Talal'z Day Off

le grand venise - Paris

2012-07-12T02:11:00.001+03:00

I expected more from this restaurant in paris, especially that its attended by who's who of world politics like Hosny Mubarak former Egyptian President!

Appetizers

Pasta

Main Course

Dessert Assortments

le Chateaubriand Paris by Khaled

2012-07-12T02:10:00.002+03:00

Le Chateaubriand is a five course fixed price menu in Paris, i haven't tried but it looks good and is in an interesting category where it costs relatively low compared to the type of food and service they provide.

How To Make Your Own French Bread

2012-04-27T14:04:00.001+03:00

MY new thing !<br>

Pink Slime. Jamie Oliver Food Revolution.

2012-02-11T22:57:00.000+03:00

Israeli Felafel ?! - Paris

2012-01-10T01:26:00.000+03:00

L'As Fallafel queue in the background

Its baffling to me why Falafel is sold by Jews in Europe as an Israeli dish ? Specially that its well known that Falafel is intrinsically Middle Eastern! More specifically Palestinian, Lebanese and Egyptian! but then i remember that Palestine is entirely Sold to the world as Israeli, so it made more sense or lack there of!

L'As du fallafel is the most famous 'Israeli' falafel joint in Paris, i passed by it every day in my last trip there, as it was located right across the road from where I was staying. i had falafel my whole life so i wasn't interested a bet, despite the very long queue lines that suggested something special is served there! moreover, the fact that it was called Israeli made it even less interesting. But not until a friend had highly recommended it did i struggle to overcome the moral barrier and succumb to the curious foodie side of me and do it!

it was sold for 5 Euros/sandwich, 15 times more expensive than the best falafel in Kuwait! and it was served with a fork, which to me is like eating a hot dog with chop sticks! but it was big so its OK.

all'n'all it was a good old fashioned falafel sandwich, mainly because of it size and the chilli paste on top...

and there you have it .... !

UBON Thai - Kuwait

2012-01-05T16:16:00.002+03:00

UBON, is the upcoming and most anticipated new Thai restaurant in Kuwait City. I was invited for tasting there twice, the first time was for dinner; i was so impressed that they invited me again for lunch! :). UBON is Owned by 3 young Architects and a nutritionist. The beautiful interior is designed by one of the partners. All i can say is that this is the best Thai restaurant I've tried in Kuwait so far. I'm hoping they'd keep up the amazingly great quality that is carried out throughout everything they've done so far. I'm happy i get to see local businesses that are done that well!

I'm Inspired .. :)

All the best ..

tom yum kah soup

spicy papaya salad

jumbo shrimps

Chicken wrapped in banana leaves

Chicken Satay

Rice noodles with red curry shrimps

Green Currey Chicken

Sticky rice with mango

Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin - Bangkok

2012-01-03T23:23:00.000+03:00

 dreadful !

When even the desserts are as bad as the rest of the meal, you know better  TO NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER !! Because this restaurant failed on so many levels i don't even know where to start !

I wanted to try out the first Molecular Gastronomy joint in Bangkok, Sra Bua; a modern Thai cuisine Restaurant located in the newly opened Siam Kempinski Hotel. Specially that it won the [2011 Thailand Best Restaurant], so i went in all prepared to to experience something extraordinary! On contrary, i was so underwhelmed by the horrid taste of the odd intriguing looks of the set menu courses. serving a freezing cold ingredients mixed with hot was a repeating element of this menu... Bad Idea !!

This place gets 1/10 and that single point goes for the looks only!!

Soup

 Desserts

Mariage freres Tea House - Paris

2011-12-31T10:21:00.003+03:00

This is a great place for an amazing collection of teas, check out their website for more info.

Baked Potato with cottage cheese herb infused Avocado oil

2011-12-30T18:03:00.001+03:00

Home made cottage cheese mix with herb infused avocado oil, salt and pepper, lemon & vinegar! perfect mix for baked potatoes, roasted beetroots or even boiled eggs!

Chez Léon Bistro - Paris

2011-12-29T01:46:00.000+03:00

Langoustines

Roasted rabbit leg with potatoes provincial

almond creme pastry

Chocolate cake with vanilla creme

Traditional French cuisine at its best! not least is that leg of rabbit and its side of roasted baby potatoes! Rustic and delicious French food at this small and cozy bistro located in Paris's 8th district. Thanks to my friend Sebastien for suggesting this place for our rendezvous lunch! after nearly 7 years since we last saw each other back in school!

Spring - Paris

2011-12-28T22:13:00.001+03:00

This is not the first time Spring is covered on this blog, one of the blog readers, Khaled; shared his experience a while back (here) and in fact had recommended it for me. So, on my last trip to Paris i made sure I'd try it out, and i did! 

We went for Dinner (advanced booking is highly recommended) and the interior design and lighting was very clean, simple and relaxed! the same is also reflected throughout the set menu from starters to desserts! 

they only serve set menus, it is seasonal and the menu is recited by the waiter, nothing is printed! the good thing is that they do ask if there was anything one can or can't eat so that it can be taken into consideration.

the food was enjoyable! most specifically the venison, i never thought I'd like any piece of meat cooked any less than medium well; but there is a first for everything and surprisingly, I did enjoy it cooked medium rare!

