working like clockwork but these guys somehow managed to do it in a much shorter timespan. Our waiter was Turkish and very knowledgable, friendly and helpful which is why he ended up with a big fat tip at the end. Pricing on the other hand is an issue. All the food was delicious and I’d love to order all of it again but at the end with the drinks and tip we ended up paying around KD35 each. That’s pretty expensive for what essentially isn’t a high end luxury restaurant. But based on how packed the place was, it seems a lot of people don’t mind paying that much for what really is a great steakhouse.

Theres going to be a bunch of food related posts coming this week since I’m trying to catch up on all the new places that have opened up recently but, I’m going to start off with one that just opened on up this past wednesday called The Foundry.

For those of you who’ve visited Qout Market you might recognize The Foundry since that’s where they started. They were one of the popular food stands at the market with a speciality sandwich called the foundry chicken sandwich which I looovvveeee. It features their very own marinated chicken, provolone cheese, avocado, sundried tomato and the foundry pesto sauce which has a slight hint of garlic. With the opening of their restaurant they’ve added more sandwiches (or sammiches as they call them) to the menu bringing the total to five including a vegetarian option called the avocado smash. I haven’t tried their other sandwiches yet but I will on my upcoming visits.

My favorite thing about The Foundry is that they’re located in Salmiya close to where I live. They’ve setup shop in the parking lot next to Eureka Salmiya and they’ve done a really great job with the space they had to work with. The place is small with around 5 or 6 tables but it’s really cozy and looks fantastic. Because the place is run by the partners who have full time jobs, they’re currently only opening in the evenings from around 6:30PM to 9:30PM. That’s a small window but understandable.

If you’re interested in trying them out, here is their location on [Google Maps] and here’s a link to their instagram account @thefoundrykw

Sultan Center in Shaab have a new section called “Consume Fast”. It’s a section where food that is about to expire is displayed and their prices are discounted. I was expecting the prices to be half off or more but most of the stuff I saw were just slightly cheaper. Still for items that are going to be consumed right away it’s a better deal.

If you’re going down to Lebanon for Eid at the end of the month, here are my favorite places you need to visit for 2014:

SUN.DAYS at Skybar
Skybar Beirut have something new going on this year and it’s called SUN.DAYS. Starts at 6:30PM on Sundays while the sun is still up and goes on till past midnight. The whole Skybar gets a major makeover for SUN.DAYS with fake grass flooring, a raised bar area and colorful lounges and chairs all over. It actually takes them nearly 12 hours to setup this conversion, that’s how dedicated they are to SUN.DAYS. There are also special guests on SUN.DAYS and while I was there HVOB were performing and I ended up capturing the great shot below. Reservation is a must.

Le Montagnou
Probably the nicest looking pool in Lebanon with the greatest view. Located up in Faraya, Le Montagnou is a restaurant with an outdoor pool and bar. Caters mostly to the fancy schmancy crowd of Faraya and Faqra but still cheaper than many pools in Beirut and cheaper than most of the pools in Kuwait. Stay for the sunset and reservation is a must.

The Gärten by Uberhaus
They’re only open Saturday night from around 8PM to 6AM and it was favorite place last summer and again this summer. It’s an outdoor club that’s open just for the summer with a large green garden filled with bean bags on one side and a huge open dome which is the dance floor on the other.

Internazionale
There are a ton of great pubs in Mar Mikhael but my favorite this trip was Internazionale. It’s owned by the same owner as another favorite pub of mine Torino Express. Internazionale has two advantages over Torino, a larger space and the fact it’s located in the more vibrant Mar Mikhael area. Just like at Torino, the owner DJ’s here as well.

The Train Station
I wish I had taken pictures of this place but I didn’t have my camera on me then. The Train Station is located on the grounds of the old Mar Mikhael train station. They’ve taken one of the abandoned rusty 50+ year old trains and setup a DJ booth inside. They then setup a bar along with tables all around and they’ve kept everything intact including a rust old water tower which the bar surrounds. Pricy for what it is but it’s worth checking out.

