Safat: The KuwaitBlogs’ Aggregator

I am not a big fan of Activia flavored yogurt in general, but i have seen that they have a Mango flavor in Q8 in some website. As far as i am concerned i haven’t seen any in any nearby Co-Op so i took off to TSC Salmiya to check if they stock it… and of course they did!

I took several back home with me to try… and from the first spoonful i fell head over heels in love! If you are a mango fan -alphonso mangoes in particular- you will love this divine pot of goodness with chunky mango pieces tickling your taste buds with every bite <3

Highly Recommended! In fact i am eating one right now as we speak! And for 141 calories per pot… it’s just the perfect snack or breakfast ever <3

Another Lebanese place I passed by to try their burgers was Casper & Gambini’s. I had heard their burgers were good so I decided to try them out. I went to the Avenues branch on Saturday and it was empty except for another couple sitting behind us. The location was small but cozy and tucked away from all the weekend traffic. I found two kinds of burgers on their menu, I decided to order the one with the thick 200grams patty and I asked for it to be done medium.

When the burger arrived I noticed something strange. Instead of one 200gram patty there were two thinner patties stacked on top of one another. I guess they had run out of 200gram patties and decided to replace them with two 100gram patties? I tried to take my first bite and had problems. The burger buns were very dry and with the two patties stacked on top of another the burger was too high for me to bite into. After squeezing the burger hard I managed to take a bite. It was super dry. The burger was cooked well done and the patties tasted like the Khazan frozen ones (no offense to the Khazan burgers). Actually the burger taste reminded me of the burgers I used to order at the beach in Lebanon as a kid. The burgers were usually terrible but because you’ve been swimming and running around all day, by the time it’s lunch anything you eat at the beaches canteen ends up being delicious. Only problem in this case is I’m not 12, and this isn’t a beach canteen.

The final score is a 1.5 out of 5 and that’s mostly because the taste reminded me of my childhood.

For a list of Casper & Gambini’s locations click [Here]
The cost of the Gambini Burger was KD4.350

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Let’s Burger
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

I personally think the food in Lebanon is a mixture of good and bad. We obviously do good Lebanese food, we also make some of the best pizza’s, we’ve got some really great crepes and most importantly we have the world’s best beer (Almaza FTW!). One thing we strangely don’t have is good burgers. For some reason no one has cracked a good burger in Lebanon. I’ve been recommended so many places and everyntime I try a burger there I am left disappointed. Let’s Burger is a Lebanese burger creation which I was hoping would break this cycle.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the menu is they had mayonnaise listed under the “5 Elements for a perfect burger”. That’s when I knew things weren’t going to end well. Mayonnaise??? I continued flipping through their menu and decided to go with the stuffed cheese burger. I wasn’t asked how I wanted the burger the burger done.

A short time later my burger arrived and I quickly took my first bite. Two things grabbed my attention. The first thing is, I liked the beef patty with the stuffed cheese inside. Because the cheese was all soft and gooey it made the beef patty very juicy. The second thing that grabbed my attention is the bun, it was cold and cracking. That meant the bun wasn’t fresh and was refrigerated. Cold bread + hot beef patty = Doesn’t work. Their sauce also wasn’t anything to write home about since although the description in the menu said grainy mustard mayo sauce, what I tasted was mostly just plain mayo.

For the final score I’m giving it a 2.5 out of 5. The patty was fine but they need to fix the bun issue, it shouldn’t be too hard to get fresh buns every morning delivered. They also really need to cut down on the mayo, not only is it not an important element in a good burger… it shouldn’t be on a burger period in the first place.

Let’s Burger is located at 360 Mall.
The cost of the Stuffed Cheeseburger was KD3.450

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

I will not give you a full review or anything, if you’ve watched the trailer below and found that it was funny then I highly recommend you watch it in 3D because I went on Thursday with my dad, aunt, uncle, and my aunt’s 2 kids issous and toons and trust me we were laughing throughout the movie, tears were coming down our faces from how funny it was, and I can’t help but love the new phrase of the year “oh poop!” LOL! Seriously this movie just blew out every single animation I have seen in my entire 26 years of existance! And I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! I give it a million stars if possible but I guess 5 out of 5 is the highest I can go here.  Seriously just go watch it! I don’t want to tell you what it’s about just go and watch it!

And think of me when you see the oldest girl with her glasses she looks totally like me! :P

Right on the corner of Leicester Square, London, there stands a lovely red sign with a group of people queuing to go inside and be seated… That place is one of my favorite  spots to relax in the UK… it’s Häagen-Dazs

I remember being a little child in London, and my parents allowing only me to tag along with them and the other grownups for a late night ice cream in Häagen-Dazs… i remember how special i felt to be standing in a long queue waiting to be seated… i was the only child in the family out that late back then… i always ordered a Strawberry Sunday and wondered why would they call it a Sunday, isn’t Sunday a day of the week?

Those red signs, this set of doors, always pulls me back to my childhood days, making me feel special! If i pass and there is a queue, i must go join it… the only queue in the world i would enjoy… and i immediately turn into a little child feeling special all over again <3

Over the years i have accumilaited tons of pictures of the Häagen-Dazs ice cream combo’s i like… but now i have decided that this dish -above- is my signature one… it’s one scoop praline and cream, one scoop butter pecan, Chocolate sauce, banana slices, and those crunchy thingies on top… <3

My hubby Butootee always loves their drink combos and hot chocolates.  Especially when i drag him there in the winter… yes, winter summer rain sleet fog snow frost hail… i will be standing there and eating my ice cream

The waffles are good too if you don’t feel or don’t like ice cream… if you pass by and find a queue, jump in and have fun!

If you love shopping, you will love Bicester Village! It’s a chic and cosy shopping area with Discount Outlets for many many Designer Brands: Matthew Williamson, Gucci, Temperly London, DVF, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, Luella, Burberry, Anya Hindmarch, Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood, Ted Baker, Bally, Valentino, D&G, Dior, Salvatore Ferrigamo, YSL, Fendi, Versace and many many more…

It’s a great place to snatch a bargain, such as a classic LBD or a classic bag… Ralph Lauren & Burberry are the most popular spot for Q8y’s… no matter what time of year i visit, i must MUST find at least one q8y family in those two stores shopping -and staring shwaya-

The village is very cute, every outlet is in a little slanted roof store and all the stores are side to side… just walking in the village is quite joyful!

and it’s never boring! Every few months you would go and find the stores have switched places… or new places have sprung up! Always take a new copy of the village map whenever you go!

Juicy Couture is one of the newest arrivals in the village… Pringle of Scotland is there if you are a fan…

If you don’t want to buy discounted clothing, how about books? Or home items? Bodum, Villory & Boch, Descamps, The White Company, and Cath Kidson are there… Cath Kidson is right next to Starbucks so you would be able to shop in style with your favourite cup of coffee…

I love sitting in Pret-A-Manager which is located chock in the middle of Bicester Village… You see how people are resting with their bags… i rest with my favourite lemon pot and my hot chocolate… enjoy the sun rays and catch my breath <3

Villandry is the place to have lunch if you like rustic food… i personally can’t part from my beloved Carluccio’s but many Q8y’s love Villandry as well…

Now why did i choose a picture of some ice cream for the post? Because it’s the most important thing you must DO when you are there… they have this…

Amorino Gelato Naturale… Allah yaho Gelato! You cannot resist it… it’s so YUM… it’s the most delicious ice cream in the UK, hands down!

That’s my sisters…

That’s mine stolen by Butootee while i snap this shot… unfortunately they stop selling it during Christmas Time which is very very sad…

We usually spend a full day in the village shopping until your arms are too tired and too full to lift any more bags… you know it’s time to leave when it gets dark or when they close :p

Bye Bye Bicester Village! We will visit you again next time we are in the UK insha2 Allah

For more information on Bicester Village and how to get there check out their website by clicking here.

Carluccio’s is one of my favorite places to dine in the UK! If you are a fan of Fatafeet or BBC Food, you would recognize Carluccio’s Chef: Antonio Carluccio from the cooking shows!

I could eat every day in Carluccio and never get bored… i always start with their Bread Basket that contains the amazing foccasia bread and a Zuppa Di fagioli (bean and pasta soup) which is my favorite. I dont have a picture of my beloved soup but the bread basket i do have

I love to dunk that Foccasia in my soup until it is soaked… and they bite into the lovely combo with the rosemary and the coarse sea salt poking at my taste buds <3

My favourite pasta, not pictured unfortunately, is the mushroom and parpadelli pasta… followed closely by this amazing pasta: it has shredded courgette and peppers with a lovely butter sauce and a side of fried spinach balls! Even better: some of the proceeds of his dish goest to charity! It is really really REALLY good…

I also love their Ravioli stuffed with spinach and riccota… it usually comes with butter sauce but we always ask for it with tomato sauce… the pasta is so fresh and soft… the spinach so fresh and the cheese is so tangy <3 it’s an absolute joy to dine on!

This particular branch has a beautiful view as well…

Carluccio’s breakfast, croissant, and pastries are amazing as well. They also have a hot chocolate order where they bring you a pot of pure chocolate and a pot of cream and let you mix and match to your taste… pure heaven!

Best of all is the Carluccio’s Store and Deli! They sell lovely Fresh Italian food you can take for a picnic or to enjoy at home and quality italian cooking ingredients… like the Orecchiette pasta i used in this post or those gelatos for example…

Carluccio’s is located in St. Christopher place, and Covent Garden, and The airport, and Milton Keynes, and Bisecter Village, and in Heathrow terminal five. Also in… DUBAI! Now if it made it to Dubai why can’t it make a small detour and arrive here as well!!!

For more information checkout their website here or check their menu here…

This post is for the wonderful FourMe who has just discovered her hidden baking talent :*

I wanted a yummy chocolate cake. I felt like a yummy chocolate cake. I wanted to smell the cake baking in my kitchen… so i have decided that there is no shame in buying a ready made cake mix to make my self one! I bought mine which turned out to be amazing from M&S’s food court in 360 Mall…

This is all i needed to make it happen…

I preheated the oven to 160 C and took note of the time on the wall… 11:12 AM

I assembled the box’s content…

Followed the box’s instructions which were pretty straight forward…

Emptied the mix into a large mixing bowl

Added the 2 eggs, one by one…

Added the water…

Added the Oil

Whisked with my own hands until well mixed… no need for a mixer!

After i whisked my mixture until it resembled a smooth batter… i prepared my two round tins.. i need to line them with wax paper

I need to cut my wax paper into circles…

and lay  it at the bottom of the pan… no need for greasing!

I poured half the batter in each pan… and off to the oven for about 20 minutes…

and they were done! Bs! I applied the tooth pick test where i insert a toothpick in the middle of each cake and then pull it out… if it’s clean when it’s taken out that means the cake is done!

Look at the time… 11:52 and i have a gorgeous chocolate cake cooling down and awaiting frosting!

While the cake cools down i beat 50 g of softened butter with a whisk…

Gradually added the frosting mix… whisk whisk…

On the side i immersed the bag of chocolate pieces in boiling water for 2 minutes…

Added some tablespoons of warm water to the whisked butter and frosting mix…

Squeezed out the melted chocolate from the immersed chocolate bag…

Whisked until i got this yummy frosting consistency!

Now the fun part… the assembly! I placed the first cake on my serving dish…

Had fun slathering around the frosting on top…

I placed the 2nd Cake on top of the frosted first cake…

Pouring the frosting on top…

Spreading it all around…

It’s done! Or is it?

There are still the chocolate shavings to be added on top… just sprinkled them around…

Now the cake is done! Lovely Isn’t it?

I took it out to the dining table…

Cut my self a piece immediately… that was my brunch!

Check out the frosting between the cake layers

So yummy

My only regret is that my cake pans were too big (26 cm) when i should have used an 18 cm cake pan madry tin! If i had used a smaller one my cake would have been much higher and something as lovely as a bakery made one!

If you are in the mood, bake this cake from that mix… available in 360 mall for 2.500 KD only!

Remember when i posted about Crumbs Competition in this post? I WON! I couldn’t believe my ears when i heard the nice owner on the other end of the line letting me know that i have in fact won!

So last night, Thursday Night, we headed to the VIP cinema in 360 Mall at 7:30 P.M. we received our the tickets…

Tthere were Crumbs goodies and Arabian coffee while we waited for the Screening of Eclipse to start at 8 P.M. … we got ourselves the pop corn and it’s companions… and then went inside!

The first thing we found was this lovely cupcake waiting on each VIP chair!

Very creative… a luscious chocolate cupcake with caramel pop corn pieces resting on top <3 it was very yummy -i ate it for breakfast though-

We reclined in our seats… the movie started… we had so much fun munching and losing our selves in the movie… no babies cried, no one made silly disrespectful sounds in certain scene… every one of the audience was lost in the movie because we were all fans of Twilight! It felt good to watch the movie with people that are as interested in it as you are!

On the way out… there were more goodies waiting for us! We thanked the owner of Crumbs for a lovely and very different night, we received a bag with two crumbs Tshirts and a bag of their mini truffles -which i adore <3-

The back of the Tshirts

The bag of truffles

Thank you Crumbs… very very much… for caring about what customers anticipate and wait for… it what sets you from other bakeries around… that and your delicious goods of course!

I cannot WAIT for the next competition! Insha2 Allah Insha2 Allah i win again… fingers crossed!

For more information about the amazing Crumbs… you can visit their website or their facebook page.

Filed under: Competitions, Events, Life, Movies, Q8, Reviews, Things I like Tagged: Crumbs Bakery, Eclipse

Remember when i posted about Crumbs Competition in this post? I WON! I couldn’t believe my ears when i heard the nice owner on the other end of the line letting me know that i have in fact won!

So last night, Thursday Night, we headed to the VIP cinema in 360 Mall at 7:30 P.M. we received our the tickets…

Tthere were Crumbs goodies and Arabian coffee while we waited for the Screening of Eclipse to start at 8 P.M. … we got ourselves the pop corn and it’s companions… and then went inside!

The first thing we found was this lovely cupcake waiting on each VIP chair!

Very creative… a luscious chocolate cupcake with caramel pop corn pieces resting on top <3 it was very yummy -i ate it for breakfast though-

We reclined in our seats… the movie started… we had so much fun munching and losing our selves in the movie… no babies cried, no one made silly disrespectful sounds in certain scene… every one of the audience was lost in the movie because we were all fans of Twilight! It felt good to watch the movie with people that are as interested in it as you are!

