breakfast & brunch

breakfast & brunch

in salmiya, near marina mall

wherever i go, there seems to be a dearth of breakfast/brunch places. apparentlly, that's the case in Q8 as well. normally, i don't mind seeing that i don't particularly crave breakfast foods. nonetheless, it's always nice to find a gem!

there's a cute cafe that is probably a 10ish mins. fast walk from my house. i imagine i will find myself doing that walk quite often. that is, when it's not what feels like a billion degrees outside. haha ... 

the owner, a young kuwaiti entrepreneur, spent many years studying in the u.k. as a result, there's a lot of british influence on her menu (which is filled quite a large selection of omeletes, pancakes, sandwiches, etc.). per her recommendation, i had the arabic omelette (which was de-licious!) which came with toast, bacon, and hashbrown (very recommended).

of the many things i liked about breakfast & brunch, i enjoyed the general ambiance. the cafe is small, but cozy. patrons are invited to leave the staff "messages" on post-it notes that are then displayed/posted on the walls. there are only 4 tables, and while they turn the tables over pretty quickly, it seems like there is hardly a time when the place is empty. and be sure to get your fix early! since they specialize in breakfast & brunch, per its name, they're not open late into the evening.

breakfast & brunch, what should i have next time? can't wait!

hong kong pearl seafood restaurant

hong kong pearl seafood restaurant

86 arlington boulevard, falls church, va 22044

tel: 703) 237-1388

hours: monday-thursday 10:30a,-2am, friday-saturday 10am-3am, sunday 10am-2am

what was consumed: dim sum! 

dim sum has got to be one of the best things in the world. servers go around to all of the tables and diners pick and choose the various plate options - no waiting!. there are lots to choose from - meat dishes, starchy dishes, seafood dishes, veggie dishes, and everything in between. and then, if there's something that you want in particular, you can speak with one of the servers who goes around to make sure everything is ok and put in a special request. at the end of the meal, servers tally up all that you've eaten and you pay your bill, which is usually less than you anticipated.

during lunchtime on a sunny language training day at FSI, a bunch of us were talking about dim sum and about how much we loved it, where to go, etc. as we were talking, someone (whom none of us knew) came up to our table and gave us his opinion about the best dim sum in wdc. and while we thought it weird that he would interject himself into our conversation (though i've come to understand that that's just par for the course), i'm most certainly glad that he did! that's how we found out about hong kong pearl seafood restaurant. i'm sure hong kong pearl seafood restaurant does great stuff at other times of the day, but we made it a point to head out there during lunch.

on a sort of relaxed day, we decided to do an "off campus" lunch at hong kong pearl seafood restaurant. we head over, were immediately seated (hong kong pearl seafood restaurant is quite large with probably over 30? 40? tables, all covered in the regulation pink cloth (haha)) and the carts started to come over. we chose, ate, made a few requests, ate some more, chose some more, ate some more, and paid. and we did very little talking (we were on a mission!). it was totally worth it. i hope it's still there when i head back to wdc - a must go!

naranj

when people think "middle eastern" food, people generally consider hummous, tabouleh, etc. because my palate is unsophisticated, i don't know of all the differences among cuisines within the region. nevertheless, i'm happy to make efforts to learn of their similarities and differences.

as an intro to regional food, z took me to one of her favorite places - naranj. she tells me its syrian; frankly, i'm still new to the differences so i took her word for it (haha). the restaurant is located near my apartment, but i don't remember where (though i have full faith i'll be able to find it again if need be. i think). our server only spoke arabic, so 01) thank goodness z was there, 02) i MUST work on my language skills!

we started our meal with typical appetizers - hummous with warm pita bread, salad (tabouleh), mint limeade (for reals, one of the best things in the world) all over good conversation. being new in kuwait, it's nice to hear others' experiences, mostly for my own understanding from which i may draw my own conclusions.

our meal continued with meatballs in a cherry sauce (delicious, and not as sweet as i thought it would be. remember my aversion to sweet/syrupy things? still here) and grilled chicken marinated with tomatoes (and yes, i did eat the tomatoes that, i think, were supposed to serve as garnish). i may have surprised z with my mass consumption of food, but that's ok because she had to find out sometime, right? haha~

just when i thought our meal was over, our server brought over a large plate of arabic desserts. these were complimentary, a part of every meal. i eyed the sweets (sort of torn between my curiosity and my full full belly), then proceeded to put one of each kind of dessert on my plate and taste. all of them. i win! until i find otherwise (and even if/when i do), naranj is where i will take guests who visit me while here. nom nom nom ...

napket

back to my food blog, back to lots of eating! ok, so the lots of eating hasn't ceased, but you know what i mean ...

for my first meal out, literally during my first weekend in Q8 and after picking up some supplies at ikea (yes, ikea), d&t and i head to napket for a light meal. i wasn't sure what to expect from food in Q8, but have been told by lots of folks that the food here in great. i've since come to find that while there are lots of culinary options, lots of it comes from places that are not ... here. that's ok - i'm open to consuming them all!

napket was a great introduction to light eating, imo, with a nice selection of sandwiches and pastries. it's located inside the avenues mall (i won't get into the mall-culture here, but trust me when i say it's big). and despite signs that say "no photos," i was able to snap a few shots. most of all, i really enjoyed the atmosphere - sort of a cross between a chic cafe and a comfy coffee shop. excellent!