Up Till One » Food

Cafe Bazza

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:37:35 +0000

I heard a lot about Cafe Bazza but I haven’t been able to give it a try until last weekend.

The reason I went there was I had a couple of friends visiting from the UAE and we thought that it would be a great idea to take them to a restaurant that served Kuwaiti food. I was reluctant at first because I haven’t tried it before, but it didn’t disappoint.

All the people I know only tried their breakfast and no one tried there rice dishes. But the food that we ordered was pretty good, complete with spicy condiments. We got to try “Shrimp Rice – مربين” and white rice with “Okra Stew – مرق بامية” a both were very good.

We were too stuffed to try any of the deserts they had.

The atmosphere is very good and loved the decoration and the posters that they had up of old Kuwaiti proverbs.

How To Reheat Leftover Pizza

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 08:25:40 +0000

Reheating pizza in a microwave might be the most convenient, but it leaves the pizza soggy and it loses it “fresh out of the oven” feel. Even fresh (and I’m using the term fresh loosely here) that gets delivered in a box, gets soggy due to the steam generated from the pizza itself. So using this method should make your pizza taste fresh every time.

Kinder Surprise is Banned in The U.S.

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:44:42 +0000

I had no idea that our beloved Kinder Surprise that recently went through a makeover is prohibited in the U.S. because it has an inedible object inside it. Even having one while entering the country might result in a $300 fine.

Since 1991, at least 7 children worldwide have died of choking after swallowing the toy inside the Kinder egg.

Source

Solo Pizza Napulitana

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:27:34 +0000

I’ve been wanting to try out Solo Pizza Napulitana ever since it opened back in May but every time I passed by the place was to crowded and i’m to hungry to wait for a table. I finally decided to pass by a little early to avoid the rush-hour, so I was there by 6:30-6:45 P.M (it opens from 6-11pm) but to my surprise the place was also full but had a couple of free tables outside.

The menu is small and simple, it will take less than a minute to decide what to order. We got a couple of pizzas and a salad. The pizza was amazing if you are a fan of the thin-crust pizza. The place certainly has one of the best pizzas in Kuwait.

After the main course I decided I would like to try the Nutella piazza, their one and only dessert. It was great but I felt guilty after eating that much chocolate.

I used to consider Pizza Rustica to have the best (and only good) pizza in Kuwait. But Solo Pizza Napulitana certainly is competing for that spot. With other places like Open Flame Kitchen and Pizzetta, now we finally get some decent pizza here in Kuwait.

Opening Hours:

6 P.M. to 11 P.M.

Telephone Number:

+965 94434104

Website:

SoloPN

Location:

View Larger Map

Dinner and A Show

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:26:42 +0000

You might not like either one but hey, it comes free with the meal.

The squid is not actually alive but sodium in the soy-sauce passes through the cells and creates an electric charge causing the squid to spasm.

YUMMY

Hungry Bunny’s Location

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:33:49 +0000

I’ve been asked by a lot of people about the location of the newly opened Hungry Bunny. The best way to illustrate it is using Goggle Maps in my opinion.

View Hungry Bunny in a larger map

You can read the review and look at a bunch of photos by following the link [here].

Yet Another Hungry Bunny Experience – UPDATE

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:47:25 +0000

Last night for so7oor, a couple of friends decided to head out to the new Hungry Bunny place over at Al-Jahra. It took them 30 minutes to get there so I asked them was it worth it and is it anything like the original.\? Here what they said:

Atmosphere: 3/5

There wasn’t enough tables, you were there 11:40 pm, the restaurant was clean,

Food: 5/5

For the nostalgia effect, not the best burger but exactly the same old taste, loved it much better than BK, fries more like McDonald’s than BK though. Onion rings were moderate. Chicken Fillet tastes like real chicken, loved it.

Value: 4/5

And by that the Overall Experience is:

From the looks of it, its better than the last time we reviewed Hungry Bunny.