On the way out… there were more goodies waiting for us! We thanked the owner of Crumbs for a lovely and very different night, we received a bag with two crumbs Tshirts and a bag of their mini truffles -which i adore <3-

The back of the Tshirts

The bag of truffles

Thank you Crumbs… very very much… for caring about what customers anticipate and wait for… it what sets you from other bakeries around… that and your delicious goods of course!

I cannot WAIT for the next competition! Insha2 Allah Insha2 Allah i win again… fingers crossed!

For more information about the amazing Crumbs… you can visit their website or their facebook page.

This post is a dedication to Z who simply adores Ben’s Cookies

One thing we must MUST stock on while visiting London is Ben’s cookies! If you are a fan of chunky almost cake-ish cookie then this is the brand for you… my husband cannot resist them and he insists on buying -and immediately devouring his and my- cookies whenever we pass by…

Last year a new small branch opened up in Oxford Street right next to Boots. We used to get our fix from Covent Garden market before that!

Praline and Milk chocolate is my favorite cookie while Dark Chocolate & Nuts and Double Chocolate Chunk is Butoote’s! The pieces of chocolate are BIIIIG and really soft and tasty… a must try for any cookie lover if you are not already a fan!

The day before you come back home you can grab our selves a big tin (shown above) and fill it with cookies for you or grab the small tins and fill it with some cookies to make a fabulous and tasty London souvenir for friend and family back home! The tin will keep the cookies fresh and soft for up to two weeks!

Or you can order them online by clicking here and send them to your Aramex UK inbox! I did that once… and it arrived fresh and amazing… though i think it does taste better when you grab it from the window bs shinsawee b3d…

Or if you are in Riyadh or going soon or know someone there… they can send you a box… yes they have it there *Green Eyed with Envy* Why don’t we have it here y3ni?!!! Will someone please bring it here!

Villa Fayrouz ’3ani 3n il ta3reef 6b3an… i am a big fan of their food… not a fan of their Shaab location though… when i heard that their Avenues branch was open i called them up and made a reservation for lunch on Saturday!

We tried to find a way to Villa Fayrouz from the inside but we coudln’t find any… we had to get outside, pass by P.F. Changs and then make it through the main entrance! Still, it is much better than going to the Shaab location!

Their food was good as expected… the entire front wall of the restaurant is floor to ceiling glass which meant plenty of sunlight was streaming into the place, giving it a nice and cosy sun lit atmosphere…

From now on, i am only going to the Avenues branch! Well Done!

Fauchon isn’t one of those places that pops into mind when thinking about burgers but since a few people had recommended them I decided to give it a shot.

I passed by Fauchon at 360 Mall this weekend and ordered their Le Beef Burger a La Fauchon with classic fries on the side. According to the menu the patty is a prime US beef patty and comes with shredded cheddar cheese topped with their special dressing in their home made bun. The burger arrived and looked ok presentation wise except for the fact the whole thing looked kinda flat. When I first picked up the burger I noticed a problem and that was the bun was starting to fall apart. I hadn’t even taken my first bite so I realized that was going to be an issue. From that moment on I had to handle the burger very delicately at the risk of having the whole bun fall apart in my hand. After taking a few bites I realized two more things. First their special dressing tasted like a mix of cocktail sauce and salad dressing which doesn’t really belong on a burger. The second thing I realized is their beef patty might be the exact same ones I get from Sultan Center. Not a good thing since I’m not a fan of my home made burgers. The burger is pretty big and filling which is always a plus.

The final score for this burger is a 3 out of 5. One thing about this burger that I liked the most was the french fries that came on the side. They’re what I call hotel fries which is what I call fries that taste like ones you get from room service at hotels with a little portion of Heinz ketchup on the side. Price wise the burger cost KD4.450 which is fair for the fact it’s a burger at Fauchon although personally I don’t think it’s worth it since the burger wasn’t that great.

Fauchon is located at 360 Mall.
The cost of Le Beef Burger a La Fauchon was KD4.450

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Eighty 6 Bistro
Fauchon
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

18 years ago, i was walking with my mother just down Baker Street, London, when she announced that i had a new baby girl cousin! You can imagine my surprise when i made the math and realized that my  baby cousin is all grown up… she is now an 18 Years old Adult @_@

I attended her graduation, and the very next day it was her 18th birthday! EIGHTEEN! I still can’t believe i am not 18 any more! When did this happen?! Where did all those years go? Flew by with the speed of a wink!

So for her 18th, we wanted a hoopla… it’s not every day she turns 18 no? I for one has never been into Meat & Co. before mainly because i am a vegetarian and what would i be doing there… but i have always heard their birthday drums while sitting downstairs in Lorenzo or Life with Cacao… We decided it was THE place to go for Baby Cuz’s birthday!

We had so much fun that night… the bread they brought was amazing! I gorged my self with bread so much i couldn’t even eat more than two bites of my vegetarian dish of the day…

there is this amazing Chocolate bread… with bits of something scarlet red inside that looked like blueberries… i could have taken a basket of those loaves home and lived on them for a week… the hint of chocolate with the warm dough and the smooth butter… mmm… and that trace of sour berry thing…

For appetizers there was a tame garden salad and this vicious ribs thing… i have to say i didn’t care much for it but then i don’t eat meat so it’s expected…

Variety of dishes… the salmon skewer over mashed potatoes looked fun…

Close up…

Another close up… the salmon was very photogenic…

One of the steaks that was around… i don’t know the difference between them y3ni but they are all meat fa one picture is enough…

I was told the Classic burger is excellent…

I had fun with the innocent potatoes…

My vegetarian dish of the day… vegetable lasagne… it came after every one else’s dishes and it was a bit too cold… 3eqab for vegetarians i suppose…

There were so many birthdays that night! One birthday after the other! Maybe 5 or 6! But it also meant that by the time it was our turn not all of the waiters were available and they didn’t drum as long or as intesne as they usually do…

My cousin was a bit crushed… we had called in and specifically requested this in advance… and it was her 18th! She also wanted a brownie but they were out so we had the apple tart…

By the time we finished the tart another Birthday was there with full fledged drumming!!! Then another! Then another! All of them got proper drumming

Noting the expression on our faces, our friendly waiter came back with the full squad and performed a proper drumming happy birthday dance that took every ounce of our will power to stop us from getting up and dancing to the beat…

and they left the drums by our side… my two cousins drummed ishwaya on it and i have decided to take drumming lessons b3d… It was so much FUN! Now i understand why every one was celebrating their birthdays in Meat & Co.! I cannot stop singing the drumming beat “Habbyy Berthdaaay… Ee yaba heebaa yaba heebaa…” very World Cupish!

Happy Birthday Baby Cousin :* … and if you want to take someone our for a proper birthday drumming, you know the place to go!

With a history of 300 years and a royal warrant under it’s belt… walking to the Twinnings store is sheer joy to tea & history lovers! This store is the first known Tea Room in the world, located on 216 Strand Street, London and is still operating since it’s opening by Thomas Twinings in 1707.

In Strand Street you walk and you walk surrounded by traditional buildings until you see the building above on your right and the sign below on your left… then you know you are in the right place… standing on the doorway of a genuine piece of history! If you are a history lover you will recognize the shiver that will run through your body when you lay your eyes on the door…

300 years ago rich people used to flock this very step and try and acquire some very rare commodity of their time… it was available for the rich and noble only… i can almost hear the carriages clickty clacking down the cobbled stone street passing by the store from that age… it gives me the chills to imagine that… and Though coffee houses were popular then, Tea Rooms were non existent until introduced in this very story…

You open the door… and you are inside the oldest most beautiful shop with antique chandeliers and skylights… the place is small and narrow, yet it’s beautiful! The wooden cabinets… the brass scales… the one million flavors of tea you get to browse…

I love the fact that you can buy the tea by the tea bag! I could try as many flavors as possible and decide which ones i like… ahhh the rose tea they used to sell… it was the MOST AMAZING tea every with soft infusions of rose :`( it is discontinued now sadly… we also love the boxed tea bag set of flavored tea

Not only tea is sold here… tea supplies are available and they even serve proper English tea in the afternoon still! I never tried their English Tea before though…

Another thing worth noting is that the Twinings logo, chosen by Tomas Twining in 1787, is thought to be the oldest commercial logo in the world!!! The location of the store is amazing too… for it’s a stones throw away from Traflgar Square, Piccadilly, Covent Garden, and the River Thames!!!

Highly recommended on a lazy afternoon stroll in London… you can pass by and breathe in History, get some lovely souvenirs for back home… you can rest assured that you will not see one Arab staring & bothering you there

For more information you can visit their website by clicking here

I’ve been looking forward to trying the Eighty 6 Bistro burger for ages but I passed by a few months ago and didn’t have a reservation and got turned away. After that I figured it would be a hassle to pass by and never did until this past weekend. I passed by on Friday for lunch and to my surprise the place was empty. Like literally there was no table occupied. I thought that was strange but didn’t mind it since it meant I didn’t have to wait for a table to free up.

I sat down in one of the booths and started flipping through the menu. I was about to order their classic cheeseburger when I spotted something called the Bistro Burger. I asked the waiter what it was and he explained to me the burger came with lettuce, tomato, cheese, caramelized onions and mushrooms. He also said the patty what thicker than the classic cheeseburger and that was all I needed to hear. I ordered the Bistro Burger without the lettuce and tomato.

When the burger arrived the presentation looked good. It came on a long plate with a small pot filled with a few onion rings on one side, a small cup of fries on the other end and the juicy burger in between the two. I took a bite and noticed something, the caramelized onions were just overpowering the burger. I spent the rest of meal wishing I had ordered the burger with just the cheese. The bun was nice and soft, the onion rings and french fries although have no effect on this review were pretty bland.

Honestly, for a place that was empty during lunch time on a Friday at the most popular mall in Kuwait I was expecting the worst but I am glad that the burger turned out to be good. I decided to give it a 3.5 out of 5 and “might” have given it a 4 if I had ordered it with just the cheese. The cost of the burger is KD4.5 which is actually on the high side but I guess the fact that it comes with a side of onion rings and fries makes up for it. As I’ve mentioned before the price of the burger has no effect on the review or the final score.

Eighty 6 Bistro is located in the Avenues.
The cost of the Bistro Burger was KD4.500
For reservations call 22597961

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Nino
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

Etrayaqtaw? You might want to read this first…

Sunday morning, bright and early… i had just stepped out the door on my way to work when i found this menu on the newspaper box…

6araw 3yone 3la il picture! Of course i grabbed it, read the menu under the scorching sun at 7 AM, tucked it in my bag and off to work… the minute i came home i showed it for Butootee & we called them for home delivery….

Those pictures are from the menu of  belongs to Abu Saleem… a new restaurant in Jabriya that sells my favorite food of all time “Falafel, Fool, & Hommous”… i could spend the rest of my life eating nothing but a falafel sandwich and i would be the happiest person on planet earth.

So the order came… packaging very neat…

The good smell of food was wafting towards my nostrils…

We had an order of stuffed Falafel pieces…

The box is exactly like the pop corn box of Cinescape… a good idea because it kept the falafel warm… i took out a falafel…

and i couldn’t resist taking a bite…

There were two bags of soft Lebanese bread and boxes of pickles and olives… nicely packaged and not in a plastic bags dripping with liquid as usual…

Moving on to the falafel… it is wrapped in white paper and hidden snugly in a carton sleeve… it arrived intact and in one piece…

My falafel sandwich was made with Arabian Bread. They have several choices of bread for the falafel: Wrap, Arabian Bread, or Hamburger Bun!

We also ordered 3 platters: Hommous, Mutabbal, and Fatta Ordoniya…

The hommous…

The Mouttabal

The Fatta Ordoniya…

Now for the Pro’s and Con’s…

Pro’s: Falafel is good, Good Hommous as well, Generous Portions, They are in Jabriya a few streets away from my house, and they have home delivery. The packaging is very neat o tharb.

Cons: Very Expensive, Too much Olive Oil but that’s expected, Needs a little more salt but that makes it good for people with high blood pressure, Moutabbal was horrible and tasted like clotted tahini, the Fatta was very good but it was Hommous based and not Yogurt based therefore taste wise it was very similar to the Hommous but with soggy bread pieces. The falafel sandwich had that pinkish pickle thing i hate.

Would i order from them again? Of course i would! The next time i have a falafel craving and i don’t feel like going out i will call them in for home delivery. It might not be the best falafel in Q8 but it made the top 10 list for me.

Also good if you are having breakfast at work with a group. The taste, the packaging, and the generous portions would make it a very good choice.  The pottery plates would make it a good choice if you are going to a gathering and want to take something traditional…

I scanned the menu as well…

I woke up this Sunday morning feeling hungry… and for a moment i wished from all my heart i could just put on my jacket and step out into the nearest Giraffe branch i could find…

Why haven’t anyone brought it over as franchise is beyond me. The place is AMAZING! It is modern yet cosey, funky and quirky with lots of colors and something to look at in every single corner! You can never be bored when in a Giraffe…

I have been to many branches of Giraffe in the UK and each and every one of them was amazing. I love the fact they serve their brunches all day long… I love the fact that it is a very welcoming restaurant where i could relax and put my guard down and not try to look put together or hip or be pretentious in an way…

I love their breakfast… i love their breakfast… i love their breakfast… yes i LOVE THEIR BREAKFAST! The portions are always so so generous… one plate is more than enough for two persons… 3 skinny girls could share one breakfast plate!

I love the fact that the menu is very vegetarian friendly… i could order half the items off the menu! I love their mezza plate for appetizers… and i am particularly fond of their chunky fries drenched in guacamole, salsa, sour cream, toasted seed, and cheddar cheese <3…

Their nachos are good as well… i do prefer american style nachos but since these are hard to find in the UK Giraffe’s nacho’s would do just fine…

My husband is fond of two dishes on the menu: The Falafel Sandwich and the Burrito… the falafel sandwich is below…  i have no pictures of the burrito and the dimmed interior of Giraffe makes it really hard to snap good pictures of their dishes…

If you order one of their cocktail juices… you get a surprise inside…

It’s this little plastic Giraffe that is very very cute! My sister actually collects those… she had green and yellow and pink and blue and orange and if i am not mistaken pink!

You can buy their memorabilia as well… the only picture i have here is of their greeting cards…

The BEST thing about this whole Giraffe love affair of mine is… they have a branch in Heathrow Terminal 5!!! The perfect way to say good bye to the UK after a long and eventful trip :`(

I wish someone would FedEx me the vegetarian English breakfast dish with a side of those chunky fried drenched with goodies <3

If you are in the UK and you have never tried it before… well what are you waiting for? Their website is www.giraffe.net and their menu can be found be clicking here

If you did try it… what do you think? We need Franchising, don’t you agree?!

