the porch cafe

the porch cafe
the avenues' grand avenues

what was consumed: arabic spread on flatbread, eggs benedict (i think), coffee

m (who i used to work with) and i met one day to have "drinks" while meeting with one of her proteges (i miss m!) we sat at the home-y and comfortable porch cafe.

when kdk came to visit, i was determined to find the porch cafe, mostly for the ambiance. the decor is really nice and people watching from the 2nd floor is also loads of fun. while it was a bit of a goose chase, we finally found the cafe and made ourselves at home.

we enjoyed the arabic spread on flatbread. yes, there was probably little that went in to preparing the dish, but that it came out together was the key. i wish they served it with another piece of large bread as we tried to make the spread last as long as possible. i try to find ways to mimic the flavors with the zaatar i've purchased. we'll see how close i can get. the eggs benedict, on the other hand ... i'd forgotten to tell them that i didn't want any hollendaise, so we got a very interesting spread on top :/ that didn't prevent us from eating, though. hahaha!

i like that porch is by deer and dear, a kuwaiti company. i'm all for encouraging kuwaiti youth to do more with their time and more out of their lives. yeah!

coco cafe

coco cafe
grand avenue, the avenues mall

what was consumed: shrimp caesar salad, panini, mushroom soup

when kdk came to town to visit, we of course had to do at least one "hip" new cafe brunch. coco cafe had recently opened (and different from cacao, though close by), so i was excited to try it out.

kdk and i were quickly seated (we did get there early) and were given quite a bit of attention by the wait staff. our food was brought to us in a timely fashion and we definitely enjoyed our selections. the shrimp in the salad, in particular, was marinated so deliciously! i also really enjoyed their version of fries - so very crispy on the outside, nice and soft on the inside. i wish they gave me more (both of the shrimp and the fries) ... !!! yum yum yum ... 

i can see why people see coco cafe as being pretty chic and hip - good location, good decor, good attention to some of the little details. we also got the kuwaiti version of prime seating - right in the view of everyone passing by. i.e., as much as we were "being seen," we did a whole lot of veeeeery interesting people watching. hahaha. kdk, let's do this again ... soon!!!

chocolateness

chocolateness
grand avenue, the avenues

what was consumed: molten chocolate cake! and other delicious desserts, coffee, etc.

i'm not a big dessert person, but if there is chocolateness, i will most definitely make sure i get at least one for me.

the first time i had chocolateness was when i attended diwaniya samiya, sponsored by training gate international. turns out, chocolateness does a lot of work with local organizations, especially ones like training gate (TGI works with and advocates for people with disabilities). 

chocolateness is individual servings of chocolate molten cake, served in cups and served warm. even if delivered, the cups stay warm for a while (or heat them up!) as they are delicious-er warm. they're also pretty darn good after they cool. they also have a number of different flavors (e.g. nutella), but i like the classic chocolate. delicious cake on top, gooey (and warm!) chocolate in the middle. i want one NOW!

chocolateness initially had a storefront in kuwait city and did most of their business via delivery. they then opened a cafe in the grand avenues of the avenues mall. the cafe serves the delicious molten cake in addition to a series of sandwiches and beverages. but seriously, go for the cake.

online: https://www.chocolateness.net

(life with) cacao

(life with) cacao
grand avenue, the avenues mall

what was consumed: coffee, open faced sandwich, pesto gnocchi, club sandwich, and the nutella brioche (which, i think, was a special) ...

each time i raced through the avenues' grand avenues to run my errands as quickly as possible, i couldn't help but notice that the tables at (life with) cacao were always filled. it couldn't be just the prime location, right? i had to try.

my brunch bunch made sure to make it to grand avenue early - we wanted to avoid the crowds and get in on the first seating. and i'm glad we did. we were quickly seated and shortly began drooling at the various dishes that started coming out of the kitchen.

while it was brunch-time, we started with dessert (the nutella brioche with ice cream and candied bananas), or maybe we can categorize it as a sweet breakfast? a sweet and delicious way to start the meal. and then our more lunch-y foods started rolling out.

all in all, i'll say that (life with) cacao has an enjoyable menu. the ingredients were fresh and cooked well. and the gnocchi was as delicious as it was pretty (loved that shade of green!). we gobbled up every last fry and enjoyed the sandwiches, only to wish our stomachs were bigger so that we could eat more. and that we (life with) cacao essentially only has the prestigious "outdoor" seating the avenues-goers love (be seen in the right place doing the right thing), i bet, is icing on the cake.

online: http://lifewithcacao.com/

sprinkles

sprinkles
the avenues

what was consumed: cupcakes! salted caramel, red velvet, pumpkin ...

the cupcake craze continues here in kuwait (has it stopped everywhere else?)

admittedly, i'd poo-poo-ed on sprinkles without having had tried it. i was a fan of my washington, dc favorites and had just heard the negatives about sprinkles from so.cal. but i've since changed my perspective and when i'm in need of a cupcake fix, and i happen to be at the avenues, sprinkles is the first place i think of. i like their cream cheese based frosting and their seasonal favorites, like their pumpkin (i wonder if they have a lemon one). i like that they have "regular" sized cupcakes and mini cupcakes. i can do without their high prices, but i should be accustomed to that from gourmet bakeries. their cupcakes are so cute and pretty, so that helps it too. hahahahaha.

sprinkles also presented itself at our national day last year (as it is an american company). we'll see if it appears next time as well. fingers crossed that it happens! ^^ nom nom nom ...

dean & deluca

dean&deluca
@the avenues, phase 2

i've never been to dean&deluca in the states (primarily in nyc). there was always something so ... pretentious? expensive? hoity toity? about it and i kept my distance. and then i came to kuwait (haha).

