Vapiano opens up in Bahrain City Center mall

Wanted at any cost.
Terra Paprika Chips

Vapiano

I've been wanting to post about this restaurant for ages but somehow it slipped off my "blogging agenda" so here it is, Vapiano. Those who have tried it abroad (Europe/US), Dubai, Lebanon or elsewhere know exactly what I mean when I say it is simply the best restaurant I have ever been to.

Vapiano is a German fast casual restaurant chain offering Italian food. The concept is a pizza and pasta bar, where food is made to order. Vapiano also serves made-to-order salads and dessert and has a bar with alcoholic beverages available. There are 97 restaurants all over the world, 45 of which are located in Germany.

Vapiano employs a unique interface for customers to order and pay for their food with. Each diner is provided an RFID chip card (even if dining together to avoid customers charging one card and waving another when exiting) that the customer waves in front of the counter when ordering food and drink. When the dinner is finished, the card is waved in front of the register and the bill appears on the screen. All dough and pasta are manufactured on-site in a glass room so that customers can watch while waiting in line. All of the herbs and salad greens are grown in an enclosed space in the dining area. It is commonly known as "The V".

Soon it will open in Bahrain City Centre mall but still no news if they're opening a branch in Kuwait or not. I sure wish to see it in Kuwait although I know it won't be as good as the one in Germany.

Review | Saso Restolounge

I should have reviewed this restaurant long ago but I forgot about it and now after having yet another bad experience I am going to give my honest opinion about it.

They say "Don't judge a book by its cover". In Saso's case this should be literally converted to "Don't judge a restaurant by its decoration".

Saso Restolounge stands sheerly on its environment. Cosy lighting, comfy seats, fairly good service and best of all pretty much well priced. So what's the matter? Isn't that good enough to make the "book's cover" embellished? The answer is a big NO.

People go to restaurants to eat. Whether they're in for a large meal or a small plate of dessert, food is what really matters. Saso's food might be well presented but it's nowhere near tasty. The menu is full of vapid choices including cheap sushi made from Al-Wazan rice and Mazolla mayo. Tasteless pre-made soup with a pH value of 6. Chewing on their steak is like chomping on a cow's feet. Word of advice, sushi and mayo don't mix up, Maki's style is overrated.

Further more their bill was decently priced but I have no idea how they came up with "**.013 fils"! Imagine having to pay those 13 fils in cash.

Eating there is one thing and getting there is something else. I don't know what's up with that restaurant and smelly places. In all three places that you can find Saso you can smell rotten eggs. It's more like a vapor cloud flying over the restaurant wherever it opens.

You probably think I'm exaggerating. Well I'm not. On my scale from 10 Saso respectively comes second from bottom, right above Munch. Go there and try it yourself. Just don't forget to wear a gas mask before going in.

Pinkberry Railroad

All that for frozen yogurt? Pfftttt.

اللهم لا تأخذنا بما فعل السفهاء منا

Review | Munch

Tasteless |ˈtāstlis|
adjective
1 lacking flavor.
2 considered to be lacking in aesthetic judgment or to offend against what is regarded as appropriate behavior : a tasteless joke.

After my bad experience with Japanese food I thought I'd never have anything worse than that but then came Munch.

The best word to describe my experience with Munch is "Tasteless". In fact if you look closely in the dictionary for synonyms of the word tasteless you'd fine "Munch" listed.

This restaurant stands solely on it's hyped decoration and food presentation. Other than that, nothing at all. The service is inadequate, the menu is unreadable, the drinks are made from Sunquick concentrated juice with some add-ons, their fries can be found in City Centre market, their kitchen ventilation system is so noisy you'd think you're in a heavy industry plant, and the food is another story... The food tastes like mud. Yes, Mud! The salads, pasta, burger... No salt at all! Seems their cook has some blood pressure issues.

Definitely the last time I take internet marketing for granted. Oh and a word of advice... Stay away from Bang Bang Chicken salad. Unless you want to vee.o.em.eye.tee.

Schlotzsky's

How bad can a sandwich be? If you'd like to know just pay a visit to Schlotzsky's, by far the worst restaurant I have ever been to.

Their caesar salad comes with sour brown dressing, their bread is rock solid dry wheat, their chicken breast sandwich was as cold as ice, and the environment and lighting is bad Bad BAD! No wonder why we were the only customers.

Officially the worst restaurant ever. Save yourself the hassle and head directly to Badr Albudor.

Review | The Butcher Shop & Grill

Forget about Chili's, Friday's, and even Gaucho Grill...