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, Katheryn Winnick, Kevin Sussman, Lisa Ann Walter, and Martin Mull

Killers is a movie about a spy with a license to kill, who gives up his job for love. Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher) gets married and settles down, only to find out that he’s a target. His co-workers, neighbors and friends are all out there to kill him and the chase begins.

The movie started off strong but towards the middle it started to turn unrealistic and very predictable. Killers has a little of comedy, action and romance. A bit of everything for each taste.  At one point i was looking at the time and thinking when will this be over!  I must say the only thing that made the movie more bearable was Ashton Kutcher!

B’s Verdict -

A little on the unplausable side but still entertaining and full of eye candy for both sexes. No brain Activity required.

Should you go to the cinema and watch it? No, wait till it’s out – Rent or download it to watch during a gathering.

Couple’s Movie?- Yes

Friends Movie ?- Yes

B’s Score – 2.5 / 5

Would B watch it again? No

When you walk through Paddington Station… a flaky wholesome aroma hits your nostrils and beckons you over… you follow the smell and you find the source… they are the Pasties from West Cornwall Pasty Co.

Quite a mouthful for a restaurant name… so i will abbreviate it with the word Pasty! Pasties are basically hot dough, more puff pastry like than pizza or fatayer, and filled with bubbling hot ingredients… be it mushroom and cheese, or creamy vegetables, of any other filling you would eat if you are a meat lover… the combinations are very good… the pasties are so crunchy and flaky and warm… it’s is the perfect guilty pleasure to have in the UK…

The Pasty stands can be found in Euston Station and Paddington Station… but our favorite spot to grab a pasty would be their  little café corner in Covent Garden Market!

It is the perfect spot for people watching! You can watch all the acrobats and performers playing in front of you while you eat your bubbling hot pasty. You should try their fries while you are at it… how good? This good…

If you have no time to sit down… grab your self a take away especially if you are freezing in December… you would be hugging the pasty so hard you never want to go… Butootee insists on grabbing a couple for himself whenever we pass by… there is no compromise when it comes to pasties in his dictionary…

It is one gooooood guilty lunch… Highly Recommended! Get they while they are hot, do not wait for them to cool down… you have been warned!

Starring – Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Mollà, Viola Davis, Paul Dano

The plot involves Roy Miller, a spy who meets June Havers, who’s on her way home to Boston to go to her sister’s wedding. He’s been protecting a young scientist who’s being hunted for his newest invention. Roy’s partner  has gone rogue and is attempting to steal the boy’s invention and sell it on the black market.

Knight and Day is by far one of Tom Cruise’s worst movies ever. The movie was so fake and unrealistic. In my opinion Cameron Diaz was unfit for the role, another actress would have done the job better. Tom Cruise was annoying, especially with his catch phrase, “Don’t worry, I got it”  There were a few laughs during the movie but there were times where I almost fell asleep.

B’s Verdict -

Should you go to the cinema and watch it?  Only if you’re a Tom Cruise fan and have to see it no matter how bad the movie is. I was tricked into doing so because of the Trailer and cast. I left disappointed.

Couple’s Movie?- Yes, So you can fall asleep on your significant other’s shoulder during the boring scenes

Friends Movie ?- Yes

B’s Score – 2.5 / 5

Would B watch it again? No, one time too many.

Filed under: Movies, Reviews

Starring – Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Jordi Mollà, Viola Davis, Paul Dano

The plot involves Roy Miller, a spy who meets June Havers, who’s on her way home to Boston to go to her sister’s wedding. He’s been protecting a young scientist who’s being hunted for his newest invention. Roy’s partner  has gone rogue and is attempting to steal the boy’s invention and sell it on the black market.

Knight and Day is by far one of Tom Cruise’s worst movies ever. The movie was so fake and unrealistic. In my opinion Cameron Diaz was unfit for the role, another actress would have done the job better. Tom Cruise was annoying, especially with his catch phrase, “Don’t worry, I got it”  There were a few laughs during the movie but there were times where I almost fell asleep.

B’s Verdict -

Should you go to the cinema and watch it?  Only if you’re a Tom Cruise fan and have to see it no matter how bad the movie is. I was tricked into doing so because of the Trailer and cast. I left disappointed.

Couple’s Movie?- Yes, So you can fall asleep on your significant other’s shoulder during the boring scenes

Friends Movie ?- Yes

B’s Score – 2.5 / 5

Would B watch it again? No, one time too many.

اهلا بالاعزاء زوار موقع السلطانة ,

شركة فورد من الشركات العريقة في تصنيع السيارت واليوم كانت عندنا فرصة تجربة سيارة

Lincoln-MKX

وهي تعتبر الفئة الفخمة من سيارات فورد وبالأخص سيارة Ford-Edge  والشكر موصول لشركة حمد الوزان لإختيارهم موقع السلطانه لعمل التجربة.  فخلونا نشوف شلون كانت التجربة :

في البداية أحب أبدأ بالمواصفات الرجاليه واسميها رجاليه لأنها تحت غطى المكينه :) , السياره تحتوي على محرك 6 سلندر بحجم 3.5 بقوة  265 حصان.

أما بالنسبة للمواصفات الي تهم الجنس الناعم “المواصفات البناتيه” وهي الشكل وبس

بالنسبه للشكل الخارجي فهو مزيج من النعومه البناتيه والرزانه الرجاليه لتجتمع بطريقة تظهر جاذبية السيارة,

ولعل اكثر ماقد يجذب اي شخص عند مشاهدة السيارة هو إضاءة LED  الخلفيه الممتده لتصل اطراف المركبه ببعضهما البعض من اليمين الى اليسار وعجلات بمقاس 20, وسقف بانوراما يلفت الانتباه بالإضافة الى الاضاءه الاماميه القابله للالتفاف مع حركة المقود لتوفر اضائة كامله للطريق

وننتقل الى الداخليه التي لا تتناغم بصراحه مع جاذبية السيارة الخارجيه فكون السيارة من الفئة الفخمه اول ما قد يلفت الانتباه هو المزيج البسيط بين التخشيبه والنيكل والتي وجدتها بسيطه جدا بالنسبة لديكور سيارة فخمة ، ومع المقصوره الاماميه التي كانت كأي سيارة أخرى تتكون من التبلون المكون من عدادات الضغط والسرعه والوقود وشاشة صغير في الوسط متعددة الوظائف ..  ونرى المقود الذي يحتوي على مجموعة من الأزره الموزعه على طرفي المقود ويمكنك من خلالها تثبيت السرعه والتحكم في مستوى الصوت وتغيير النظام بين الوظائف المتعدده من الراديو ونظام الملاحه التي توفرها الشاشه المتمركزه في الوسط والتي أراها برأيي الشخصي رخيصة في الذوق والمستوى ومع ذلك فإنها تقدم مجموعة من الوظائف المهمه ومنها امكانية تشغيل السي دي والدي في دي ووظائف اخرى إضافية مثل قراءة الميموري كارد ومدخل USB  ومدخل AUX  بحيث تستطيع استخدام الشاشه في استعراض محتويات اي جهاز يتم توصيله في هذه المداخل مثل جهاز iPod  وهذخ الميزة قد تغني عن السي دي في بعض الاحيان

وايضا تحتوي الشاشه على ميزه تدعى Sync  وهو نظام حصري لشركة فورد يوفر للراكب الاتصال باي جهاز يدعم خاصية البلوتوث واعطاء الاوامر الصوتيه للسياره دون الحاجه الى ضغط الازرار والبحث عن ما تريد وقد وجدت صعوبه بصراحه في استخدامها وتعلمها عن طريق “العباثه” فتوجهت الى فورد  لأخذ درس خصوصي عالسريع ووجدت ان لديهم كتيب خاص بتعليمات الخدمه وبعد أن استخدمتها أستطيع أن اقول أنها ميزه ممتعه جدا وتجربة جديده تتفوق فيها سيارات فورد على منافساتها.

ما لفت انتباهي في داخلية السياره هو الإضاءه فحين حل المساء واخذت السياره في جوله مسائيه (رايح راد عالبحر : ) لاحظت ان الاضاءه كانت باللون الوردي تقريبا مما لم يعجبني اطلاقا

ولكن ( مع شويت عباثه وتبحوش ) اكتشفت زر مخفي شنو تتوقعون وظيفته !؟  وظيفة هذا الزر هو تغيير الاضاؤه الداخليه للسياره ففي حال لم تعجبك الاضائه الورديه ( اشكره حق بنات) فتستطيع اختيار اللون الي يعجبك من بين الالوان ( أخضر – اصفر – احمر – ازرق – ابيض – ولا شي خرمس) وان شاء الله ايي يوم يكتشفون زر يغير لون السياره بكبرها :q .

وبعد ما اخترت اللون الازرق(كل شوي حاط لون عالمزاج) اكملت استكشافي للمقصوره الاماميه ولعل اهم ما يجب ذكره هو التحكم الكهربائي في المقاعد الاماميه وايضا تثبيت لوضعية المقعد ووجود تكيف وتدفئه للمقاعد ولكني استغربت ان التحكم في وضعية المقود كانت يدويه!! ومن ثم انتقلت للمقصوره الخلفية التي تتسع لثلات ركاب واجدها تتميز بمساحتها الواسعه على عكس منافساتها والتي تكون أصغر حجما في بعض الاحيان مع توفر فتحات تكييف خلفي للراكبين مع مقاعد قابلة للطي آليا بكبسة زر.

 وننتقل بعد ذلك الى القسم الخلفي الذي يتمتع بمساحة شاسعه مما يجعلها سيارة مميزه لنقل الامتعة وبوابة خلفية تفتح وتغلق آليا .

ومن ناحية الامن والسلامه فقد وفرت سيارة لنكولن لراكبيها انظمة امان مميزه تبدأ بالفرامل (ABS ) والوسائد الهوائية(6وسائد) التي تتمتع بنظام جديد يقوم بقياس الوزن والمسافة بمعنى انه لو كان الراكب وحيدا في المركبه ويجلس على مقربه من المقود فيقوم النظام بحساب هذه المعايير ليوفر للسائق اقصى امان ممكن لتجنب امور مثل انقلاب السياره نتيجة الفرمله المفاجأه ويجنبه الاضرار الناتجه عن الوسائد الهوائيه في حال وقوع حادث ( لا قدر الله) .

رايي الشخصي :

بعد قيادة السيارة أجد أنها تتمتع بقيادة سلسه ومريحة في الطرق وقد وجدت نفسي اختبرها لمدة يوم كامل مابين الطرق المستويه والمتعرجه ( شوارع الكويت وانتوا اخبر فيها ) دون ان اشعر بأي ازعاج من هذه الطرق ولكن ما اقلق راحتي في القياده هو المقاعد فهي من الجلد ولكني لم اقتنع بنوعية الجلد بصراحة فالمقعد كان مريحا ولكني وجدت نفسي اتصبب عرقا في كل مره اركب فيها السياره واضطر الى تشغيل تكييف المقاعد وهي ميزه مهمه جدا كما هو حال التدفئه المتوفره ايضا في هذه السياره  قد يقول البعض انه بسبب الحر الشديد ولكن قد وافقتكم الرأي لولا اني اقود سياره ذات جلد اسود وداخليه سوداء بالكامل وعلاوة على ذلك ليس لدي تكييف للمقاعد ولكني لم امر بمثل هذا الموقف فلذلك انا اشكك في نوعية الجلد  ( يقولون جلد طبيعي الظاهر جسمي مو متعود عالجلد الطبيعيJ ) وايضا  لدي مجموعة من الملاحظات وكل هذه الملاحظات مبنيه على سعر السيارة الذي اجده اذا ما قابلناه بالمواصفات أعلى من المقبول, فالسعر المعلن هو 14000 دينار( وبعد الخصم والمكاسر 13500وطبعا السعر يشمل 6 سنوات كفالة و3 سنوات صيانه مجانية للسياره).

 أجد نفسي افتقد إضاءة الزينون الاماميه والكاميرا الخلفيه وهي ميزه اجدها ضرورية جدا (خاصه للجنس الناعم بدال ما يدعمون الطوف ) كما ان الشاشه لا توحي بأي فخامه ( شغل شارع الزينه يعني) وبصراحه لقيت نفسي اتنرفز من الشاشه فعلاوه على شكلها الشاذ فإستخدامها متعب جدا ووجدت نفسي مع عدة محاولات للتكيف مع السي دي او الدي في دي وبالنهاية اغلق كل شي ( حطيته على مارينا اف ام وبس) وفعلا ان ميزة Sync  تغني عن استخدام الشاشه بشكل يدوي بنسبة 60 % تقريبا لكن تحتاج وقت عشان تتعود عليها وايضا عشان تحفظ الاوامر وللعلم انها لا تقبل الا الاوامر باللغة الانجليزيه (يعني الاغاني لازم تكون مسميها بالانجليزي عشان تطلبها )علاوه على ذلك النظام لا يستوعب اكثر من سي دي واحد فقط  ولو فكرت تشغل دي في دي فراح تتعب اذا كان عندك   Menuوتبي تختار مقطع معين من فلم مثلا ( يعني بإختصار اقترح اعادة النظر بالشاشه ), مع ذلك لا تزال MKX  متميزه بين منافساتها في الرحابه والأداء الجيد ولكن بإعتقادي انه يجب التفكير جديا في تعديل السعر لجذب العديد من الزبائن الباحثين عن ما يتقابل مع احتياجهم.

واتمنى ان تكون هذه الـ Review  مفيدة لكم كما اتمنى انكم قد استمتعتم بقرائتها

Vendetta

I usually visit F&M on my 2nd day of the trip. I love this place… it is in Piccadilly just off Regent Street so it’s merely a walking distance to all the attractions…

With a history dating back to the 1700′s and several royal warrants under it’s belt… it is one place in London where you can feel you are actually in London… you walk through the gorgeous doors to a room with plush carpeting and crystal chandeliers and old wood and glass displays…

F&M always caters the newest and strangest things to be found in the UK… back when Ketchup was unknown, it was sold for the first time in F&M… you walk around in amazement… you see very few Arabs milling around which is a good thing… i don’t think many would waste their times in what they would perceive as an old grocery store… only it’s not a mere grocery store!