UPDATE:

Hungry Bunny’s location can be found [here].

Shake Shake Avenues – My New Favorite Burger Place in Kuwait

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:59:58 +0000

Yesterday I managed to go to the Avenues mall to grab a burger. Shake Shack was my main destination and Elevation Burger was my standby choice just incase it was too crowded.

The line at Shake Shack was pretty long, I almost chose to go to Elevation burger but it was a good thing that I didn’t, as the line was moving quickly and had to wait less than 5 minutes for my order to be taken and less than 10 for me to get my order.

The single burger will cost you 2KD, getting two single burgers is the norm recently with these tiny burgers. What baffled me is why would a bottle of Fiji water costs 1KD?!!

The burger is just as good as the one from Dubai/New York so its an excellent burger. Easily the best burger in K-Town.

Filfila Americana – Not What it Used To Be

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 07:31:14 +0000

Yesterday when a friend picked me up from my house I didn’t imagine that we would end up in Filfila Amricana as our dinner destination. My friend was nagging me to try it out ever since we talked about it a few months back and I told him that they still had a place in Shamiya.

First of all the service was horrendous, we waited for 30 minutes for our order to arrive. We ordered a couple of shawerma’s, fool and falafil sandwiches. Don’t know why it took that long.

When we got to the diwaniya we realized after all that wait we still ended up with a wrong order. And also the shawerma was a joke and barley had any meat in it. For 750 fils sandwich, I expected it to be at least decent. The fool sandwich is no where near how I remember it. It used to be one of the best fool sandwiches in Kuwait.

We wanted to try out the “Rice Budding” but thank god they didn’t have any.

I dont think I’ll be going back there and I hope it dies a slow and painful death.

[Exclusive] Shake Shack Opening Next Week

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:58:04 +0000

According to sources familiar with the matter, Shack Shack will be opening next Thursday, July 7th 2011 at the Avenues Mall.

Thanks Abdulaziz

Shake Shack Dubai

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 08:57:35 +0000

I was in Dubai during the weekend stayed there for a couple of days. Watched a few movies and did some shopping. It was a bit overcrowded in Dubai Mall but it was somewhat ok in Emirates Mall where we tried the first Shake Shack branch in the region.

I posted about Shake Shack 2 years ago when I was in New York. And for me it was the best burger I’ve tried back then (five guys takes top spot now). But standing in line 45 mins for the Shake Shack burger was an absolute nightmare. Thank god that wasn’t an issue in Dubai.

After trying out Shake Shack’s burgers, I can confidently say they are almost identical to the ones in the US. And by that they knocked Fat Burger off as the best fast food burger in the region.

Pick Yo – Frozen Yogurt

Sun, 15 May 2011 08:07:33 +0000

Last Friday, I passed by a recently opened frozen yogurt place called Pick Yo in Kaifan co-op mall to give it a try after reading about it in Qortuba’s blog.

The have normal frozen yogurt and they also have what they call “Pick Yo” which is frozen yogurt blended with your choice of fruit jam. It was very nice.

Also their berry flavored yogurt tastes very good.

Their prices are very reasonable, unlike some other places here in Kuwait.

The World’s Longest Fast Food Drive Through Line

Thu, 12 May 2011 09:22:44 +0000

Its lunchtime, and its opening day of of an In-N-Out in Allen, Texas. I don’t think that people in the end of the line will eat before dinner time.
And I thought that lines were horrible here in Kuwait.

Dalag Sehail “دلق سهيل”

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:55:05 +0000

I went to Mubarikiya Market twice last weekend. Me, my wife and kids went there to have brunch at “دلق سهيل”. When we got there we noticed that its the most packed place out of all the restaurants that were there. We had “شاي فحم” , an order of “فطير مشلتت” with cheese and honey, some white cheese and I couldn’t resist not to order the “حمسة ربيان “, as it was almost time for lunch.