When was the last time you had a decent piece of steak that made you drool with every chunk you eat? If you're eager to have that feeling again then look nowhere else, The Butcher Shop & Grill is the place to go.

They opened up recently in The Avenues mall (phase II) at restaurants corner. Their service is nice and their waiters are very polite and extremely joyful.

Their menu is steak-oriented but it's not limited to steaks, they have seafood and some other dishes though I doubt being there for anything other than their steaks. As mentioned, they are new in Kuwait and they still don't have all the kinds of beef listed on their menu but still their current set is good nonetheless.

Personally I hate fat and their only none-fat steak (fillet) was not available so I went with a piece of well pepper-cooked rump and asked them to trim out the fat, and my friend got a fine plate of ribs. About 15 minutes later the steaks arrived. From the first piece I ate I knew for good that this is something else, I was smothered with delight! I never wanted to end chewing that piece. It was by far the best steak I have ever had in my whole life and gladly I enjoyed every piece of it.

The food is well priced compared to Gaucho Grill (or relatively overpriced compared to Chili's & Friday's) but for that quality beef, it is all worth it. And with all that perfection I almost failed to notice the only downside of the restaurant which is its not-so-calm environment (being in the open between all other restaurants) but I guess it's not a big deal if you're there for the food.

Sorry Gaucho Grill but your SunBursts will have to be reserved for later.

Living Room Lounge | Review

One word... Perfect.

I haven't had shisha for the past two weeks and hopefully will keep it this way (wasn't gonna say anything about it since my last "Operation Rehab" failed miserably) and by not going to the shisha place I have most my day free, either sitting at home watching a bunch of movies or hanging out with friends away from smoking.

This time a couple of friends wanted to go climbing in Marina Waves so I joined them just to watch and waste time. That's when I saw Living Room Lounge right underneath Maki next to the climbing wall.

I took a seat watching my friends swing like monkeys waiting for them to finish. The place looks cosy inside, very calm outside with beachside tables, and with this amazing weather this place is the perfect place to hang out. Their menu is limited but it has a nice variety of drinks, salads, and light stuff to keep you going.

Prices are reasonably high noting the fact that it's in Marina Waves ($$$ rental), the food quality is good, and the service is good too plus free WiFi accessibility.

This place respectfully earns the first positive review of all food related reviews in my blog. However, it's still no match for badr el bdoor.

Review | Wasabi

Everybody knows I never take chances when it comes to fill my stomach when I'm hungry, and I don't think I have learned my lesson from my past experience with Japanese food at Maki, so here comes the story closure for ALL Japanese restaurants...

My friends, as always, insisted we try something new and they chose Wasabi. I told them I'm hungry and I really need to eat something good. "Ohhhh you'll eat your chopsticks" they said and so off we went.

When you go there you'll see their cozy environment, nice reception, good service and so many "calming" things which is very good, but the odd side is people just don't know how to mind their own business. They scan every living creature going in and out the restaurant. They stare so bad I though I'm a new inmate in a jail. In other words it's a place to see and be seen.

Now for the food there's no doubt that Japanese food has it's own fans. Their chopped up rolls look delicious you'd never want to touch it, just sit there and watch because once you taste one roll you'd want to stick those chopsticks down a Japanese chef's throat. The only edible dish was the Beef Rolls and still they don't really taste that good either but I guess I was really hungry.

The price wasn't as high as Maki though it still is overpriced for a small roll of ?raw? meat.

And to conclude the Japanese food series we pray...

Thank god for the blessing of Mach-bos,
Thank god for the sweet taste of Ma7shi,
Thank god for hummus and shesh kebabs,
Thank god for the heap bags of rice so our moms cook what's best for us,
And god bless our mothers for not making our traditional food anything close to Japanese food.

*goes to Al-Tabbab*

Al Forno

Few days ago I had dinner at Al Forno restaurant in The Avenues and all I can say is "A DISGUSTING RIP-OFF!"

I'm not a fan of Italian food but my friends insisted on trying something new. We went in to find out that we're the only guests. We sat down and waited for almost 5 minutes to get the menus, note that we were the only ones there.

It was hard reading their main dishes' names so we started off ordering beverages. I got a drink called Venice, it tastes like Clairol Herbal Essence. Not that I've tasted one before but it tastes like the smell of that shampoo. Anyways.. You get the point. It wasn't that good either.