Several restaurants are on the premises… their English Tea is something worth trying… they sell every thing from tea, coffee, jam, honey, biscuits, and groceries to books, games, baby stuff, linen, china and many many more! You can visit their website for more information (click here)

I personally am a huge fan of their tea collection and their rose infused tea. Their selection of flavored green tea bags is amazing, the tins of cookies and biscuits are yummy. The packaging is neat and lovely and would make an amazing gift to your family and friends back home…

Stay away from the Smokey Earl Grey though… it’s like drinking a Smoke :S

I love using their stairway! I feel like i am back in time

I was searching for a selection of good quality food paints and color that are also suitable for vegetarians. I found what i wanted in F&M… which was expected given the range of goods you can find in there and no where else!

I can’t wait to bake something and use my new colors *shivers*…

If you are in London… you must must MUST take a stroll around F&M… you will not regret it for it’s a time well spent!

You want a candy cake… but you don’t want to walk all the way to Covent Garden? Head to Kingsly Court instead…

Kingsly court is accessible via Carnaby Street… it doesn’t look very promising from the outisde… but once you step inside you will find your self in the cutest shopping area ever! It’s all steel and greens and lights and noise and movement… shoppers milling about every where … lovely garden in the middle with chairs and tables scattered around it…

You can either start exploring the shops immediately and end up in a coffee shop below or you can rest for a bit then go exploring… either way it is a very nice place to sit and people watch for a while. In the winter time it’s even more charming for every thing is dotted with lights and Christmas decorations.

It’s my Butootee’s favorite place in London. He loves sitting under that tree and having him self a nice Candy Cake while i zoomed around the unique shops. It is THE place to find quirky things to buy as gifts and souvenirs.

Of course not to forget the Candy Cakes sold on the first floor café

Hello Everyone!  It’s been a while since I’ve made review and I’m so glad to have the opportunity to come back and post the newest and the most exciting restaurants review in or outside of Kuwait. Since this is my comeback review, I needed to post something special and totally different so I decided to review a restaurant that many people had seen but didn’t have the chance to try.
Have you ever heard of the “In-n-out” of Saudi Arabia? A few months ago, I went to Mecca with my family. Years and years had passed by and we all enjoyed “Farooj Faqeeh” from Al-6azej but all the fuss over it had gone years ago… so I thought of trying the famously called “Al-Baik” restaurant which specializes in fried chicken…  I haven’t got the chance to try it before so I got on a taxi and asked him to take me the nearest Al-Baik restaurant. When I arrived I couldn’t believe my own eyes when I saw this!

My jaw dropped! How an ugly looking restaurant with an ugly looking logo and colors could get all these people!

The waiting lines are just mad! People standing outside waiting to order…  I seriously thought of going back! But I quickly scratched that idea out of my mind … When I got inside I was shocked! There were 14 cashiers and 14 lines of people! Swiftly, I found myself getting closer and closer until I found myself in front of the cashier who asked me what I wanted to order and I said… give me everything!  He then asked me if I wanted my chicken (3ady) or (7arrag) .. I smiled and said what!? Hehe he said do you want it spicy? :p oh! So 7arrag means spicy! Hehe I said yeah yeah ok… I gave the cashier the money and he gave the receipt and said now go stand over the order pick-up line! What!? Another line! I went over the pick-up counter and saw the order number 192 on the machine…

I looked on my receipt and my eyes almost jumped out!

Almost a hundred order in front of me! Believe it or not, 5 min later I got my order! The numbers were moving so quick in a way that I have never seen it before.
Took a taxi back to the hotel, running to my room hehe, opened the bag, took everything out and started digging!

1-Al-Baik Fillet Nuggets

I tried a few nuggets and I thought they tasted all right nothing spectacular or special.

2- Al-Baik Chicken Fillet

The chicken fillet was nice but yet I’m kind of disappointed.

3- Al-Baik Jumbo Shrimp sandwich

It tasted like a shrimpy’s shrimp with a thousand island sauce. I’m still disappointed.
And then came the big secret…

4- Al- Baik Chicken 4 pieces (7arrag)

When I saw the packaging, to my surprise it didn’t have the best packaging. An aluminum foiled package that you could find in any supermarket. I didn’t care; I just wanted to try the chicken… I grabbed one piece and took a bite…
I am in awe! Now I know why there were huge lines of people trying to buy their chicken… the flavor of the chicken, the crunchiness, the real chicken meat, the spiciness complement each other fantastically!
If you are looking for a great fast food restaurant that serves fantastic chicken pieces… simply, forget KFC and go to Al-Baik!

Since I can have burgers as part of my diet, the burger challenge is back on. My diet says no cheese but once a week I will break it and order my burger with cheese since I am already sacrificing. This weekend I was at Slider Station and I didn’t have the chocolate pudding. Anyone who has had the chocolate pudding there would know how difficult it is to resist but I did it. That was on Saturday, Friday I passed by Nino. I wasn’t planning on trying their burger out but since everything else they had including the grilled stuff had butter in them I decided to go with the burger (salad on the side instead of fries).

I went with the Con Formaggio Burger which is their cheese burger. There is no egg in it even though it looks like it in the picture above, that’s just white and yellow cheese. No one asked me how I wanted my burger done.

I got my burger a short while later and noticed 3 slices of tomatoes under the meat patty which I quickly proceeded to remove since tomatoes sog up the bun. That’s when I also realized they had chopped cabbage underneath tomato mixed with mayonnaise dressing. I quickly proceeded to remove those as well since they shouldn’t be in a gourmet burger. I don’t mind them in a cheap Lebanese style burger that also contains french fries over the thin frozen patty, but on a burger like this, it just feels out of place.

I put my ketchup and took my first bite. The bun is pretty good, soft and tasty. The patty on the other hand was dry. The burger was slightly messy to eat since even though I removed the tomato and mayo cabbage right away it wasn’t fast enough since the bottom bun got soggy. I struggled to come up with a score for it but in the end decided on a 3. I was going to go with a 2.5 but the bun was really good. I guess they’re lucky I’m on a low carb diet and crave bread more than burgers right now (I have dreams of the chocolate bread at The Meat Co.). The price of the burger was reasonable costing KD2.950 but even though I don’t think I would have it again.

Nino is located on the Gulf Road and Avenues.
The cost of the Con Formaggio Burger was KD2.950

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
The Meat Co.
Wimpy

Tucked away in the heart of Covent Garden there is a staircase… taking the steps down to the lower level you will find your self in an open basement area dotted with coffee shops and restaurants…

Scattered every where are outdoorsy tables and in the corner there is always someone playing something… be it the guitar or a violin or maybe just someone on stilts playing… it is in this area where the lovely Candy Cakes Shop resides…

Back in January 2009 i had a small post about the Candy Cakes… i felt i hadn’t done it justice then so i am deleting the old one and posting a new one with better pictures… One of my favorite stops in the heart of London… i love every thing about this quirky tiny place…

The window display is what captures your attention first. Cupcakes have been an international craze for quite some time now… but those cupcakes demand your attention and capture it immediately for their frosting is so smooth and colorful and if you are a person who loves color like i am you will be glued to the window display…

You go inside… it is cave like but painted in bright green… every thing screams funky! I would imagine finding a shop like this in Tokyo if i ever visit! The aroma of the cakes is in the air… and you wait in line, entertained by the lovely items you see hanging all around…

When it’s finally your turn… you don’t know what to choose! You cannot eat all the flavors at once of course… so what will it be?! The double chocolate?!

Maybe? How about the banana and toffee?!

This luscious berry one?! Mmmmm

What to take what to take?!

The decision is even harder now… for other baked goods are just as scrumptious! Will stick to Candy Cakes though…

Their drinks are not bad either… this is the cappuccino i ordered in the last post…

and this is my absolute favorite… the Blueberry Candy Cake… <3

Oh the tables are funky and nice too…

We decided to take a couple of Candy Cakes for takeaway… we had some shops to tend to that lovely day…

Yet we couldn’t resist taking a big box of Candy Cakes for my family… especially given that my baby sister was BBMing me non stop about them…

The box was bought on the day before we went back home… was backed into our hand luggage… and reached q8 fresh, safe, and sound! We had fun eating them at home <3

If you pass by Covent Garden… take 5 minutes to grab your self a Candy Cake… i recommend the Blueberry one… Butootee recoomend the double chocolate one… I will write another post about another place in London that sells the same Candy Cakes insha2 Allah tomorrow :D

Etrayaqtaw?

Ma an9a7kom you continue without breakfast… unless u have something coming on the way…

Do i need to introduce the best pizza in Q8? All of us know about it.. Most of us like it… The little spicy tabasco thing with the smudge of sweet ketchup and the strings of sharp cheese over the softest dough EVER! I love it so much i think it deserves to have a post in the chapter of my childhood memories

There is something always exciting about stepping into a Qaysar branch and waiting in turn to order your pizza! The dozen used to be 1.200 KD and now it has jumped to 1.500 KD… 25% increase in price… but well… if any one deserved the price increase, it’s pizza qaysar frankly!

This plastic bag is always a source of joy for mye! When present it has the power of conjuring up the smell of pizza qaysar in my nostrils…

Ah the pizza box! Smells AMAZING! and it’s usually steaming hot! I remember when we were little kids and my mother would drive us to Qaysar… she always enforced a no food no drink in the car rule… the only exception would be when i walk with the pizza order and she would take the steaming box out of my hands… set it in her lap and open it… distributing hot hot HOT pizzas around for us to eat and actually polishing off half the box before we move again…

And when she would be driving home again… she would extend her hand to me while driving and says ‘give me one pizza’ and she would actually eat it while driving! My mother… the woman that never eats! She could resist all types of food except pizza Qaysar back then!

One memorable characteristic regarding the pizza is that they tend to stack it in the box while very hot and doughy… when you open the box you would find the pizza’s stuck together whether dough to dough or by the melting cheese… i <3 when that happens because it means i get to have a chain of pizza’s <3

Once as a teenager… i was a bit chubby and my mother tried to put me on a diet… my late aunt Allah yer7amha who loved pizza qaysar maybe more than anyone else in q8 had just gotten a promotion and she brought us dinner to our zwara to celebrate… i remember a particularly large box of qaysar pizza that had a lovely pizza chain of 5 pizza’s stuck together… i picked it up and grinned… she grinned back at me and my mom tried to stop me eating it… but my aunt stepped in and let me have my chain of pizza that night

I am sure each and every one of us has a story to share about their pizza Qaysar memories… do comment about it please :p

and here is the melted cheese i was talking about…

Jumbled up and melted… just the way i like them <3

Of course Qaysar is not only known for it’s awsome pizza… it sell the most amazing za3tar pizza EVER!

The only bad thing about their za3tar pizza is that it’s almost always not available. If you are willing to wait they will make it in 20 minutes… the za3tar is so tangy and they add one green olive in the middle… it is out of this world… if i want to make my baby sister happy i will bring her a box of those…

They also sell sandwiches…  my grandmother loves their chicken sandwich so much we have to get her some whenever we pass by to visit! I like their falafel ones but the bread of the sandwich is too thick for my taste.. .people don’t seem to mind though

Their mini croissants and their puff pastries filled with cheddar cheese are also favored guilty treats of mine… oooh and the round dough balls filled with Kiri cheese they sell by the dozen!!! another national favorite!

One more thing worth mentioning is… though Qaysar has expanded with branches every where and many other shops sell copycats of their pizza… … Qaysar pizza differs in taste from one branch to anther… the best pizza is to be found in Qurtoba Branch… Followed closely by the Qadsiya branch… but it’s always the Qurtoba branch for me unless i am near Qadsiya… the difference in taste is worth the effort of going to Qurtoba… trust me on this one!

So… when will you be having some Qaysar pizza :p

Happy Weekend Every One

After a long day spent shopping in London, there is nothing better than a hearty English Afternoon Tea for a quick energy boost! and my favorite Afternoon Tea is the one served at Harvey Nichs 5th floor café.

Their Afternoon Tea is served from 3 – 6 P.M.  We choose the Fifth Floor afternoon tea stand which is this modern stand with a selection of sandwiches, pastries, fruit scones, jam, and clotted cream with a pot of tea of your selection. Ours is always Earl Grey’s!

The stand costs only £13.95 and is enough for 3-4 girls (or one man and his wife) … the goodies are freshly baked and delicious… and the atmosphere is casual and relaxed! You can take your time buttering your scone and sipping your tea and chatting about your day… fighting about where to go next and who will go with whome and who should carry all your shopping bags

There is more than enough to go around for seconds… you like pastries? it’s there… brownies? Macaroons? in the mood for something sweet or savory? just pick it up from the stand and have a bite…

We always ask for our sandwiches to be vegetarian and egg free -Butootee is allergic to eggs- the vegetarian options include Hummus and Black olives on brown toast and Cream Cheese and Cucumbers on brown toast…

I recommend visiting it after making the trip to the V&A… followed by a bit of shopping and a stroll in the park… shopping in the food hall is not to be missed too… i get a lot of my cooking ingredients from the food halls dotted around London <3

While i am on the subject of  Café Rouge in London… let me tell you about my 2nd favorite dessert on their menu: Trio de Crème Brûlée.

If you love Crème Brûlée you will be ecstatic with this… the menu describes it as “The dessert for the ultimate crème brûlée fan! A selection of three different crème brûlée –fresh raspberry, dark chocolate and classic vanilla” … i must add here that they are miniature in size, two spoonfuls and it’s gone…

I usually gorge myself with Crème Brûlée whenever i travel since it’s impossible to get a decent Crème Brûlée in Q8! The last time i had one, it was basically vanilla pudding sprinkled with sugar on top… the only exception to this is the Vermicelli Crème Brûlée in Le Notre -my favorite dessert of all time- but again it’s more Kanafa then Crème Brûlée… The picture above is of the miniature vanilla one… it is very good on it’s own…

The dark chocolate one… i have to say that this one is my least favorite of the Trio… it’s good… but not as good as the next one…

Ah now that’s my favorite! The raspberry is both sweet and tangy… it’s rough slightly baked texture goes really really well with the creamy custard and the crunchy sugar coat… a feast of textures for your palette in every sense!

Highly recommended… after the Tart Tatin of course

Filed under: Food, London, Recomendations, Restaurants, Reviews, Things I like, Things I Miss, Things to Do in London, Travel Tagged: Café Rouge, Crème Brûlée

While i am on the subject of  Café Rouge in London… let me tell you about my 2nd favorite dessert on their menu: Trio de Crème Brûlée.

