Tag: restaurant

Meme’s Curry is a Japanese curry restaurant that opened a few years back by two Kuwaiti chefs. It originally started off as a home business before opening their first location… in Rihab Complex. I was never a fan of the location for obvious reasons but a couple of weeks ago they opened up in a new location in The View, the same complex that houses Marks & Spencer and Whole Foods in Salmiya. So if you’ve been meaning to try them out but been put off with their original location, here is their new location on [Google Maps]

Last night I had an Iftar dinner at the Kuwait Towers and to my surprise it wasn’t that bad. Firstly, if you try and get a hold of them via telephone thats not going to happen because I tried calling them for two days over and over to book a table but I couldn’t get a hold of anyone. Not an operator, not their reservation desk, nothing and I tried calling at different times of the day like 12PM, 4PM, 6PM, 8PM etc.. and all with the same results. Luckily when we got there it wasn’t that packed (yes there were people) and we managed to get a table right next to the window.

The interior actually doesn’t look that bad at night since it was nicely lit with not very bright lighting. The service was probably the most impressive thing about the place, the staff there were pretty professional, knew exactly what they were doing and it felt like we were dining at a 5 star hotel restaurant. When it came to the food that was also a lot better than I was expecting (in buffet standards). There were a bunch of different mains to choose from from traditional Arabic ones to more international ones with quite a good selection of seafood, meat and chicken dishes to choose from.

The only issue I had with the whole place was the price. I was expecting the buffet to cost somewhere between KD12 to KD15 per person based on the kind of food that was served but it turned out to be KD19 per person which ties it with Jumeirah for the most expensive Iftar buffet in Kuwait. **UPDATE BELOW** I think they also have the most expensive soft drinks in Kuwait since a can of coke costs KD1.5. You shouldn’t be drinking soft drinks anyway so I guess thats a good preventative measure. I think it’s not a bad place to go to if you’ve got an out of town visitor and if you keep your restaurant bill you’re allowed access to the the Kuwait Towers observation deck for free which is usually a KD3 cost per person. Overall I left impressed.

Update: Ok turns out I can’t calculate for shit nor can my friend. 28 divided by 2 is 14 and not 19. The buffet turned out to be KD14 per person which means its actually not expensive and what I was expecting the buffet to cost.

Tiger Tiger the new pan-asian restaurant by the guys behind Ora is currently open in pop-up form for just this week in Kuwait City. Their menu is small and composed of the below three starters and three mains:

Starters KD2.5
Duck Spring Roll
Shrimp on Toast
Cream Cheese Wonton

Mains KD4.5
Orange Chicken
Thai Chili Beef
Kung Pao Shrimp

If you want to try them out they’re only going to be open until Thursday (May 12) from 6PM onwards. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

OVO, not to be confused with Drake’s record label, is a new vegan and vegetarian restaurant that opened up in Bneid Al-Gar around two weeks back. They’re located inside the Massaleh Complex and they have a pretty great outdoor seating thats secluded from the rest of the surrounding area.

More than 80% of their menu items are vegan or vegetarian but they also have some flexitarian options (food with meat) for those tagging along with vegans or vegetarians. I took a couple of photos of their current temporary menu so you can get an idea of what kind of food they serve. You can check it out [Here] and [Here]

Even though they’re currently in a soft launch phase and they’re still adding and fixing stuff on their menu, I’d definitely recommend passing by since the weather is amazing and you don’t want to miss out on their outdoor area before it gets too warm.

Finding their location might be a bit tricky though since they’re hidden off the main road. OVO is located inside the Massaleh Complex, so you’re going to have to park your car, and then take some side stairs to the back of the complex to find it, but if you follow this [Google Maps] link you shouldn’t have any difficulties. In case you get lost you can call them on 22575324/22575374 or visit their isntagram page @ovokwt

That area of Bneid Al-Gar is shaping up to be a healthy area with Alive Yoga and Healthy Feast both located nearby.

I was at Souk Sharq yesterday and passed by to check out the new restaurant that opened in place of Breadz called Baker & Spice. I didn’t get to try it since I had already had lunch but the place inside looked really good and the outdoor vibe felt very un-Kuwait like. They opened around two weeks back and I’ll most likely be passing by next week to try it out. For now you can check out their instagram account [Here]

Photo by Jassim Alshehab

Kuwait Up To Date uploaded a video a couple of hours ago showing the kitchen at the restaurant Tick-it inside the Kuwait Airport on fire. Based on the video it looks like security personal were trying to contain the fire with extinguishers but were having difficulty since the fire was still burning by the end of the video. If anyone has any more info on this share it below. [YouTube]

Poêle is a new cafe and bakery that opened up recently in KIPCO tower. I passed by last week for lunch and its now officially become my new favorite spot (for now). When you first walk in to Poêle you’re greeted by a beautiful display of baked goods, salads and deserts. The interior is subtly stylish with lots of white and beautiful large artwork by the extremely talented Ghadah Alkandari. Theres a huge communal table right in the middle surrounded by smaller white marble top tables all around. We sat near the window because I wanted as much natural light possible in case I was going to take pictures but really, because of the large windows, the whole place is beautifully lit.

