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A few weeks ago I posted about Lebanese franchise Le Sushi Bar opening at Al Hamra Luxury Center and promised to make a review, well here I come. Kuwait has many, many Japanese restaurants scattered around, let alone burger joints that keep popping up, so it’s a lot harder now for new restaurants to attract customers attention because the food market has become very competitive. As I said before, Le Sushi Bar is the first Japanese restaurant to open in Beirut, Lebanon and considered as one of the finest in the country serving a variety of sushi’s and maki’s that according to them can’t be found else where.

So we decided to try Le Sushi Bar for lunch, it was almost empty when we arrived. The staff were friendly enough to cozily salute us and take us to our table. The interior design was quite simple consisting of a wooden bar with tables uniformly distributed around with total capacity around 170 seats, there was also private cabin with windows overlooking Kuwait City for special group gatherings. We were given the option to either use traditional menu or an iPad based menu which is becoming a trend in Kuwait but I can’t complain since iPad menus provide high resolution images and more details on food items plus they are easily browsed but I recommend that you use hands sanitizer after you are done ordering.

Starters

They started off with serving us a little treat consisting of ginger along with cucumber on-the-house. I opted for normal sticks but my friend picked the easy ones. We started off with my all time favorite; steamed edamame beans coupled with green tea, the green tea taste wasn’t strong enough for me but probably because it wasn’t given adequate time.

Temaki: Cone shaped and stuffed with rice (tasted good).

Main Dish

Crazy maki and shrimp tempura maki (both tasted great when dipped in soy sauce).

Wakame Shrimp (picture above): I didn’t like it because it had strong raw shrimp odor but I know people who don’t mind this.

Beef Teppanyaki: It tasted delicious coupled with boiled vegetables and sesame on top.

Steamed Rice: It was light and cohesive because of the starch I think but this is how I like it.

The level of service was great and orders came relatively fast and general ambient felt good. As with other Japanese restaurants the prices of some of the items were on the high side (our check was KD24), please check the invoice below for prices breakdown.

Address: Al Hamra Luxury Center, Sharq

Phone: 22270300

Note: Pictures were taken with Samsung Galaxy Note II camera.

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One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Kuwait Altissimo which is currently located in Al-Nassar Tower in Kuwait City has just opened another branch in Belajat street in Salmiya opposite to Shaikha Complex’s Starbucks. They call this one Altissimo Express because it’s more like casual dining than luxury with simple tables and seats, also the staff wear dressed casual. The supervisor said they serve the same menu items and that they are currently in soft opening. They have a tasty crispy shrimp platter but I can’t recall the exact name, I remember the window tables had an amazing view at their Al Nassar Tower branch. 

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It has been a while since I cheated on my strict diet plan, I’m glad that I managed to stay healthy and eat clean for a few months now and I’m doing great in the weight loss department. Good news is that I’m finally starting to see my 6 packs (I’ll write a separate post on my experience for getting 6 packs) but I still have a long road ahead to get my abs more prominent. So I decided to invite myself for a cheat full of guilt meal at the newly opened Lord of the Wings (no not the movie) restaurant.

So I finished my workout at the gym and instead of having my healthy low-fat & low-carbs & high-protein meal I headed to Discovery Mall at Soor Street in Kuwait City. As I arrived at Lord of the Wings (from now on I’ll call it LOTW) I noted that design was pretty simple with tables scattered around, I can tell the waiters got kinda confused when they saw me in my training shorts and Nike t-shirt sitting at the table but they were friendly enough to give me a warm welcome. So I picked the relatively small menu and saw a variety of traditional food items (Viz. salads, soups, burgers, beverages among others) but clearly I was there to taste their chicken wings. 

They handed me a pencil to help me with customizing my order and it kinda reminds me of college years back in the day, those pop quizzes remember? They basically serve three kind of chicken wings; traditional, grilled & boneless. To help minimize the guilt I scanned their menu for any healthy & low calorie items (I know I’m in the wrong place) but fortunately I managed to find some items. For starters I picked their plain nachos that comes with tomato sauce (tasty & light with the sauce), grilled potatoes with blue cheese sauce (tasty but the potatoes felt like they needed a little more pepper & salt but that’s easy to tackle). 

As for the main dish I tried their grilled wings (tasted good when dipped in the Buffalo mild sauce), there was a variety of sauces for the wings plus the free soda refill. The restaurant manager insisted that I try their boneless wings along with the Garlic Parmesan sauce, I was reluctant at first but I gave it a go and my impression is that the taste was good but my remark to them is that the wings were soaked in oil but they said customers can ask for less oil if they wanted. The funny part is that they provided me with gloves so I don’t have to worry about getting my hands all smeared, they also used stickers to differentiate between customized orders, good idea. Prices-wise, they varied between KD1.5 to around KD3.5 . So to sum it up, I was satisfied with LOTW because we don’t have restaurants that are specialized in wings in Kuwait since Nando’s was shutdown long time ago.

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Elevation Burger will open their 3rd branch today at the new Menus Food Court that I told you about back in December 2012 [link]. This branch is bigger than the one at Avenues and Hamra Tower and built on two levels with outdoor seating area. I’m  also excited that Ribs & Rumps will open just next to it, can’t wait to try their rips but hopefully it will be like the one in Dubai Mall.

So now the million dinar question; what’s the best burger in Kuwait?

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It’s been quite sometime since I did any food reviews because I’m cutting on my calories just like Tazmania did but heck food is too tempting since Kuwait is abundant with restaurants everywhere. I was at Bida’a the other day and spotted this newly opened Lavida Cafe opposie to Wasabi, it looked kinda cute with the violet lights so I got little curious to see what they serve. The staff said they opened a few days ago and that this cafe is a franchise from Jeddah, I was also wondering about the name Lavida so I grabbed my phone and searched Google, turned out la Vida is Spanish term meaning life. 