If you love Crème Brûlée you will be ecstatic with this… the menu describes it as “The dessert for the ultimate crème brûlée fan! A selection of three different crème brûlée –fresh raspberry, dark chocolate and classic vanilla” … i must add here that they are miniature in size, two spoonfuls and it’s gone…

I usually gorge myself with Crème Brûlée whenever i travel since it’s impossible to get a decent Crème Brûlée in Q8! The last time i had one, it was basically vanilla pudding sprinkled with sugar on top… the only exception to this is the Vermicelli Crème Brûlée in Le Notre -my favorite dessert of all time- but again it’s more Kanafa then Crème Brûlée… The picture above is of the miniature vanilla one… it is very good on it’s own…

The dark chocolate one… i have to say that this one is my least favorite of the Trio… it’s good… but not as good as the next one…

Ah now that’s my favorite! The raspberry is both sweet and tangy… it’s rough slightly baked texture goes really really well with the creamy custard and the crunchy sugar coat… a feast of textures for your palette in every sense!

Highly recommended… after the Tart Tatin of course

If you pass by Pret this summer… you will notice a new addition on their hot wrap sections “The Italian Pizza Hot Wrap”talian Cheese, Mozzarella, Chilli Tomato Sauce, Olives, Roasted Tomatoes, Oregano, Red Pepper & Seasoning in a Pret Tortilla Wrap”

I already am in love with their spicy falafel wrap. I had the pleasure of trying the Italian Pizza wrap when i was there and i have to tell you it is worth every bite… ooozing cheese, salty olives, the red peppers give the whole thing a sweet edge… it is so so good you would want to grab yourself another one right after you devour the first one… one is not enough

Do you love Mexican Food? Then you will love absolutely LOVE Wahaca!

One of the sad things about the Q8y culinary scene is the lack of a good wholesome Mexcian restaurant. If you are a fan of Mexican food, i highly recommend you try this restaurant the next time you are in London! Seeing that most of Q8 is heading there anyways, i thought i would share my experience with you…

Wahaca has more than one location in London: Covent Garden, Wesfield Mall, and Canary Wharf. Since we were at Westfield Mall on a lovely cloudy May day we decided to stop by Wahaca for lunch…

Given that the restaurant is located in the Garden Terrace it was an amazing spot for people watching (our favorite hobby in Q8!) so we took a seat outside over looking the terrace path and the waterfall like fountain…

We took a look at the menu. We chose Guacamole & Tortilla Chips to start with then the Summer Vegetable Tacos and the Summer Vegetable Burrito. Here is a link to their menu

Diet coke was the choice for drinks…

Our starter came… and it did not disappoint…

The guacamole was really light and we didn’t feel weighed down after cleaning the tin can and the plate

Then the tacos arrived… grazing our table with their presence. Their description on the menu was “Three soft corn tortillas with Lightly sautéed courgettes, tomatoes and spinach with fresh tarragon, mint, feta and chipotle salsa.”

So tiny… so soft… lots of flavors for such a tiny bite but it worked! the Feta cheese gave the whole combination a kick because it works really well with all those herbs involved! If you are hungry, order 3 of this dish or choose the Wahaca Taco Selection platter…

The Summer Vegetable Burrito was also really good! In the menu it is described as “Toasted flour tortillas wrapped around delicious fillings of Lightly sautéed courgettes, tomatoes and spinach with fresh tarragon, mint, feta and chipotle salsa.. With black beans, shredded cabbage, green rice, crema & totopos.”

It came with a side of Fresh Tomato Salsa and chips… fresh it was indeed!

Though the filling of the Burrito is essentially the same as the filling of the Tacos, the resemblance in taste ended right there! The Burrito was HUGE we had to cut it with a knife as no one would be able to bite that beast!

I usually disapprove of eating rice inside a Burrito, i did miss ordering it without the rice but you know what? It works! It was really really good! I had to stop my self polishing off the thing… not for diet purposes mind you the moment i get on the plane i through my diet out of the window… it is because of what coming next…

What comes next you say?! Churros!!! Yes  CHURROS! with a Chocolate Dip! The highlight of that glorious day!

I love Churros! I miss churros! They used to sell them once upon a time in KNCC theaters but they stopped -stupid move, would someone bring them back plz?- and this order came with 3 pieces of churros and a side of yummy chocolate dip… so what did we do?!

Fingers sticky with sugar granules and chocolate… we each had one… then we both sat there eying the third piece! We were already too full but we still wanted that piece… problem was no one was willing to share it with the other! It had to be all or nothing…

Who won the last piece? It doesn’t really matter at this point

Therefore you can see why i am recommending Wahaca to you…

One final note regarding this place is they have excellent customer service! In my case if i dare touch a Jalapeño pepper, i would be lying in bed with the worst abdominal pain ever! So i emailed the restaurant in advance and asked them which items in the menu that come with Jalapeño so i should avoid it… before the day was over i got a reply with a detailed menu items that do in fact contain Jalapeños… Thank you Ms. C. for all your help… i did truly enjoy my Wahaca Experience and will definitely be visiting again

Wherever you go in London you find this new Starbucks Latte… i know that chilled and bottled or canned Starbucks drinks have been around for a while but this is different… it tastes really good with the perfect mix of coffee and chocolate and is great if you are on the go and must grab something ASAP… plus it’s only 130 calories!

Maybe someday we will find it in TSC…  i will try to order it via Lets Ask and see

Every time i open the TV in London i find some ad about a new range of mini dessert pots… the ad is so lovely and summery with bubbles and lots of happy faces, it made me go and check out the new summer mini dessert cups @ M&S

To my surprise all the mini desserts were available except the Key Lime Pie one? The last box has been snatched by the lady standing in front of me. I went again the next day a bit earlier and guess what? Not one box is left?! over a period of three days i went back and forth to no avail. Apparently people are going crazy of the mini dessert pots, specifically the Key Lime one! I had to get my hands on one of those and see what the fuss is all about?!

I went in as soon as they opened on Sunday morning and to my surprise there were not many boxes left! At least i got my self one and went back home to try it after a bit of shopping… the description on the box states that each pot is ‘Ginger Crumbs Layering with tangy Lime Cream and Lime Flavored Flood’… i guess flood is another word for Jelly?! I must find out one day…

The three tiny pots were on a black stand. As lime green is my favorite color, i spent a lot of time jut looking at the “Flood” and admiring it’s lovely hue!

If you happen to find it… snatch it and try it! Let me know how it turns out

I’ve been meaning to order something from “The-Manhattan” and yet I kept putting that off until recently when I saw that they had the famous “FootzyRolls” available at an awesome pricing scheme and available ahead of their re-launch of their website (sad that the website was down once we got paid LOL!)

Anywho, so late one night I decided to hell with it, I want a pair and I always always get stuck when going out in my heels since I hate walking in them, so let me paint you a regular picture that I experience most of the time.

Every other Thursday after work I decide to go to the movies with my Aunt and sister (sometimes we include the kids) after work.  Anyways so I don’t get a chance to go back home and change out of my work clothes but since most of the time I’m in smart casual it’s fine.  But my only problem is that I wear heels to work and I can’t really work in flats because (it’s against the dress code HAH!) anyways back to the main story.  So I go to the mall and start walking to reach the cinema and that really is painful and so I keep on wishing I had some of my flats to wear but where would I stuff them.

[Footzyrolls enter the scene]

That’s where the Footzyrolls show their true colors, and that’s where they did, a few weeks ago in 360 Mall I was walking in painful shoes I got fed up and luckily enough I had my Footzyrolls in my bag, I took them out, unrolled them slipped them on, and I was in instant heaven.  It was really awesome walking in them! I could go on for ages.  It was right then and there that I decided this was the best invention ever and I have kept those shoes in my bag ever since!

So, back to The-Manhattan, I placed the order late one night, and I got a confirmation email earlier the next morning saying they would be delivered that same day at 4-8 and for me to provide them with an address.  And literally that was it.  It was so simple so easy I loved it! So to The-Manhattan team I would like to commend you on a job well done and I’d love to tell you to please go ahead and keep up the great work!  And to my Footzyrolls I wanna say “I love you soles!”

For more info please contact them here:

Website: http://www.the-manhattan.net

http://the-manhattan.weebly.com

Email: Info@the-manhattan.net

I’ve been meaning to order something from “The-Manhattan” and yet I kept putting that off until recently when I saw that they had the famous “FootzyRolls” available at an awesome pricing scheme and available ahead of their re-launch of their website (sad that the website was down once we got paid LOL!)

Anywho, so late one night I decided to hell with it, I want a pair and I always always get stuck when going out in my heels since I hate walking in them, so let me paint you a regular picture that I experience most of the time.

Every other Thursday after work I decide to go to the movies with my Aunt and sister (sometimes we include the kids) after work.  Anyways so I don’t get a chance to go back home and change out of my work clothes but since most of the time I’m in smart casual it’s fine.  But my only problem is that I wear heels to work and I can’t really work in flats because (it’s against the dress code HAH!) anyways back to the main story.  So I go to the mall and start walking to reach the cinema and that really is painful and so I keep on wishing I had some of my flats to wear but where would I stuff them.

[Footzyrolls enter the scene]

That’s where the Footzyrolls show their true colors, and that’s where they did, a few weeks ago in 360 Mall I was walking in painful shoes I got fed up and luckily enough I had my Footzyrolls in my bag, I took them out, unrolled them slipped them on, and I was in instant heaven.  It was really awesome walking in them! I could go on for ages.  It was right then and there that I decided this was the best invention ever and I have kept those shoes in my bag ever since!

So, back to The-Manhattan, I placed the order late one night, and I got a confirmation email earlier the next morning saying they would be delivered that same day at 4-8 and for me to provide them with an address.  And literally that was it.  It was so simple so easy I loved it! So to The-Manhattan team I would like to commend you on a job well done and I’d love to tell you to please go ahead and keep up the great work!  And to my Footzyrolls I wanna say “I love you soles!” :P

For more info please contact them here:

Website: http://www.the-manhattan.net

http://the-manhattan.weebly.com

Email: Info@the-manhattan.net

This time when i was in London i found out that Pret A Manager had introduced 3 new flavors of pre packaged skinny popcorn and i decided to try the Chocolate one since i am already in love with the salty one.

I am the kind of person who likes her pop corn to be plain with salt and nothing else, not even butter…. but the Chocolate pop corn was AMAZING! There are thin drizzles of chocolate on top of the pop cornat, the chocolate isn’t really that sweet, it smells AMAZING and tastes really really REALLY good! I even experimented with emptying a sachet of salt into half the bag of popcorn… it was even better!

The good news is that it will not be crushed or affected at all if you ship it with your luggage. It’s the perfect soo’3a for the Q8y’s at home and it’s only 200 Calories per bag! It took me 3 days to eat one bag by the way! Each bag costs £0.90

Fan of SATC? Can’t get enough and want to soak every little detail of your beloved characters?

This book, by Candace Bushnell,  is the thing for you!

I saw this book on my recent trip to the UK, since i wouldn’t make it to the opening of the SATC2 movie i thought i would get a consolation and read it. It is the story of Carrie Bradshaw on her last year of high school and  how did she end up in NYC.

My opinion? It was an extremely easy read, very tame and innocent and moderately entertaining. While reading it I keep reminding my self that i am reading about Carrie Bradshaw and i associate SJP face to the heroin so i wouldn’t feel like reading a Baby Sitters Club book. and it doesn’t really answer much questions and sometimes you would like to slap Carrie on her face and tell her to toughen up. Thank god we are not in high school anymore! I would have also liked to tell her friend Maggie to grow up and get a life -so so maleqa o such a drama queen- and the bag on the cover with the Carrie written in pink is actually a nice twist on the story and means something. You must read the book to find out what

So if you want a quick read or something to pass the time before the SATC2 movie is out, this is the book for you.

Filed under: Books, Q8, Recomendations, Reviews, Things I like Tagged: Candace Bushnell, Carrie Bradshaw, SATC, The Carrie Diaries

Fan of SATC? Can’t get enough and want to soak every little detail of your beloved characters?

This book, by Candace Bushnell,  is the thing for you!

I saw this book on my recent trip to the UK, since i wouldn’t make it to the opening of the SATC2 movie i thought i would get a consolation and read it. It is the story of Carrie Bradshaw on her last year of high school and  how did she end up in NYC.

My opinion? It was an extremely easy read, very tame and innocent and moderately entertaining. While reading it I keep reminding my self that i am reading about Carrie Bradshaw and i associate SJP face to the heroin so i wouldn’t feel like reading a Baby Sitters Club book. and it doesn’t really answer much questions and sometimes you would like to slap Carrie on her face and tell her to toughen up. Thank god we are not in high school anymore! I would have also liked to tell her friend Maggie to grow up and get a life -so so maleqa o such a drama queen- and the bag on the cover with the Carrie written in pink is actually a nice twist on the story and means something. You must read the book to find out what

So if you want a quick read or something to pass the time before the SATC2 movie is out, this is the book for you.

Have i mentioned before that i adore Dorothy Koomson? Only once before regrettably.

I have read and loved every one of her books. I love her style of writing, i love her jumbled story telling time line. I love the slaps of reality in between the lines: this is life take it or leave it.

So when i found that there was a new book by her, published in 18 February 2010 and i didn’t still read it, i was mad with my self. For the past 36 hours all i did was read this book. got immersed in it. wanted to skip sleeping since i couldn’t tear my self away from it -couldn’t though- and cried like a little baby at some of it pages.  and wished from all my heart that i had what it takes to write a story as good as hers and have it published… to have the power to force you to re asses your life and think of the stupid mistakes you have done and if you are still using those mistakes as a hanger for every failure you may encounter in your life…

Not to mention that the title has gotten me craving ice cream so so badly!

Highly recommended. I once thought that good night beautiful was her 2nd best after my best friends girl, but i am not that sure now, i think it is a tie between The Ice Cream Girls and Goodnight Beautiful.

Here is the official book description

“At only eighteen years of age, Poppy and Serena were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate and scrutiny, the two glamorous teens were dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Girls’ by the press and forced to go their separate ways and to lead very different lives. Twenty years later, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while married mother-of-two Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried – and if theirs is revealed, their lives will start to unravel all over again …Gripping, thought-provoking and heart-warming, The Ice Cream Girls will make you wonder if you can ever truly know the people you love.”

and you can read the first chapter of the story here

If you have already read it, let me know. If you do read it in the future, let me know what you think

If there is one thing from Dubai that must be brought to Kuwait, that would be mOre cafe! The place is AMAZING! Modern, quirky, wholesome good food, spacious, buzzing, generous portions, super fast and friendly staff, amazing service, foreign crowd who keep to themselves and DO NOT stare or over dress, and so reasonably priced it’s almost too cheap!