Melenzane Restaurant – Impressions

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 08:29:54 +0000

Last Saturday, me and a friend decided to have dinner out instead of our usual Saturday schedule, which is watching football games. But it was the 1st of January and there was 0 games played and we decided to make the most of it.

After driving around a little bit, we decided to go to Albida’a area and have dinner there. Both of us were in the mood for some italian food so it was an easy choice and headed directly to Melenzane

Sitting outside was out of the question, as it was breezy and we weren’t properly dressed to deal with the cold. The place is a little small and can’t accommodate a large number of people. But on the other hand, its cozy and has a reversed/upside-down theme going on with the chairs, bottles and stuff which is cool.

We didn’t order a lot of dishes but I certainly loved the ones I tried. We had the Doci Funghi (stuffed mushroom) as an appetizer and I ordered the Zumana Salsa (chicken pasta with creamy veggie sauce) that was really delicious. I rarely ever say that a pasta is “delicious” but this certainly was.

Definitely going back there again to try even more dishes and properly review the place.

Melenzane: Homepage, Twitter.

More pics inside…

The complimentary bread

The chili olive oil that was great

Home Made Burgers

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:57:55 +0000

If you are a regular reader of this blog you would already know that I’m a big time burger fan. Last week I decided to grill my own burgers for our weekly family lunch. It wasn’t something new but its been a while since I did my own burgers.

What we regularly do is just grill some Kobe beef burgers. They taste very good and its much easier than doing your own patty. But in the quest for the ultimate burger, you will have to do your own patty.

I really recommend trying to do your own burger, its fun and there is almost no way to do it wrong. Just experiment. For the best buns a reader recommended Fudd’s, and he was right. Their buns are great. They sell a regular size (150 fils) and a large size (200 fils) buns.

My patty had:

Italian bread crumbs.
Onions.
Herbs.
Minced beef with 15-20% fat .

Little Ruby’s

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 10:03:34 +0000

Yesterday, me and my wife decided to have a late lunch/early dinner out. So my wife thought we should give “Ruby’s” a try after it being recommended to her by a friend.. I already read good things about the place so we decided to give it a shot.

The place is cosy and nice. It was completely empty when we got there, completely.

The menu is very simple and just had a few selections, 3 salads, 3 panini’s, 3 pastas and 3 burgers. I loved the idea. I hate flipping through the menu trying to figure out what to eat for 15 minutes.

We ordered the Mikey’s Madness Salad to share, Chicken and Mango Chutney Panini and I had the Bronte Burger.

The salad was ok, but the sandwiches were great. both sandwiches had a pleasant sweetness to them. And the burger was very light too.

Definitely a recommended place and surley going there again soon.

UPDATE:
Mark has a good map to the place you can find it [here]

More pics inside—->

Teabag in “estikana”? Don’t Think So

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:55:04 +0000

My Co-Worker asked the tea boy here at work for some tea and he brought him one of those super-sized “estikana” and he told him that I would like a normal sized estikana. The tea boy said ok and got him what you see in the image above. What a waste of perfectly good tea.

Sorry for the week without posting by the way.

Triumphant? “خلوها تخيس”

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:40:58 +0000

I was in Shamiya Co-Op earlier today and saw this stack of tomatoes that no one was interested in. A quick look at the prices revealed that one of the boxes was KD1.480 and when asking around I was told that the price came down of that specific brand from KD2.500. Some brands reached KD5.400 which was just absurd.

Pineberry: The Pineapple Strawberry

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:48:19 +0000

Is it a new fruit? Actually, no its not. As a matter of fact the Pineberry is an almost extinct fruit brought back to the masses by the UK supermarket chain Waitrose. They look like white strawberries with red seeds. The Pineberry has the flavor that most say is reminiscent of pineapple while retaining the texture and feel of a strawberry……. so they say.

I would really love to try those but because they are already hard to find in Europe I doubt I will any time soon.