I don't take chances when it comes to food not to mention when I'm really hungry so I had to settle with something I'm familiar with hence I ordered normal spaghetti and both my friends ordered two types of pizzas. The food was cold, the spaghetti was tasteless and not cooked well, and pizzas taste like home-made pizza with their ultra-thin crust and rock-solid layer of cheese on top. Even their forks are hard to handle with their stupid twisted design (lefties would find it much easier to handle).

We didn't eat everything, we left the plates almost untouched and we ordered the check. The waiter comes with three Tequila shots cups full of lemon juice and the check on the side. I took a look to see "29.***KD"! WTH? Dinner for three, no one ate anything and we pay that? We started to complain about the food and service but no one gave a damn, in the end we had to pay. The waiter was embarrassed so he took off and never came back until we left.

Conclusion:
"Allah edeem el ni3ma"
Goes to badr el-bdoor.

5 in 1 | Catching up

Operation Rehabilitation | Final week

Two words to describe this week: Total Failure.
Operation rehab is over. Statistics come later.

Related posts:-
- Operation Rehabilitation
- Operation Rehabilitation | Week 1
- Operation Rehabilitation | Week 2
- Operation Rehabilitation | Week 3
- Operation Rehabilitation | Week 4
- Operation Rehabilitation | Week 5
- Operation Rehabilitation | Week 6
- Operation Rehabilitation | Week 7

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Prime & Toast

Those who reviewed it have already said everything though here's what I think...

Pros: Cozy environment, nice service (hope it remains like that when the place gets crowded).

Cons: Food needs to be juiced up a little (some sauce would make it really good), relatively-bad location (parking).

All in all I would give it 6/10 but it's too early to judge.

I would like to thank Patrick for the invitation, wish the owner of the restaurant all the best of luck, and to the people who were there that night... it's a pleasure meeting you all.

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Graphics & Web Design course

We're having a problem with the institute. They claim to provide CIW intensive course but all they did is skim over some points then off to MS FrontPage.

According to their brochure...

Web Design courses (Pro. CIW Designer):-
- CIW Foundations | 30 hours
--+ Internet Business Foundations
--+ Site Development Foundations
--+ Network Technology Foundations
- CIW Site Designer | 30 hours
--+ Design Methodology & Technology
- CIW E-Commerce Designer | 30 hours
--+ E-Commerce Strategies & Practices

They have already skipped two courses (CIW Foundations & CIW E-Commerce Designer)... The full course should take around two months and they're giving this one in two weeks!

I have emailed CIW regarding this issue and hopefully they will reply soon. If they don't I will make a big fuss in the institute.

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Nissan Al-Babtain

This has gone way too far and I have had enough... If that b@stard can't manage his dealership then the hell with it, I'm contacting Nissan.co.jp.

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Redbull Flugtag

Flight #40. We are the last team to fly our plane in the event. The plane is 70% done, we still have to attach the wings, replace some stuff, paint the plane, and it's all set up for the day of the event.

Burger Boutique

I have no idea what has come up to this world. People fight to eat disgusting food for unreasonable prices. What's the point in ordering a 4KD burger while you can have a cheeseburger for 0.350 fils and still praise god for its taste? Junk food will remain as junky regardless of the quality and effort put into it.

Yesterday I got a call from a friend who I haven't seen for a long time. He picked me up and took off to Arraya at around 8:30. He asked if I ever tried Burger Boutique, I said no, so he started to describe how good the restaurant environment is and how tasty and juicy their burgers.. etc. where I have only started to drool and chose to give it a shot.

We went up to see the place crowded like if the U.N. were giving away supplies for the poor. We approached the ?indian? guy who has the waiting list and asked if there's a table for two. He instantly replied with a tone "You'll have to wait one hour... There's no way I can get a place for two at the moment.". I told my friend we should skip it but he insisted so we kept on waiting. After around 45 minutes we got a table inside the restaurant. Uncomfortable seats back to back with other tables, the lighting and decorations are very bad, and the service is too slow compared to Johnny Rockets.

I did not know what to order so I told my friend to order two of whatever he's having but make sure it comes without tomato. Minutes later the order arrived and there sits a giant hamburger swimming with sauce. I took a bite and guess what, it came with tomato. I told the waiter to take it back and bring me another one without tomato. He goes inside and comes back outside holding the exact sandwich without tomato. WTH? Are you playing me? I can take it off myself, go back and bring me another new/fresh burger without tomoato. He abruptly exhales and takes it back. After 15 minutes he comes with another one that complies with my specific taste.