Their menu mainly consists of salads with a secondary menu for daily specials. There were four specials to choose from on the day I passed by and I ended up going with roasted seabass while my friend went with their chicken special that was stuffed with turkey. I also ordered their quinoa and butternut squash salad while my friend ordered their chargrilled broccoli. The presentation of all the dishes was really impressive and made my life so much easier when it came to taking pictures. Everything we had was delicious and I wouldn’t mind ordering the exact same thing again the next time I’m there. After we were done we headed to their food display near the entrance and chose our desserts. I ended up going with the chocolate and praline tart which was rich, savory and didn’t leave me feeling too guilty afterwards. The presentation of the desserts were also visually pleasing and comparable more to a high end restaurant and not a small cafe.

One more thing I wanted to highlight before I ended this post was the staff, from the host to the waiters everyone was very professional and knowledgable. Price wise its on the high scale but because of the whole experience from start to finish it doesn’t feel over priced. My quinoa and butternut squash was KD2.650, my sea bass was KD6.700 and the chocolate and praline tart was KD2.750. There really wasn’t anything I could knock about the place and since its down the street from my office I’ll probably be passing by very frequently from now on. Poêle is located on M2 in KIPCO tower and you can check out their instagram from more pictures and information [Here]

The rumors are true, the popular Thai food restaurant Pataya Beach is for sale. Turns out the shop owner no longer wants to rent out the space to Pataya and instead is looking to sell the spot. So Pataya Beach will remain open until the location is sold. There is no closing date, if the shop gets sold tomorrow then Pataya closes tomorrow, if the shop gets sold in two months then thats when they will close down. I asked them if they would be moving to another location once the shop gets sold but it seems that they don’t want to and instead will leave Kuwait once the shop gets sold and they close down.

A lot of people consider Pataya the best Thai food restaurant in Kuwait (I personally don’t) and so it would be sad if they closed down. I asked them if they would be interested in selling the business, to have someone take over the brand if they wanted to leave and they seemed open to the idea. In any case, if you’ve never tried Pataya Beach then you probably should before they close down for good. They’re located on the mezzanine floor of Al-Dawliyah Complex (behind the old Kuwait Airways building). Here is a link to their building on [Google Maps]

A new restaurant opened up in Salmiya called Bon Voyage that serves airplane food. I personally think this is like the worst idea since plane food generally sucks but if you’re into plane food then I guess you’re in luck. [Link]

Although many people think Peacock is the most overrated Chinese restaurant, I personally love the place mostly because of their bottomless bowl of cashews and their incredible waiting staff. This weekend while lunching there I found out that they started a new takeaway service. It runs from 1PM to 3PM and then again from 7:30PM to 11PM so they’re covering the most common lunch and dinner times. They don’t have delivery which sucks, but if you have a house driver then that pretty much work the same way for you I guess. To order you need to call them on 25673000.

According to their Kuwait instagram page, as of this post Burger & Lobster at the Avenues are set to open in just 9 days. As I’ve previously mentioned, Burger & Lobster’s menu consists of just 3 dishes, a hamburger, a whole lobster and a lobster roll. All three dishes are priced the same, £20 in the UK and $20 in the US so I’m still curious to know what the pricing will be like in Kuwait. To check out some teaser photos of the place plus keep track of their launch date check out their instagram page [Here]

They still have the best chicken tikka in Kuwait. That’s all I’m going to say. [Map]

Gia are opening a new location in Kuwait City on the corner of the Souq Al Kuwait building opposite the Kuwait Stock Exchange. It’s a pretty good location since the area is surrounded by lots of financial offices. The new location will have some pre-packed takeout items for easy pickup as well as delivery within the area. If everything goes according to plan the new location is expected to open sometime in October.

There’s a weird looking building on the Gulf Road right before Marina Mall which I was trying to figure out what it was. When they were constructing it I thought it was someones home but after completion they put up a sign that said Dar Hamad. I thought it was possibly a museum but then over the weekend I found out it was going to be a restaurant. It’s actually going to be a high end Kuwaiti cuisine restaurant serving traditional dishes created by Kuwaiti chef Janan Al Assfour. The opening date? Supposedly September.

Yesterday I popped into KIPCO Tower to use the ATM machine and on my way out I saw something that looked pretty cool. It was a sandwich shop built into the wall, at first I thought it was part of Caribou Coffee which was located near it but when I got closer I noticed it had it’s own branding and the place was called ‘Walls’.

While I was getting a closer look at the items a guy popped up behind me and was like Mark? I turned around and turns out the two partners in the place were there and they had recognized me. So I ended up getting a small tour of the place along with a brief on their concept. ‘Walls’ opened up around three days ago and KIPCO Tower is their first location. They have fresh daily made food ranging from soups to sandwiches and salads along with some low calorie options for calorie counters. They also have freshly grounded coffee as well as other cold drinks like soda, water and cold brew coffee. None of the food is reused the next day so if anything is left by closing time they’re donated to an organization.

It’s a very simple concept with good branding and great looking packaging, kinda like a mini ‘Pret A Manger’ for the office tower. They’re open from Sunday to Thursday, 6:30AM to 5PM. If you’d like to find out more about them check out their instagram account @gowalls.