Inside it was small with a few tables scattered around and decorations were simple with wall mounted TV. They say they mainly serve breakfast but they also serve lunch and dinner, some of the stuff I saw included pasta, salads, sandwiches, mini burgers, pancakes, waffles…etc. My starters consisted of the chicken ceasar salad (tasted good), Mozzarella sticks (tasty with the dipping cheese sauce), as for main dish I picked their Chicken Platter which is a grilled chicken fillet served with chicken mushroom sauce and vegetables (light but vegetables were little salty). For dessert, I had their pancakes which are filled with pancake syrup and chocolate sauce and strawberries (tasty).

The service level was good but staff were slightly unfamiliar with the menu but I suppose this will improve with more experience. I was generally satisfied with Lavida Cafe but my remark is that their prices are on the high side since my order total was KD13.350 including a diet soda, that’s relatively high and hopefully prices will be improved.

Note: I’ve only experienced what I talked about above so I can’t judge the other things.

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What do you know about steak really? its types? How to have it best served? I almost tried all steakhouses in Kuwait but frankly for so long all I knew was Rib Eye, Fillet, well-done and medium-well. Today I’m going to take you all on a journey into steak world that I promise will change your steak choices forever. I got invited by The Meat Co for a “Meatology training” yesterday, meatology means the science behind meat and beef, sounds exciting. I arrived at 5:30 pm exact and met with their international steak expert Mr. Gracious B Sikhosana, you should have seen the look on Meat Co staff, they were so surprised because I’m a regular customer and they didn’t that I’m the guy they were waiting for the trainig.

Cattle Breeds

My first question was about cattle breeds; I was mesmerized to know there are over 800 breeds, but the most famous are actually the Angus, Wagyu, Hereford, Longhorn among others. The Angus cattle are tough and mature around 2 years of age and they are used for beef (not milk) and are known for marbled meat (meat with intramuscular fat). Though what really awed me is the Wagyu, a Japanese breed in which the cows don’t ever move for over 500 days, and get massaging to prevent muscle cramping! They say this will produce highest quality juicy meat and most expensive of course.

Do feeds effect the steak?

Yes what the cows are fed does effect the meat quality, cows are either grain-fed, grass-fed, or milk-fed but most beef on market today is grain-fed because it helps producers to raise and fatten cows rather quickly than if they feed on grass. However, mlik-fed produces the highest quality meat of young cattle.

What’s all about Marbling score thing?

Whenever I’m checking steak menus I see the term Marbling score, rings any bell? Well it turned out that the marbling is the streaks of fat in lean meat, so the more marbling or higher score the more fatty, juicy and flavorful the steak. I can imagine many of you had the “Wide-Open-Eyes” when you read fat, but luckily this is mostly unsaturated fat rich in omega 3 & 6 fatty acids.

Steak Types

The steak type depends on which part of the cow the primal cut was taken from (see above), for example Rib Eye is from the ribs, the fillet from the tenderloin. However most popular types are the Rib (shorts ribs, Rib Eye steak), Tenderloin (most tender and expensive, fillet steak & T-Bone), Chuck (roasts and hamburgers), Sirloin (less tender than loin but more flavorful), Brisket (best for barbecue), Shank (tough and used for stews and soups). I personally prefer fillet steak because it’s lean (low fat) and very tender, others may prefer Rib-Eye or Sirloin because they are more fatty and hence more flavorful.

Steak Doneness?

This is the tricky part that could either make your steak experience truly delightful or miserable one. I for some reason always asked waiters to have my steak served well done but later changed to medium-well, I’m pretty sure many of you did the same maybe because we feel uncomfortable seeing blood? Thing is steak doneness highly depends on type of meat used, so suppose you order Rib Eye steak (which is high in marbling) then it’s fine to have it served well done, but if you are going say for Fillet steak then it’s best to have it served medium well or medium to preserve the tastiness. However, bear in mind that having the steak medium well shouldn’t have any blood (dark pink only) otherwise it means steak was frozen and not grilled properly, also the more the meat is grilled the less nutritional values it preserves.

So now how do you like your steak? and what are the steakhouses that you think serve best steak in Kuwait?

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Kuwaiti chef Ahmed Al Bader is certainly one of the most active restaurateurs in Kuwait with opening of several restaurant concepts serving burgers, pizza, steak, sushi, and fusion. I spotted a new restaurant by Ahmed Al Bader so called Pintxos at Al Seef strip at the same location of Wasabi that was closed down. I’m not really not sure what the name Pintxos means but according to uncle Google it’s a Spanish term for certain snacks typically eaten in bars.

Actually it did look like a bar on the inside with dimmed lighting and design, I’m seeing many new restaurants in Kuwait are trying to copy designs of bars,lounges, and even night clubs. Maybe some people love to feel they are in a bar or a lounge?

The staff say the restaurant is in the soft opening phase now and will be serving fusion cuisine, I may give it a go sometime.

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Spotted this new restaurant opening at Discovery Mall today, at first glance I thought it’s Lord of the Rings and I was like huh didn’t know such store ever existed but as I looked closely turned out it’s actually Lord of the ‘W’ings. My friend from Lebanon says they have it at City Mall in Beirut and they serve over 14 signature chicken wings sauces and customized burgers. 

I haven’t tried it before so I can’t tell for sure, maybe our friends from Lebanon can help?

Thanks [PinkGirlQ8]

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