I don't want to bore you all with more details but the burger tasted like chewing on cement. Not that I have actually tried eating cement before but I think if it tastes like anything it would definitely be raw concrete.

Once again, keep your overworked so-called cozy environment and pile of concrete that you call food to yourself. I'm going to Badr Elbdor.

Gaucho Grill | Take Two

If my first experience was bad then this is the story closure for this restaurant; it sucks to the core.

Yesterday I was invited to The Gaucho Grill and I couldn't refuse. Me and my friends were meeting someone important and he chose the restaurant.

Once again with the waiter who comes holding a plate with steaks, he kept flipping them around with his bare hands describing what's this and what's that (mooch, looks like it's one of their mores). I ordered Caudril steak but the waiter said they don't have any, instead they have Ostrich meat as a non-fat steak! I don't want any ostrish!t steak! Give me my specific order or don't put it on the menu!

Anyways... There was nothing else to order so I had to be stuck with steak De Auncho, it has more fat than meat and I ended up eating two chunks only and left the plate untouched. Note that the food was also cold when delivered. And there's no need to talk about the bill.

Now the only good things in the restaurant are their Sun Burst drink and Argentinian spicy sauce served before you start ordering. Other than that I would never want to be caught dead in that restaurant.

Keep your cow coated chairs to yourself, I'm going to Badr Al-Budor.

Review | Café Blanc

Due to external pressure I am compelled to post a non-Mac-related topic so here it goes...

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Yesterday me and a couple of friends had dinner at Café Blanc, Marina Crescent. Personally I don't like to try new restaurants but once I was told it's Lebanese food I accepted.

So off we went, sat inside because it was raining outside, skimmed the menu and started off with some random mazzeh (starters) and drinks. The tabbouleh and hummus were typically good, cheese rolls (?sambosak?) were very VERY tasty. I don't know about the drinks since I ordered regular coke but seems like my friends were pretty happy with their drinks.

Now for the main course we had a plate of random grills, that includes kebab, shesh-tawoq, and kofta. However, nothing was really good, acceptable maybe but not good compared to other Lebanese restaurants. The kabab was rubbery and could not be cut easily making me struggle to cut a piece. I wished for a carpet cutter or a chain saw to cut it!

Other than that everything was quite perfect, the environment was very calm and the service was great, the shisha was pretty nice in both looks and taste (picture on the right), and best of all was the bill. Let's just say I payed quarter what I payed at The Guacho Grill.


So there, hope this makes up for those who are putting me down with pressure. :P



UPDATE: Almost forgot...

THE HELL WITH SUSHI!
Good bless the troops of anti-sushism.

The Gaucho Grill

Imagine with me... The Gaucho Grill, Palms Club & Spa, dinner on candle lights, a group of civilized people all around you, comfy seats and great service. That is what I had imagined until I saw it myself. If you ever had to go there don't expect too much because that restaurant stands strongly on its overworked environment. The service is too slow, we got a couple of wrong dishes, and worst of all, their steaks were cold!

If it's about their food quality then it is high. The waiter brought out a small tray with every kind of steak they offer and he started to explain the differences between each and every piece. I ordered Bife Caudril which is 300gm of pure beef (no fat), medium-well and pepper sauce, while all my friends went for the extra fat beef (don't remember its name). The food was already cold when delivered and they made it even worse by giving us the wrong order so we had to wait for the other dishes to be delivered. It took around 20 minutes to get the starters, 45 minutes to deliver our main course, and another 15 minutes to get the rest of the order.

Now put all this aside and don't get struck like we did when we saw the check. Let's just say we could've had 10,000 falafil/potato sandwiches, 200 family coke bottles, and still saved some cash! We were 6 people btw.

Money was not an issue but I couldn't stop thinking of THIS. I felt ashamed for paying KD20+ on a cold poor meal while there are people out there who don't have anything to eat. I could've had given some of the money to charity and still have a warm fresh happy meal from McDonald's that would make me graceful. After all, everything will be flushed down the toilet.

Maki | *ugh*

Yesterday I had dinner at Maki and to be honest it wasn't good at all. I heard a lot about how delicious their food is but it turned out to be nothing close to what I've heard, in fact it was absolutely the contrary which is utterly disgusting! We've ordered a large variety of dishes but none of them was tasty to me, not even slightly. And the price is a whole another story; I think we paid for the stylish look of their "decorated" food and the calm environment of the restaurant, but not the taste of the food itself.

Now you don't want to take my words for granted because this counts as my first experience with Japanese food.