Link

There Can Only Be One

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:11:11 +0000

Have you ever done this?

Whenever I get a package of plain M&M’s, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I make them have M&M duels. Taking two candies between my forefinger and thumb, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the ‘loser’ and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner get to go to the next round. I have found that, in general, brown and red M&Ms are tougher, while the blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense ring of competition and cracks under the pressure of being in the modern candy and snack food world. Occasionally I will come across a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, pointier or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this seems to be a weakness but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the candy continues to adapt in it’s environment. When I finish the package, I am left with one M&M. The strongest of the herd. Since it wouldn’t make any sense to eat this one as well, I package it up with a letter that says "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes" and send it back to M&M Mars, A division of Mars INC in Hackettstown, NJ They wrote back this week thanking me and gave me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of M&MS. This weekend there will be a tournament of epic proportions. There can only be one champion.

Source

B+F Open Flame Kitchen

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:32:01 +0000

Since I’ve been out of the country for 3 months, when the guys decided to have dinner yesterday I thought I might as well let them pick the place. My only request was it should be a good place to eat as I didn’t have lunch, so I didn’t want to experiment with new places.

The guys picked B+F Open Flame Kitchen, from the same guys who brought you Burger Boutique and Slider Station which are both a personal favorite restaurants so experimenting was back on the table.

At 7:30pm 2 of the guys were already at 360 Mall and put their names in for a table, waiting time was 45mins to 1 hour. We arrived 15 mins later and sat at “Life With Cacao” as our table becomes available. We waited the full 1 hour for the table and went in at 8:30pm. By then the place was packed and the waiting time jumped to an astonishing 3 hours. It was crazy.

When we got seated it took a while for us to be attended to, I didn’t mind that since it was my first time there and I wasn’t familiar with the menu. They had a good selection of their burgers, sliders and fries from their other restaurants and also some pizzas and steaks. So they cover all the bases and have a good variety of food fore all tastes.

We ordered a few dishes, for starters we got the Chopped Salad (very light dressing – not exactly my taste) the Lobster Tail Tempura (very good) and El Diablo Pizza (Also was very good). My main course was 2 pieces of the Wildfire slider which was excellent. The guys had some more kinds of sliders and pizzas that I had no interest in trying them because by the time I finished my sliders I was beyond full.

Overall it was a very good experience, good food and semi-hectic service as they they forgot a main course but I wont hold it against them due to the unbelievable number of people and it being just a soft opening. Hope everything gets sorted out by Eid time and I thing it will. And I’m definitely going there again next week.

B+F Open Flame Kitchen is located at 360 Mall under The Meat Co. and opposite to Life with Cacao. Operating ours at the moment are 7pm-11pm Tel: 25309990

Ronnie’s Burgers

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:22:42 +0000

After asking around the locals here in Wichita Falls, Texas for the best burger place around. I always got the same answer, Ronnie’s Burger.

Me and he guys went there before going to Dallas the other day to have a go at it. We were told also that the place is packed during lunch and dinner time (there is just one place its not a chain) so we thought we might as well go at an odd time like just after work which tuned out to be great.

We got a medium sized cheeseburger each which was the best burger we might have tasted so far on this trip. Its similar to Johnny Rockets burgers but much lighter.
This place is highly recommended IF you are in Wichita Falls

Some Familiar Food

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:57:29 +0000

Being in the US for over 10 weeks now, we had a craving for arabian food, and since we were in Dallas, we decided to try out Fadi’s as it was also in Houston but me and Zidaneoo didn’t have time to try it out.
The place is like an open bar, you pick up your plate and start filling it with all types of appetizers. When you get to the meat section you have a single choice if you decided to go with the $13 order, and every extra order of meat (Kebab, grilled chicken, lamp chops…) is for an additional $4. The food was decent and the prices were more than reasonable, the staff were super friendly.