What more can you ask for?! Let me show you what i mean…

The setting is modern and spacious… i like this style a lot…

This huge heavy round table is hanging from the wall by wires… adds a nice touch to the modern atmosphere… if you shake it though it will sway right and left… keep away if you are as clumsy as me :p

I snapped this shot while we were waiting for our orders to arrive… behind the smiley face is where they sell their pastries and cakes and fresh breads to go <3

Espresso and Watermelon Juice to start…

My full English breakfast… no tomatoes for me or sausages of course… it was goooooood

Butootee had the Arabian breakfast… with chai 7leeb & OJ… it took us a loong time to polish off and it was really good <3

I once had a commentor on my Nespresso post saying that the cups i use are not coffee cups and why do i use them? The answer is, many cafes abdroad, like mOre cafe, use them for beverages and they are always so comfy and big! I liked the concept and started doing the same!

and we couldn’t resist a slice of this raspberry cheesecake <3

mOre cafe is worth getting on a plane and travelling all the way there just to have lunch and back… it is THAT good… someone SHOULD franchise them or something

I <3 you, mOre cafe!

I found this *new* bottled water in Jabriya Co-Op while shopping for groceries! It’s bottled water all right but with drops of lega7 water… perfect for days when your stomach is hurting and you cannot go home to rest! Just grab a bottle and drink it… I <3 my lega7 and this bottled water is just what i need to help me complete my 8 glasses a day water quota… tastes pretty good too

I spotted Villa Fairuz’s Sign on the new mysterious addition to the Avenues… right next to P.F. Changs entrance… apparently it is going to be opening soon

I <3 villa Fairuz… i cannot wait for it to open! I also hope the non-sheesha seating area is not placed in a dingy corner at the back of the restaurant…

Filed under: Life, News, Q8, Recomendations, Restaurants, Reviews, Things I like, Things i’m waiting for!

I spotted Villa Fairuz’s Sign on the new mysterious addition to the Avenues… right next to P.F. Changs entrance… apparently it is going to be opening soon

I <3 villa Fairuz… i cannot wait for it to open! I also hope the non-sheesha seating area is not placed in a dingy corner at the back of the restaurant…

After reading Ansam’s Lime Tree Cafe Breakfast post, i was a bit nostalgic so i decided to fetch my own lime tree breakfast pictures and share them in a post… if you have not been there already, you MUST! They have the BEST carrot cake… i mean it. We have never tasted anything like it before and it’s totally worth ruining your diet for…

So here goes… my breakfast was the carrot cake and this yummy cup of cappucino

Butootee my hubby had the English Breakfast…

Scrambled Eggs, Hash Browns, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Baked Beans, and a Big Fat Juicy Sausage here is another shot… also a very refreshing watermelon drink

Why did we take pictures that day?

It was a lovely October morning… breezy yet sunny and not at all humid. Early morning, no one was awake in Dubai yet except for some foreign early birds… every one minding their own business… we sat outside, good food, quiet surrounding, no one staring at you… every one in jeans and sweats…

Then we look up and we see this…

Etyanin mo? She was so so relaxed… and making faces… and right above our heads

If there was any indication on how relaxing the place was… it’s this cat!

In fact, the only one making noise that day was me snapping pictures and cooing over the cat

I should go back to Dubai soon!

Lime Tree Cafe Breakfast… highly recommended…

I was just sitting down with my cup of tea, ready to relax and enjoy the rest of my evening after a long day… I flip through the channels and there i find the movie No Reservation on Show Movies… i <3 that movie and it had just started… i watch, very happy, very absorbed in the movie… in the most important part of the movie where she gets news her sister is in an accident wellah… whooooops!

Bela E7em, wala Destoor, wala warning… the screen goes blank! WTH? Then the msg above comes and it starts downloading! Hello?! I was WATCHING HERE…! What if  i was recording the movie? It it took a few minutes to download whatever they were downloading… but by the time the movie came back on… the woman had died and the cook had gone back to the restaurant!!!

and do you know what happened after the glorious update?

ALL MY FAVORITES WERE WIPED! anything that is not a showtime channel on the FAVORITE is WIPED! I had to go through the 700 channels ALL OVER AGAIN!

and still no ALWATAN!

Can i call 7mayat il mostahlek for them?!

Filed under: Catastrophy, Q8, Reviews, Sad, Thing that annoy me!, Things I hate!, Things that do not MAKE SENSE!, Things to Ponder, TV Tagged: OSN Reciever

I was just sitting down with my cup of tea, ready to relax and enjoy the rest of my evening after a long day… I flip through the channels and there i find the movie No Reservation on Show Movies… i <3 that movie and it had just started… i watch, very happy, very absorbed in the movie… in the most important part of the movie where she gets news her sister is in an accident wellah… whooooops!

Bela E7em, wala Destoor, wala warning… the screen goes blank! WTH? Then the msg above comes and it starts downloading! Hello?! I was WATCHING HERE…! What if  i was recording the movie? It it took a few minutes to download whatever they were downloading… but by the time the movie came back on… the woman had died and the cook had gone back to the restaurant!!!

and do you know what happened after the glorious update?

ALL MY FAVORITES WERE WIPED! anything that is not a showtime channel on the FAVORITE is WIPED! I had to go through the 700 channels ALL OVER AGAIN!

and still no ALWATAN!

Can i call 7mayat il mostahlek for them?!

My dear husband Butootee got all excited when he heard about the new OSN reciever thing. You give them a call and they bring you a brand new HD reciever that works without a card, free of charge. Your old card would render useless afterwards but you are supposed to be happy with your new reciever.

He was happy! He thought the new HD receiver would be like the Sky receiver we have in the UK, amazing receiver! So he called, against my wishes, the next day the reciever was there… and now he is sorry he called.

Why?

First of all, when we had the card we were more portable, we could take the card and watch OSN wherever we felt like in the house. Of course now we can’t.

Second, we used to have a Humax reciever. It is a good reciever. We used to have 4 different favorites categories, one for serieses, one for news, one for cartoons, and one for movies.

Now we have only one favorite. In order to navigate it we must go through too many buttons, if you press on the OK button too hard you will go to the main viewing page and you have to do it all over again. It is a hassle to go through ALLL the channels in the favorites to get only one… i liked my previous categorization better.

Third, whenever we wanted a new channel, we would search for it alphabetically. If its there we add it, if its not? Well we search for it.

With the new OSN thing, you are NOT allowed to search and add new channels. If there is a channel available THEY will add it for you. It wouldn’t be too bad if they had INCLUDED AL WATAN TV in their list of channels! THERE IS NO ALWATAN! Alwatan is ON NILE SAT yet it is NOT INCLUDED! Now i cannot watch taw il lail, wala news, wala banat o bs! Why on earth would you NOT INCLUDE ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR TV CHANNELS IN Q8 is BEYOND ME!

We called complaining, they said many people called them to ask for Alwatan (you think?) and that they will be talking to someone in UAE to add it to the list of channels? Wallah?

I didn’t check other channels… but i think Scope is not included there. Whether you like it or not, it’s not the point… the point is i AM PAYING MONEY to view whatever i want… NOT TO BE RESTRICTED by your new Reciever

The interface is not that good either. The font is too small i have to squint to read the info, the white background hurts my eyes and the reciever HANGS A LOT… every few minutes something would go wrong… i hate this thing, i want to chuck it out of my window and keep using my old Humax… oh and to get the Showtime HD channel? Pay $5 more on your subscription… HA as if! i am already paying too much for your service… i will not be paying one more cent!

If you are wise, you would say no thank you, i don’t want it…  it’s slow, it’s restrictive, it has only 700 channels that you have no say over, and unless you pay that extra $5 a month you won’t really get much out of it aside from a high blood pressure…

*Warning* Have Some Chocolate Besides you B4 u C the Pix, Or else…

My adoring relationship with Hotel Chocolat goes back a long time… i discovered it 2005 in the UK and had immediately fallen in Love <3… Giant slabs of swirly chocolate to nibble on, chocolate dippers that i would dunk into my hot cup of Tetley tea and then slurp on… i used to bring back home a huge amount of chocolate from Hotel Chocolat for my own cunsumption… as seen by one of my old pictures below… this was in 2005 if i am not mistaken… can you count the number of Hotel Chocolat Products :p

So i had been more than ecstatic to hear that Hotel Chocolat had actually opened up in AlKout mall!!! No need to order online just to satisfy my longing!!! I had to check it out!!! So last Saturday, the day of the storm, we waited until the skies were clear and we drove all the way to AlKout just to pay them a visit…

At first glance the store is tiny! very very tiny indeed! I was lucky it was not crowded at all so i could roam it freely… it was a bit of a tight squeeze with two friendly sales persons and my husband around but … well i don’t care the goods are there and i can buy them right?!

This center table was taking up a lot of the store space, plus it was hard to navigate around… espeacially given that i went into the store so fast i almost slammed into it in my scramble to check out the stock… now lets see… they have those giant chocolate slabs, 10 KD each, you can take it for a gathering or a zwara and have the family eat from it and it won’t finish!

The Rocky Road slab and the Caramellow slab! Caramellow slab has pieces of the Caramel Canapes inside it <3 what are caramel canapes? Those are…

I was so happy they stock those! One of my favorite Hotel Chocolat products! Caramel Canapes used to be a regular in my Aramex British Inbox back in the days when i used Aramex, when i go to the UK i must stock on them… they are so good… how good? when it first came out in 2007/2008, i bought a little bag for my parents to share, and they fought over it! That’s how good… it’s chewy and sweet and caramellee and very very yum… i do not recommend the hot chocolate powder ‘Liquid Chocolate’… i tried all the flavors before and it ain’t good!

Back to the slabs, there are miniature virsions the size of a human palm, you can buy one for 2.600 KD or 3 for 2.100 each… many assorted flavors are available of course, pictured here are the Cookie Creme ones my husband was checking out…

or you can buy the little plastic box of six pieces… and mix and match with the slabs to make a multiple of 3′s for the discount! Again many assorted flavors available… not all of them are in Q8 though and many of them change with time, but my absolute favorite of all time is the Cesar ones which i bought of course…

There are also lovely boxed sets of chocolates that you can use as gifts… here is a hint for you, if you ever want to give me a gift to make me happy, a box of these would totally make my day *hint hint HINT 4 some 1 *

This is the ULTIMATE chocolate gift to give… the box is HUGE! and what does it contain?!

this…

Oh La La

If you love chocolate, or are a desperate chocoholic like poor moi, you must head to AlKout to get your fix…

It is also very user friendly, it tells you what chocolate is vegetarian and what contains alcohol and not…

Now… what is missing?!

The Fondue Chocolate Set AKA Big Dipping Adventure.. just microwave the pots and dip to your hearts content!

The chocolate Spread… AMAZING with bananas… it contains little crunchy nuts that makes you go Ga Ga for…

The prices are fine… considering it is not really cheap in the UK and that i did pay a fortune on shipping, so they are relatively reasonable…

For more about Hotel Chocolat in the UK, Click here to visit their website…

and yes… it is worth the trip to AlKout…

I received a wrong order from AMAZON UK today and it’s not the first time.

I ordered Converse All Star Chuck Taylor slim leather low in WHITE [link] but I received it in BLACK! It says WHITE in the product page, it even says WHITE on the box too!

How convenient… B@stards.

I received a wrong order from AMAZON UK today and it's not the first time.

I ordered Converse All Star Chuck Taylor slim leather low in WHITE [link] but I received it in BLACK! It says WHITE in the product page, it even says WHITE on the box too!





How convenient... B@stards.

Slapperella very kindly invited me for an early birthday present to a massage at the Elements Spa at the Royale Hyatt Hospital. I have posted before about how much I like the RH services - both as a hospital and as a Pampering Palace. The women’s hospital is managed by Banyan Tree Resorts and everything is Thai-tranquil. Very relaxing.I had a hot stone massage. Slaps went in for the stretchy kind

Slapperella very kindly invited me for an early birthday present to a massage at the Elements Spa at the Royale Hyatt Hospital. I have posted before about how much I like the RH services - both as a hospital and as a Pampering Palace. The women’s hospital is managed by Banyan Tree Resorts and everything is Thai-tranquil. Very relaxing.I had a hot stone massage. Slaps went in for the stretchy kind

The visit before my last, I was so disappointed and distracted all the time by how Marina Mall has turned into, and I can only guess it relates to the Avenues invasion. Each parking lot has small sign before it, that would seem like handicapped parking only at first. Corridors were filled with booths from all kinds, some even blocking the outside view of some shops. restaurant tables are all covered with company ads. Well that last one might seem ok, but over all you get the feeling they’re sacrificing quality for short-term profits.

This last Wednesday however, I’ve seen the worst of all. Big chunk of the booths are gone, but on one of the sides, this is what I saw.

Yes, this is inside Marina Mall. I looked at it today in disbelief again. How could they allow it to go this low? Is there no limit to how bad the mall can get if it makes few extra bucks today, never mind tomorrow?

Sad really.

Tip: Search Kuwaiti sites using Q8Ba7th.com

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From the creators of Planet Earth, one of the most astonishing, and I would say best, documentaries ever made, and also the creators of Blue Planet, comes the new highly anticipated documentary, “Life”.

Item is already available for pre-order on Amazon, and ofcourse such quality only deserves the Bluray version. But BEWARE. I was surprised to see the item starred 1 only.

But if you look closely, you realize this is all because of the narrator. Oprah Winfrey? Seriously? There is no one else more qualified to narrate the most anticipated documentary of the year than her? The thing is good enough to stand by it self without celebrities polishing it, and what you want is the best in this field… Get the David Attenborough version.

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Two words... Angry Birds. If you have an iPhone, iPod, or even Nokia N900 you probably have heard about this addictive game. If you haven't then you have no idea what you're missing.

Angry Birds is a funny challenging logic game involving lots of destruction. With cartoon-like graphics, unique gameplay, perfectly composed soundtracks and hilarious sound effects this outstanding game is definitely the best of the best on the iPhone.

Don't get me wrong I am not promoting the game I'm just admitting how good it is. I also want to brag about it too. Yes you read right, BRAG! I've succeeded in becoming number one on Kuwait leader board managing three stars in all levels and completing the game %100.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast. But I'm like hot butter on your breakfast toast." -Someone.

Now that I have documented my success and got that competitive obsession out of me feel free to knock my off the leader board because I quit. :)

This shows how convenient^-1 Kuwait postal service and airport cargo are...