The Junkyard
Also located in Mar Mikhael, The Junkyard is located in a large space between a heavily packed residential area and the theme of the place is a giant junkyard. There is indoor and outdoor seating it’s also worth passing by and checking out since it’s visually interesting. The place is a bit too bright so best to start off your evening with The Junkyard which makes sense anyway since they have a good food menu filled with friendly dishes like burgers and fish & chips.

Make sure you check out last years Ultimate Lebanon Summer Guide since most of the recommendations are still applicable as well [Link]

I should have posted this earlier but basically the reason I haven’t been posting here for a few days is because I’m on vacation right now. I’m spending my time with friends outdoors and checking my emails just once a day. It feels good to be disconnected but everything will be back to normal in a couple of days once I’m back in Kuwait.

Last month I posted about the new revamped Pearl Lounge and based on the photos I assumed the new lounge looked better. Well I’m in the lounge right now and I think the images I saw of the lounge made it look a lot better than it actually is. I’m sitting in the lounge waiting for my flight and there are two main issues I have with the place:

1) The new lounge looks and feels very cold and I don’t mean temperature wise which right now is actually pretty warm along with the rest of the airport (the AC must be down). The beige tiled floors, the fake beige leather chairs along with the plain beige walls makes the lounge feel like a boring doctors waiting room sans the magazines.

2) The new chairs are stiff with very upright backs making them extremely uncomfortable to sit on not only for long durations but even for a few minutes.

The old lounge was very cozy and comfortable, sure the couches needed some TLC but even if they had left them the way they were I think it was better than the lounge right now. On the plus side there are power plugs everywhere now which is great in case you want to charge your electronics but urgh!! I hate the new lounge!

Looks like Abercrombie & Fitch will finally be opening up at the Avenues based on the photo above taken by @danderma.

The picture also gave me an idea, I should print the In-N-Out logo on an A4 sheet of paper and go stick it randomly outside an under construction shop at the Avenues. That would stir up some fun.

via Frankom

Last week a reader made me aware that there was a small bookshop located inside Al Bahhar Entertainment Village (Youm Al Bahar) called the Kuwait Heritage Library. The bookstore supposedly sold old hard to find books and since I was looking for a copy of The Kuwait Urbanization I decided to head there and search for it.

Youm Al Bahar is located in Kuwait City across from the House of Parliament. I hadn’t been there for years and don’t think much has changed since my last visit. The bookstore is located inside Youm Al Bahar and it’s pretty tiny with the books mostly being Arabic and only a couple of shelves dedicated to English ones. Most of the books in the shop are about Kuwait but I couldn’t find anything interesting in the English section. But, they did have a couple of glass cabinets with some of the really old books inside. I couldn’t find the book I wanted but I did find the book pictured above which is an original copy of the 1961 Kuwait Commercial Directory. The book was in decent shape for its age but the guy wanted KD150 for it which is around KD100 more than I would want to pay for it. I did manage to snap photos of some ads from inside the book which you can check out below.

There might be other treasures hidden in the shop but you would need to know Arabic and have a bit of time to flip through the shelves. The shop only opens in the evenings and if you don’t know where Youm Al Bahar is, here is the location on [Google Maps]

The MOI released an iPhone App recently allowing you to perform a bunch of tasks like checking on your traffic violations and E-Payments. Sadly the app is not that great since it isn’t really offering anything new compared to other non-official apps that have been out longer and most of us already have installed on our phones.

My main issues with the app is the speed of some of the sections and the fact that it won’t memorize your details. To be able to check on your traffic violations for example you need to set up an account with them. That’s great since it means you don’t have to type in your Civil ID every single time you want to check on something but you still have to type in your password which is annoying. Then for some reason the E-Payments section requires you to type in your Civil ID number instead of allowing you to log in with your username and password like the other sections. It’s a mess.

On the other hand the app is free and it’s the official app. For those of you who prefer not to share your Civil ID with non-official apps this is for you. [Link]