Red Lobster

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:34:08 +0000

I’ve been here in the states for over 2 months now and haven’t even once been to red lobster. Its not that I was busy or anything but I am more of a burger guy.
And for people who don’t know what Red Lobster is; its a seafood restaurant chain thats not too fancy and not so bad either. Its more of a Friday’s/Chilis level place.

We order some stuffed mushrooms and shrimp bruschetta’s for starters and the Admiral’s Feast to share and a lobster tail each.

The starters were good and the tails were very nice but the Admirals Feast wasn’t that great , I would recommend staying away from that.

Dining At 10,000 Feet: High Finance Restaurant

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:32:17 +0000

I mentioned in a previous post that we went to Sandia Peak and rode on the world longest tramway. We wanted to grab a bite to eat at the restaurant at the top of the peak but the waiting time was 2 hours.

So today a group of 18 guys went there armed with a reservation. After the 15 minutes tram ride we were at 10,378ft and we went to the restaurant directly. It was pretty crowded. The view was great but the food wasn’t. I wouldn’t think of dining there other than for the experience.

After dinner we had a photo session and managed to get a couple of nice photos. The weather wasn’t as cold as the last time today but rather a little windy. I wouldn’t recommend it but it was a nice experience. I wasn’t that hungry maybe thats why I wasn’t into their food.

Burger Bar: Las Vegas

Mon, 31 May 2010 12:28:46 +0000

I’m a burger freak, ask anyone that knows me and they’ll tell you how much I love my burgers. But after trying like a thousand different burger places you come across a lot of good ones, it gets hard to differentiate the burger at that high level. I mean I can dismiss a burger for really minor stuff like not having enough mustered or ketchup.

The point that I’m trying to make is that we don’t have to compare two burger placed head-to-head, we can just say that its great and recommended. especially not all people’s taste is alike.

Back to the main subject, Burger Bar located in Mandalay Bay is considered to have the best burgers in Las Vegas. so it was a no-brainer. I went there yesterday just before The Lion King Show – that was awesome by the way. it was a 45 min wait for a table or I can sit immediately on the bar. The bar it was, after a quick read through the menu I decided to go with the American Classic, it had beef patty American cheese, crispy bacon, tomato, onion, on sesame bun ($13). I also ordered a Nutella shake, which seemed like a good idea at the time.

The burger was very good, and definitely recommended for anyone in Vegas. But don’t get out of your way just to try it.

P.S. no burger pics, I was hungry and ate it before realizing that I didn’t take any pictures.

I Think I Just Had The Best Slider Ever!!

Sat, 29 May 2010 09:48:16 +0000

We went to a place called Fix, its a restaurant/Bar within the Bellagio. After reading the menu and coming across some sliders I just had to try them.

Well, we are in a dispute a here, as one of my friends disagrees. but I think that the sliders are the best that I’ve tasted so far. just look at that juicy patty, YUM!!

The 3 sliders have cheese, tomatoes and pickles. And come with fries too. the order will cost you $30.

Sorry for the bad pic quality, they were taken with the Nexus One in a really dark place.

Went For Some Nutella, And This is What I Find!!!

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:05:47 +0000

And if you think that’s because it has hazelnuts you are mistaken, they also had pure chocolate too.

This was in Surra Co-Op

White Castle – New York City

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 08:52:51 +0000

While looking through some old photos, I stumbled upon some pictures that I took in New York last year. They were of White Castle. The place was located on 8th Avenue. The burgers were nice and they serve the order very fast, I had 3 slyders and fries. I wanted to try out White Castel ever since I saw the movie Harold & Kumar Go To White Castel (IMDB). I really liked my experience there, The slyders where good and they came in nifty little square boxes.

They serve a verity of burgers not just one kind of slyder. nothing that great but they do serve chicken, fish alongside the traditional burger,cheeseburger and bacon.

I have to mention that White Castel is the inventor of the modern Slyders/sliders burgers (mini burgers).