Lately I started ordering directly to Kuwait without having Aramex ripping my pockets off. It takes less time to get my packages delivered and in most times it costs even less but that's limited to my options on the seller's site. Though on this unique occasion I had ordered two packages separately, one was posted on 19/2/2010 and the other was on 1/3/2010. Both packages were carried by UK Royal Mail and been forwarded overseas to Kuwait Postal Service for delivery.

The funny part is, the second package that was shipped almost two weeks later than the first one had been delivered on March 5 2010 while the first package whereabouts is still unknown. I went to KPS at Keifan, gave them the reference number and after 20 minutes the guy came back telling me they haven't received it yet, "It might still be at airport cargo or your local postal service office" he said.

All in good will I went to airport cargo asking around about my package only to find out that they have no way of knowing whether it has been collected by KPS or not. I realized I've wasted two and a half hours of my life and half a tank of gas through traffic jam on absolutely nothing.

If anyone knows how to track shipments forwarded to Kuwait postal service please enlighten me on how to understand this mess.

Bemonasabat il Jaww il badee3… eshwayat isferee ma 3leeh… i am remembering last Thursday’s breakfast in Marina Mall… Jaw Amazing… Casper & Gambini’s Morning Bundle was so so good… mini platters of everything you want and it’s enough for two to share…

Enjoy your Weekend… if the weather gets better tomorrow i highly recommend it

This year marks the year where lots of new TV Shows come up to replace old existing ones, ones that were cancelled, or that ran through their regular time.  Unfortunately we’ve got some new shows that won’t make it but I am hoping that this one does.  The same day that Marzouq (Zdistrict) posted about it, was the day I had just finished downloading all 11 episodes based on the recommendation made to me by my sisters.

This show is AWESOME! I am in love and Neal Caffrey is HOT HOT HOT! I sure love hot male leads and they make watching any type of show so much easier (read: Heroes, Las Vegas, Chuck, Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, The Vampire Diaries, etc) so what’s the story behind this show you ask? Well I’ll give you a brief summary:

The show is basically depicting a partnership made by a convicted con artist Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) and an FBI agent Peter Burke (Time DeKay) the same guy who caught him 4 years ago and put him in jail.  With 4 months left on his sentence he escapes from a maximum-security prison to find his long-lost love, unfortunately she made a run for it and who is there to catch him all over again? Yes you guessed it correctly, Peter Burke.  Rather than returning to jail, Neal makes a suggestion to Burke in which he will provide all his criminal expertise to assist the FBI in catching criminals in exchange for his eventual freedom.  If they had not made that deal then he would’ve gone back in the slammer for another 4 years, however they took that deal and now you get to see the beautiful world of “White Collar” and how con artists + FBI agents = the perfect team. [Starring: Matthew Bomer, Tim DeKay, Willie Garson, Tiffani Thiessen][Link]

It’s simply amazing, the 1 hour show flies by so quickly and I am wary of watching it all in one go.  I am trying to milk it as much as I can since we’ve got the Winter Olympics coming up and our shows will go back on hiatus.  Anyways, my recommendation for this particular show is to WATCH WATCH WATCH IT!

Seriously 5 stars!

[Post 2 of 5]

No one likes the flu! It ruins your plans, wastes precious days off your life, you feel horrible, and you suffer the aftermath of flaked nose and a strong couch FOREVER…!

Every year i get the flu 60 times… every month i must have the flu, be it summer or winter, spring or fall, i must have the flu once a month! Needless to say i was never happy the moment i feel a prickle in my throat… however, i discovered a way to skip those dreary germs now with those lovely Vicks products (from Boots UK)… i totally recommend you get your hands on a couple of each the next time you go there or know someone who is going there… better yet, find a stockist for them in Q8 o re7moona!

Plz applause my four faithful Vicks sodliers…

This is my 1st soldier! If you feel like getting the flu, or a person close to you has it, have a sachet for a few days to boast your ammune system and keep the germs at bay! It doesn't taste bad too...

My 2nd soldier is this nasal spray... if it was too late for your vitality booster, spray this into your nose 3 times aday the moment ur throat hurts and it will attack the germs where they first take residence before they attack

The third soldier is the Vicks Breathing Sensation chewing gum! The moment you chew on it a vicks like thing will invade your nostrils and throat, soothing them immediately and you can live your life happily!

My fourth and last soldier is those hot drink sachets! If all else fails, add some hot water on those and get a soothing hot cup of paracetamol to help you get over your ordeal

If you are on a diet but just can’t stop thinking about a sandwich, or you are confused between two sandwiches and can only have one, or maybe you want a light snack? Here is the solution for you! While shopping in the bread section of TSC i found this tiny tiny bag of toast from Breadtalk! It was so tiny it fit comfortably in my palm

It was just too cute! Here is it in comparision to a can of Pepsi!

There were two tiny types: Plain but rainbow colored or Normal Colored with Mozzarella Cheese…

I opted for the color free one… i have just been to Food Exhibit in Mishref and bought some Amazing Za3tar Mix and an Authentic Palastenian Virgin Olive Oil which smelled out of this world… I knew i wanted to make the best Labna Sandwich… and the Tiniest… with Al-Mara3i’s Low Fat Labna… The result was so so yummy and the size was AMAZING! I Highly Recommend those! See for your selves…

every act, every violence, and every forgiveness has two sides to it..


reconciliation is not an easy task, nor letting go.. if you have doubts I recommend that you watch and observe this straight forward and sincere film!
I just finished watching this film, and already I’m drowning in endless thoughts and debating every emotion observed in the film.


I always put myself in the shoes of the character to more understand the torment and struggle faced during the film, in this one.. it was electrifying!
now what would you do if you have the chance to meet some one, that person was the reason of all the miseries of your life, that someone killed your brother.. in front of you! leaving a heartbroken father and an unforgiving accusing mother! and after 30 years, you are given this rare opportunity to see this someone, the talk to this person, and to see if revenge prevails over revenge!

you see every film this year and past year discussed revenge, murder, and forgiveness, don’t get me wrong, 5 Minutes of Heaven tackle it too, but on a different side of the coin!
this film shows you the two sides of a crime, how do the survivor try to forgive, how to let go, even unwillingly, to see the important things and focus on them. and how do the killer live the void that is his life, how he suffers the aftermath of his crime, how he tries not to ask for forgiveness, but to seek conciliation with what he did!
both of them circle retribution, but that doesn’t mean that they can have it or deserve it because of their status!


the film is blessed with the performance of actors of great quality, I’m a sucker for every Liam Neeson film, he is an incredible actor, and the words he say in each film is transforming into epic statements.





and to balance it we have James Nesbitt who amazingly gave us a new perspective on such a tormenting ordeal!


this movie is not simple, it doesn’t give you answers to questions, it is a handful movie that continues long after the credits end.

I give it 9/10.

When I posted my water review I wasn’t expecting much interest. I just did it because I thought it would be something fun but the response was much more than I was expecting. A lot of you requested I add more details like the sodium content or where the water comes from so I went ahead and did that. I just finished a long and very cold session in front of my fridge tasting all the water and taking down notes. Since the last review I went and purchased some more water brands and I think I managed to get one bottle from everything available in the market except for the bakala waters (random unknown brands you won’t see anywhere else).

For each bottle of water I’ve now written what kind of water it is, where it’s from, the sodium content and the taste. Water to me should have no taste but some brands (like the bakala ones) have a strange flavor for some odd reason. So when you read “none” keep in mind that’s a good thing.

Finally before I share the results, most of these brands of water can be found at your regular super markets except for the following:

10 Thousand BC and Icelandic Glacial are only available at Dean & Deluca.
Fiji I’ve seen only at Dean & Deluca and sometimes at Sultan Center.
TSC, O2GO and Metro Mint only available only at Sultan Center.
Isbre isn’t available anywhere yet but will be released in the Kuwaiti market this March.

The review did reveal some surprises. The biggest for me was TSC. Turned out to be bottled in Lebanon and contains only 2.3mg of sodium. I think TSC could actually be re-branded Rim water since both are bottled in Lebanon and both contain the exact same amount of Sodium. But that’s just my theory. Between locally produced water the two I would choose over other brands are Arwa and AlRwadatain. From the more expensive brands Highland Spring seems to be the best deal and also contains just 6mg of sodium. Check out the results below.

10 Thousand BC
Pure Natural Glacier Water
Canada
Sodium: 0
Taste: Snow
0.75litre
KD4.950

Evian Special Edition
Natural Mineral Water
France
Sodium: 6.5
Taste: None
0.75litre
KD2.000

Icelandic Glacial
Natural Spring Mineral Water
Iceland
Sodium: 12
Taste: None
1.0litre
KD1.950

Voss
Natural Artesian Water
Norway
Sodium: 7
Taste: None
0.8litre
KD1.250

Fiji
Natural Artesian Water
Fiji
Sodium: 18
Taste: None
1.0litre
KD1.150

Metro Mint
Mineral Water
USA
Sodium: 0
Taste: Mint flavor, not good
0.5liter
KD0.890

Isbre
Glacier Mineral Water
Norway
Sodium: 0.5
Taste: None
1.0litre
KD0.650

O2GO
Distilled and Oxygenated Water
USA
Sodium: 0
Taste: Lemon flavor, not good
0.5litr
KD0.650

Vio
Natural Mineral Water
Germany
Sodium: 11
Taste: None
1.5litre
KD0.490

Volvic
Natural Mineral Water from Volcanoes
France
Sodium: 11.6
Taste: None
1.5litre
KD0.390

Highland Spring
Natural Mineral Water
Scotland
Sodium: 6
Taste: None
1.5litre
KD0.340

Ultra
Salts Free Water
Jordan
Sodium: 0
Taste: None
0.33litre
KD0.175

Rim
Natural Spring Mineral Water
Lebanon
Sodium: 2.3
Taste: None this time but previously had issues
1.5litre
KD0.150

ABC
Bottled Drinking Water
Kuwait
Sodium: 10
Taste: Plasticky, not good
1.5litre
KD0.120

Bambini
Water for babies
Saudi Arabia
Sodium: 0.3
Taste: None
0.33litre
KD0.120

Abraj
Pure Drinking Water
Kuwait
Sodium: 7
Taste: None
0.3litre
KD0.080

Masafi
Pure Natural Mineral Water
UAE
Sodium: 10
Taste: None
0.5liter
KD0.070

Al Rawdatain
Natural Mineral Water
Kuwait
Sodium: 10
Taste: None
0.5litre
KD0.060

TSC
Natural Spring Mineral Water
Lebanon
Sodium: 2.3
Taste: None
0.5ml
KD0.060

Aquafina
Pure Drinking Water
Kuwait
Sodium: 16
Taste: None
0.6litre
KD0.055

Arwa
Bottled Drinking Water
Kuwait
Sodium: 4
Taste: None
0.5litre
KD0.055

Nestle
Bottled Drinking Water
Saudi Arabia
Sodium: 18
Taste: None
0.33litre
KD0.050

Over the weekend I picked up an iJacket while I was shopping in Bahrain. I originally posted about it back in 2007 and then totally forgot about it until I saw it at the store.

Firstly just to be clear, I got the jacket because the jacket looks good. I was not interested in the iPod connectivity, thats just an extra benefit for me but not the reason I bought the jacket. I am not the type of person that walks around listening to music and so I won’t be using the controls on the jacket a lot. Now since I did get the jacket and I do own a number of iPods I figured I might as well give my feedback.

The iPod has a special transparent and water proof pocket on the inside of the jacket. There is a regular iPod connector in that pocket and you connect your ipod to it. The pocket also has a small opening for your headphone cable to pass through. The controls on the jacket sleeve are fairly basic, volume up and down, pause/play forward and reverse. The idea is that when its cold outside you don’t want to unzip your jacket and pull out your iPod every time you want to perform a simple command and that’s where the controls on your sleeve come to play. Without unzipping your jacket or removing your gloves you can control your iPod by just touching the buttons on the sleeve. Although I call them buttons they’re not really buttons. The part of the sleeve where the buttons are located feels exactly the same as any other part of the sleeve. No bulge or anything of that sort just the shapes of the buttons imprinted on the sleeve.

When I first tried using the controls I thought I had a malfunctioning jacket since the buttons didn’t work. Then I found out that the jacket auto-locks the controls after 8 seconds of no use and to unlock the controls you have to hold down on the unlock button for 5 seconds. That’s the biggest issue I have with the jacket… the auto-lock feature. It makes the jacket unpractical. Imagine you’re listening to music and then a friend wants to tell you something. To pause the iPod you need to hold down on the unlock button for 5 seconds and then hit the pause button. So it takes at least 6 seconds to pause the iPod which is silly. You know how sometimes one track plays a lot louder than others? Well you need to wait 5 seconds for the buttons to unlock before you could quickly lower the volume to a decent listening level.

That’s why I’m giving the jacket a 2 out of 5. The auto-lock feature is the dumbest idea ever. There is no reason to have it since I can’t imagine the buttons being pressed accidentally unless someone grabs you from your arm and how often does that happen? I’ve already emailed Zegna asking if there is a way to disable the auto-lock but I doubt there is. As a jacket the iJacket is very comfortable and great looking. As an iPod controller it sucks big time because the auto-lock makes it impossible to use. Now a cool feature I would use a lot if it was included would be iPod/iPhone charging. I know there are a few jackets out there that do that but currently the iJacket doesn’t which sucks. I’m hoping if there will ever be an iJacket 2.0 it will.

Continuing my  webreviews, i decided to choose Axisbank, after a recent review of GulfBank from kuwait, so i can compare apple to apple.  Axis bank has been my bank in india for quite some time now, but unlike kuwait banks, they have had major flaws, when it comes to international standards… but end of the day we are supposed to choose the “least worst” service from the allocated lot.

Now comparatively like GulfBank, they have similar menu layouts like breaking business from consumer, they too have loads of content and information.  we use the online banking quite abit , but its got its flaws as well.

The Good

1. They have a lot of content, and quite simplified… but in India, content is never enough, as Indians we need to know details of where our money is, how much interest?, why this? why that.  I like the way how content is broken into Summary, Eligibility, Documentation, Terms & Conditions , etc. this is a great thing.
2. The Color scheme is “ok” .. not exciting .. but quite readable.
3. Loading time is quite decent
4. Response to Online forms, is good. I have always got responses from online forms. they are delayed but atleast we get them.