following great tradition, b and i met for brunch, but this time at a location separate from our usual digs (i've been trying to get her to branch out ... and i keep trying!) just for kicks. since we were thinking of going to the avenues to peruse later on anyway, we thought to check out dean&deluca.

here's the thing about dean&deluca. they have quite a bit of "outdoor" seating and there is always high demand for those spots (we sat inside. we didn't really care). turns out, the sense of "being seen" is more important than anything else, but my commentary on local society will be kept for another day (and maybe another blog - haha).

the eats at dean&deluca are as expected - high(er) quality materials will yield some tasty treats. that said, while i'm not surprised that the meal was yummy, there was still a part of me that was worried that it would get messed up (there's always that possibility). so, b and i stuffed ourselves silly.

i don't do my grocery shopping at dean&deluca - it is still too pricey for me (though i know some people who exclusively shop here. why?!). there are a few things that i'll pick up at dean&deluca, though - cheeses, "cured" meats, that sort of thing. i realized that whether i purchase them on the local economy or from d&d, they're about the same price. if that's the case, why not get the fancy stuff, right? haha - something like that.

i'll have to do a comparison once back in the states. in the meantime, i have the kuwaiti branch to keep me company and my belly full.

leila

leila
phase 1 @the avenues


wow. it's been some time since i've posted about my eating adventures. that isn't to say that i haven't been eating because that would be grossly incorrect.  i've been busy, but mostly lazy - thank you, b, for the reminder and push!

so ... here goes!

i can't seem to break the very american attitude regarding restaurants in malls. that is, if a restaurant is in a mall, in my mind, there is no way it will be good. that's what i thought until i came to kuwait. i'm slowly, but surely, coming around. much of this is due to the way life runs here in this desert town. especially in the summer (of course), when it's so gosh darn hot, malls become mini city centers. people go to malls to spend their days. it's also convenient because the 2 favorite kuwaiti pastimes are eating and shopping. hahaha ... and so, some really good places to check out are in malls, shopping centers, hotels, etc. the eateries in malls are far from the food court spaces i'd grown accustomed to (yes, there are food courts as well); rather, they are just like more typical restaurants and just happen to be attached to (and have entrances into) the larger mall/shopping areas.

as a result, when i have guests from the states, the last place i want to take them to eat is to the mall. there are lots of really great places to eat in kuwait, why go to the mall? i even "yelled" at one of my local colleagues (it was more like insisting, though it sounded like yelling in my head) about not taking guests to eat at the mall. sigh. it's taken me almost a year to "get over" the stereotypes of eateries at malls; i can't imagine taking "foodies" to a restaurant at the mall (unless, of course, i could go through my entire explanation as to why i would opt to take them to eat at the mall).

and so, when c&j visited me here in Q8, where i did get the chance to explain to them the whole mall situation and because we were at the mall to run a few errands, i was less hesitant about going to lunch at leila (wow, that was a huge huge huge introduction to my lunch here).

the aforementioned colleague told me that there was a good restaurant at the avenues serving lebanese food. i couldn't get that out of my head. so, when i got the chance, i wanted to check it out.

seeing that we were early for lunch (or for any meal according to local standards), we were quickly seated and our servers were immediately attentive (as is the way with lots of places here). we made a selection of a variety of lebanese dishes, all to be consumed family style. there were the standard favorites - hummous, fattoush, etc. and then some of my favorites, including chicken liver (yay iron!). there isn't a whole lot of culinary creativity or "art" that went into the dishes, but each one was solid and definitely satiated our appetites for local (as local as you can get in kuwait, anyway) cuisine. and besides it being in a mall, leila gave a sort of "home cooking" feel, something we all seem to look for. even the "pita" served out of plastic bags sort of reminded me of funny things moms often do (and the rolls, not served in plastic bags, were delicious). all of that aside, i will likely visit leila again and put it on my list of recommendable restaurants.

note: if you look closely at the first photo, there's a young lady, in pink, totally giggling. that's because she had photo-bombed my photo of the leila store front - my new favorite person! my camera was too slow to catch her in the act, but i'm all for it. photo-bombing ftw!

elevation burger

elevation burger

location: the avenues, al-hamra tower

on with the Q8 burger challenge!

while i'm doing my best to seet out "locally" owned restaurants and restaurants, i can't tune out recommendations that others have. that's what took me to elevation burger for the first time. i'd heard people talk about this virginia chain for quite some time, but never got out to it when in WDC (i'm an in 'n out type of girl). but people were telling me that elevation burger had the best burgers in town, so off i went.

ok, so their burgers are pretty delicious. nothing fancy, but a really solid simple burger. the ingredients are of good quality, the size of their fare is just right (not overly large, not ridiculously small), and the burgers are not too expensive. they have a pretty simple menu (a variation of burgers is pretty much it) which makes it easier to focus on the quality of their burgers. they also have vegetarian options; i have not yet tried it, but from meat-eating friends who have, they approve.

elevation burger serves really skinny fries. i'm a fries addict, so there are few fries that i don't like. that said, i'm not a huge fan of skinny fries (i like more meatier fries, if i can say that i have a preference). nevertheless, i have been known to polish off my elevation burger fries and slyly reach over and nosh on friends' leftovers. they're left over, right? someone has got to enjoy the deliciousness and it might as well be me, right? right.

whenever i go to elevation burger, i also notice that they have a gaggle of people in the small area behind the counter - making burgers, taking orders, cleaning, etc. sometimes, it's a little daunting because it's as though their staff overflows. but hey, as long as my burger is delicious and the place is clean, who am i to say what their administration behind the scenes looks like!

so, yeah. a solid simple burger. which i have returned to (already) quite a few times. and plan to, again. frequentlly. nomnomnomnom ... 

online: http://www.elevationburger.com

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!