The Bad

1. Well due to the amount of content, they haven’t put in time to organize it. it is so scattered, mixed up. just thrown everywhere. But once you find it, then its really good. but otherwise this is bad. i felt the designers , wanted to fill up every gap on the site and put a link there.
   • As a Suggestion, break your topics into categories and sub categories.
   • Don’t fill up every gap on the site.
   • Sitemap ?
2. Their Copyrights have expired in 2007.. thus this mean we can steal their content? you need to renew your copyrights, its really important.
3. No Layout consistency , some pages is 800 Pixels width.. some stretch as per window. the home page of the site looks really tiny on my 1440 Pixels wide .
   • Today’s standards are in 1000 Pixels, thus giving you more place for your layout(but don’t fill it up)
4. Design looks more like a newspaper site, you need to bring in some touch of a bank and corporate feel.
5. More Photos of people are needed. Unlike Gulfbank,  you’ll have few people images, which adds some life.. but i feel more people are needed. A Bank is about people, so dont miss them out.
6. The Net Banking doesnt work, i should say 25% times in 365 days in a year.. this is not good as everyone needs online banking. the amount of emails from me  requesting for “pls fix the online services” is enough to print a 100 pages book.
7. the top menus have too many clicks to reach a particular point… so to reach “Cash Management Services”  from the home page. i have to click 2-3 times on the top menu to get there. Usage of mouseover menus minimize this tasks. Consider Customer Usability studies for this.
8. Finally the design breaks in many pages. Care must be taken for this. Someone must go through each and every page on your site to ensure functionality.

Technology Used

1. It seems to be developed in ASP ( im not sure windows or chillisoft) im banking on ASP for Windows as their hosted platform is windows 2003 server.. but i feel the whole site is mostly built on includes to repeat context menus.
2. Nameservers are from Worldnic.com
3. It concerns me that the SQL usage on this site is minimal as i study the page directory patterns. but i could be wrong. But if  i’m right that sql is not much used, then maintaining this site must be HELL.

Conclusion

Well dont know what to say here.. but i have seen them improve over the last 6 years, their progress is really slow, but happening. you can visit them here : www.axisbank.com

One of the top banks in Kuwait. Gulf bank stands out for its services rendered to both the Residential and Corporate Markets. After its major financial issue where it had investors deal in derivaties, which coz’d its Stocks to fall. It had a super comeback and get its ratings back again worldwide.

I have been personally using the online website basically everyday to check on my bank ac, credit card etc and i should say, that their online banking  is amazingly user friendly and straight to the point. However for the website, its got its plus points as well as its flaws.

The Plus points :

1. What i like about gulfbank website is the amount of reading content. They try to clear maximum doubts by the amount of information on their services. Their copywriting is clear,  to the point and very self explanatory.
2. Their color scheme is pleasant, works exactly as per their brand image. but i have seen companies who have abused their color schemes to serve their own branding and left the consumer with an eye sore. The minimum usage of Red and more stress on white background with clear text, ensure readability.
3. They got great Loading time, objects like flash are kept to the minimum, pages which have flash are low weight.
4. its rare that i found their site having a downtime, which is a very good thing!

The bad :

1. In Contradiction to my first point. too much content means loads of responsibility to organise it. there are times, we need information like “ATM points” , “Opening hours of a branch” etc.. it used to be difficult to pin point. but the moment we get it, its a breeze.
   • A suggestion for this is to keep commonly viewed queries easily available.
   • A Sitemap for the website would be amazing.
2. No Printer friendly page. Sometimes we try to print some documents and the print view ends up including all the side navigations etc. Sometimes we need these documents as references. but its wastes ink, paper etc.
3. Broken links, images. This is becoz some of the pages are under HTTPS , while the css and images are under http, which causes the page to disrupt.  Here care should be taken to check every link on the site, no matter how big it is.
4. From a design perspective, the consumer section of the website. i would love to see more people photos , this would ease me in dealing with this vendor. Everything is too corporate for a new consumer, this might keep him/her on the defensive.
5. No response to online forms. i dont blame the website for this, but i have had people who write to them over the online forms, dont get a response back. Now if this is a technical issue, then i would blame the website. but if its the bank not getting back , then it they need to work on their policies.

Technology Used :

1. it seems the site is done in JSP. im not sure about the backend, but i suppose Oracle, but definitely a SQL compliant db.
2. The Websites’s name servers are shared between Kems and Fasttelco.

Overall, its a great site, with loads of opportunity to improve and serve. Visit them here : www.e-gulfbank.com

Well this post was going to be the ultimate water review but after drinking around 2 liters of water I threw in the towel. Other than the fact that I think I overdosed on water, they all started tasting the same after the third bottle. BUT, it didn’t go all to waste. I was able to answer the most important question… Does a KD5 bottle of water taste better than a 100fils bottle?

I picked up my bottles of water from four different sources, Dean & Deluca, Carrefour, Sultan Center Souk Sharq and Sultan Center Salmiya and I paid a total of KD17.330 for 19 bottles of water. I actually spent the bulk of that at Dean & Deluca purchasing 4 bottles of water which came out to KD11. I’ve listed all the bottles below with their prices but the KD5 bottle I will be reviewing is the one I got from Dean & Deluca called 10 Thousand BC. This is what it says on the back of the bottle:

Locked in an icy vault for over 10,000 years, this water comes from the remote and sheltered Coastal Glacier Range, that literally vibrates with the rich fragrance of health and vitality. Experience the pure, natural taste captured in 10 THOUSAND BC.

The competition? Our very own locally produced Al Rawdatain. It’s my favorite water and I like the brand a lot probably because it reminds me of my childhood. So how was it going to do against the water that comes from the beautiful coastal glacier range of British Columbia, Canada? Not very good.

You can take what I am about to say with a grain of salt since I am no water expert but the 10 Thousand BC water did taste better. I really felt like I was drinking snow, it smelled like snow and tasted like snow. Nat thinks I am losing it but I still have a bit of water left in the bottle (saving it for a special occasion like when Prince Charles comes over) to prove her wrong. The bottle looks great and the story behind the water is breathtaking. Al Rawdatain on the other hand tasted pretty normal but at 60fils its over 500 times cheaper. The Al Rawdatain water also came in a plastic bottle which although not as pretty as the 10 Thousand BC glass bottle can at least handle a fall without breaking.

So 10 Thousand BC tasted better but seriously who would buy a KD5 bottle of water to drink regularly? It’s actually one of the most expensive bottles of water in the world. I mean KD5 is an affordable luxury, anyone can afford it if they want to try it but does anyone drink it casually?

Check out the list of prices below.

10 Thousand BC KD4.950
Iskilde KD2.950
Evian Special Edition KD2.000
Icelandic Glacial KD1.950
Voss Still KD1.250
Vio KD0.490
Volvic KD0.390
Highland Spring KD0.340
Ultra KD0.175
Fiji KD1.150
Rim KD0.150
Bambini KD0.120
Al Rawdatain KD0.060
Aquafina KD0.055
Arwa KD0.055
Nestle KD0.050

Extra:
Voss Sparkling: KD0.750
Evian regular: KD0.400
Aquafina 300ml: KD0.050

Note: Please don’t take this review seriously, it’s just a bit of fun.

Whileback, I was asked to write a restaurant review for a magazine. They decided not to run it (disappointy face) and so I’ve decided to post it here on my blog. It was one of the more memorable evenings I’ve had in Kuwait. I think that the owners were still mulling over the new menu and weren’t sure what they would keep and what they would scrap. I HOPE that they have kept the paella because it

I love burgers and I’m glad my new nutrition plan includes burgers once a week because I don’t think I could have stuck to a plan that didn’t allow room for burgers. This past weekend I headed to 360 Mall for the Gulf Run 5 car show but first I decided to have lunch at The Meat Co. I had been wanting to try their burgers ever since my first visit but I never got the chance until now. I have to say, this was the hardest burger to review and I’ll explain why below.

I got to The Meat Co. early and decided to sit on the balcony overlooking Life with Cacao and Lorenzo. The friendly waiter gave me the menu and I flipped right away to their burger section. They had 6 burgers to choose from, the Classic Burger, the Cheese Burger, the Gourmet Burger (who the hell puts pineapple on a burger, totally gross), Rib Meat Burger, Lamb Burger and Chicken Burger. I went with the Cheese Burger although next time I will most probably go with their Rib Meat Burger and then maybe their Lamb Burger after that. I ordered my burger medium which is cool because when I first started this burger challenge I used to have my burgers well done but then as I started reading more about burgers and really getting into it I started having it medium well. To move to medium is a step in the right direction although I don’t think I would have a medium burger just anywhere.

The burger arrived and it looked beautiful. The shape, the size, the way everything was very tidy it just looked like the perfect burger. I took my first bite and in under a minute or two max I had finished the burger. It was the healthiest burger I’ve ever had and I’m talking about the actual beef patty here. It just tasted like it was made with really great quality meat. It wasn’t heavy, it didn’t have a bad after taste, it wasn’t fatty and it was very light on the stomach. It had the makings of a perfect burger which is why it was very difficult to review. There was very little flavor. It was lacking oumph which is why maybe next time I would get rid of the vegetables and put some mustard to see if that helps.

If I want to be extra nitty picky I would talk about how I am not a big fan of powdery buns but I in this case it didn’t bother me that much. My burger was very juicy and the bun didn’t have any trouble holding up, it didn’t get soggy which is always great. Speaking of juiciness, my burger arrived medium well instead of medium but that was fine. The final score is going to be a 4 out of 5. I would highly recommend it, it’s a near perfect classic burger. At KD5.500 its actually a steal.

The Meat Co. is located in 360 Mall
The cost of the Cheese Burger was KD5.500

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
Wimpy

I love burgers and I’m glad my new nutrition plan includes burgers once a week because I don’t think I could have stuck to a plan that didn’t allow room for burgers. This past weekend I headed to 360 Mall for the Gulf Run 5 car show but first I decided to have lunch at The Meat Co. I had been wanting to try their burgers ever since my first visit but I never got the chance until now. I have to say, this was the hardest burger to review and I’ll explain why below.

I got to The Meat Co. early and decided to sit on the balcony overlooking Life with Cacao and Lorenzo. The friendly waiter gave me the menu and I flipped right away to their burger section. They had 6 burgers to choose from, the Classic Burger, the Cheese Burger, the Gourmet Burger (who the hell puts pineapple on a burger, totally gross), Rib Meat Burger, Lamb Burger and Chicken Burger. I went with the Cheese Burger although next time I will most probably go with their Rib Meat Burger and then maybe their Lamb Burger after that. I ordered my burger medium which is cool because when I first started this burger challenge I used to have my burgers well done but then as I started reading more about burgers and really getting into it I started having it medium well. To move to medium is a step in the right direction although I don’t think I would have a medium burger just anywhere.

The burger arrived and it looked beautiful. The shape, the size, the way everything was very tidy it just looked like the perfect burger. I took my first bite and in under a minute or two max I had finished the burger. It was the healthiest burger I’ve ever had and I’m talking about the actual beef patty here. It just tasted like it was made with really great quality meat. It wasn’t heavy, it didn’t have a bad after taste, it wasn’t fatty and it was very light on the stomach. It had the makings of a perfect burger which is why it was very difficult to review. There was very little flavor. It was lacking oumph which is why maybe next time I would get rid of the vegetables and put some mustard to see if that helps.

If I want to be extra nitty picky I would talk about how I am not a big fan of powdery buns but I in this case it didn’t bother me that much. My burger was very juicy and the bun didn’t have any trouble holding up, it didn’t get soggy which is always great. Speaking of juiciness, my burger arrived medium well instead of medium but that was fine. The final score is going to be a 4 out of 5. I would highly recommend it, it’s a near perfect classic burger. At KD5.500 its actually a steal.

The Meat Co. is located in 360 Mall
The cost of the Cheese Burger was KD5.500

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
Wimpy

I’ve had the Canon G11 for just over a month now and after using it practically on a daily basis. I did a lot of research before choosing to go with the G11 and I don’t regret my decision. I have mostly great things to say about this camera and will go through the different categories one by one.

Battery Life
I got my Canon G11 on December 11th and I charged it that same day. Its now January 15th and I still haven’t charged the camera since then. Not only that but the battery meter is still showing that the battery is full. This is perfect because it means when I travel I don’t need to pack the charger or buy an extra battery.

Usability and Feel
The camera doesn’t fit in my pocket so I spend most of the time either carrying it in my hand or in my bag if I am carrying one. It comes with a strap but it isn’t long enough to wear across the shoulder just around the neck which isn’t practical for me. The camera feels very solid and it’s also a bit heavy so it gives it a very durable feel. I love the dials on top and I use them a lot. I always keep the camera on “P” (Program Mode) which automatically adjusts the aperture and shutter speed but control the exposure (make the shot brighter or darker) I use the dial on the left to control that. On the right there are two other dials, one for the ISO which I also use a lot and the second to swap between the different programs. Other than the regular programs which you find on most cameras like aperture priority, shutter priority, automatic mode etc.. there are two custom modes called C1 and C2. These two positions contain your custom camera settings. For example I have C1 set the camera to “P”, change the format of the image to JPG, the dimensions to wide shot and the color setting to vivid. That’s the mode I use mostly when taking shots for my blog. C2 on the other hand sets the camera to “P” but then changes the image format to RAW+JPG and at full resolution (not wide). I use that setting in case there is a beautiful shot I want to capture at the highest quality. There are a ton of other settings you could also set for each mode as well but I won’t get into them here. I really wish my Nikon D90 had a custom mode feature and dials on top to control the iso and exposure.

Image Quality
It’s great for a point and shoot camera but no competition next to a good DSLR. The noise at fairly high ISO’s is pretty decent and I find myself often using ISO800 with no worries about the image coming out noisy with ISO1600 also being very usable. The only issue I have is with the white balance. Sometimes when indoors the images come out a bit too cold for my taste and that’s actually the only issue I have with the camera.

Swivel Screen
One of the coolest features in the camera for me is the swivel screen. It allows me to take pictures without having to hold the camera up to my face. I also like the fact that when the camera is not in use I fold the screen to face inwards which protects the screen while in my bag. For people who don’t like the swivel feature they can rotate the screen towards them and fold it in and keep it that way like a regular camera.

So overall I really love this camera. There were a lot of occasions where I wished I had purchased the Panasonic GF1 but in the end I realized the reason I got the Canon G11 is to use for my blog and when I travel and the GF1 although a great camera isn’t as practical (and also twice more expensive). I highly recommend this camera to anyone that is looking for small highly controllable and fully featured camera. I am going to give it a 4.5 out of 5, it looses points for the white balance issue I faced and the fact that it doesn’t fit in my jeans pocket.

If you’re interested in this camera it’s available in Kuwait for KD228 but I purchased mine from Amazon for just KD127.
Here is the link to the Canon G11 on Amazon [Link]