Appetizers

buckwheat pancakes with porcini mushrooms

Pigeon Bouillon

Grilled Scallops

Carpaccio of scallops with wateress

Main Courses

sole fish, mussels, chicken sauce


Venison, cabbage from pontoise

Desserts

roasted apples, sorbet of Greek yoghurt

roasted apples

clementine jelly, chestnut

tarts

chocolate mousse

Spring's front

Honest Burgers - London

2011-12-06T13:37:00.001+03:00


Honest Burger


the bill box Surely, one of London's best kept secrets is brixton village, located at the end of Victoria line (South) with an eclectic mix of a small, very interesting restaurants, one of which is newly opened Honest Burgers! very simple and nice burgers prepared and served by the owners of this joint. the menu is simply explained on a large chalk board on one of the walls. we had the Honest burger (with 35 Day Dry Aged British Beef, mature cheddar, red onion relish, lettuce and pickled Cucumber) as recommended by one of the owners, its typically cooked medium rare i had it cooked medium well, and it definitely stood out as one of the more interesting burgers around! perhaps because of the sweet toasted glazed bun its served on! it was not your typical soft and moist bun, it rather had a grip to it that worked well with the juicy beef patty. This joint gets high scores for sure! Honest Burgers, Unit 12, Brixton Village, London, SW9 8PR twitter @honestburgers

Brick Box Crepes - London

2011-12-06T13:24:00.001+03:00

Savory Crepe

Buckwheat Crepe with Goat Cheese, Caramelized onions and mixed greens

Sweet Crepe

Buckwheat Crepe with banana, crushed nuts and honey

Quite simply, this place can easily compete as the best crepe joint in london. Again, located in Brixton Village, the wonderful underrated foodies heaven!

This place is run by an ex British Airways flight attendant Brazilian Chef, so no wonder most of the people working there are of Latin origins, like Spain and Brazil!

both crepes shown in the photos above are just Excellent ! most definitely, their crepes gets the highest scores on any rating scale out there !

Senderens - Paris

2011-12-06T12:21:00.001+03:00

Appetizer

Chef's Amuse bouche

Crispy langoustines, coriander and Lovage

to dip wash fingers after eating the lungostines

Main Course

Cacao infused pigeon

Red Mullet Calabraise, and stuffed zucchini flowers in tempura

Desserts

Fondant au chocolat

Mille-feuille with vanilla Tahiti

This place is a bet on the fancy side with remarkable french style cooking! specifically the cocoa infused pigeon! pigeons require a very specific way of cooking, because it can easily get overcooked and rubbery and chewy. This, However; was so tender!

the menu is only available in french, and it had to be explained by the waiter, who was very accommodating to our dietary requirements without us having to tell him about it! like he would tell us what dish had pork or alcohol, which was so nice of him!

LIZA Contemporary lebanease - Paris

2011-12-06T12:18:00.001+03:00

batata harra

Homus

Kharouf Mehché five spice lamb , confit , and rice

Excellent !

Green Brownie Chocolate fudge! - Brunei

2011-11-29T20:17:00.001+03:00

it tastes just as it looks! :)

Chocolate Shrimps over mango salad! - Brunei

2011-11-29T20:01:00.001+03:00

chocolate infused tiger prawns, spicy mango glaze & salsa, snow peas, olive crisp

I was hungry and this was on the room service menu at The Empire Hotel in Brunei . i had to try it! i also ordered a cheese pizza just in case, and i'm glad i did ... !!

High Fashion Waffles in Bangkok

2011-11-29T18:08:00.001+03:00

Velvet waffles

Sweet Hound

"High Fashion Waffles" is how Sweet Hound , a Greyhound Cafe in bangkok describes its waffles! good stuff is all i can say..:)

Elevation burger tops all burger joints in Kuwait

2011-10-23T00:16:00.002+03:00

Its official, Elevation Burger is Kuwait's favorite burger joint! in a recent online poll by tasaweeq magazine Elevation Burger topped a list of 13 burger restaurants in Kuwait! its not a surprise to me as its burger is a favorite of mine as conveyed in a previous posts. (here & here)

Ember @ The Address Dubai Mall

2011-10-21T20:34:00.000+03:00

Bread Basket

Spreads

Tuna Carpaccio with Yuzu mayo

Wild Mushroom Pasta with Parmesan and herbs

180g Pure Angus Beef fillet (USA)

800g Grilled Canadian Lobster

Chocolate


Crème brûlée with orange sorbet

KGB Paris by Khaled

2011-10-21T20:20:00.001+03:00

KGB is short for (Kitchen Galerie Bis) is an other fixed price menu restaurant in Paris experienced by Khaled who had previously shared his experience here. again its all about the reasonable price of dinning experience similar to that of a Michelin star restaurants. set menu's go for €27 and €34 (lunch).

Black Chicken, aka Silkie

2011-09-13T19:30:00.000+03:00

Black Chicken

Silkie

Something i came across while in Thailand is Black Chicken or Silkie! found mainly in Chinese and Asian restaurants. I did not dare to try it, but i know one day I'm gonna have to! :$ I've learned that it "..have been used in Chinese medicine for well over 1,000 years." it also contains high levels of anti-oxidants! who knew!!

for more about this read here

Spring Restaurant Paris by Khaled

2011-09-12T03:52:00.000+03:00

Set Menu

First Course: Ravioli with Porcini mushrooms

Second Course: different types of fish, a salmon, a fried fish, veggies

Third Course: Veal with mustard sauce and chips

Desserts

1st : red berries and meringue

2nd: pear crumble

3rd: chocolate and caramel with berries

Biscuits

"Michelin star style restaurant without the fuss", so said Khaled who tried Spring restaurant (amongst other restaurants of which I'll post about later) in Paris earlier this month. Spring's young Chef Daniel Rose, offers solely Set Menu's by which Khaled describes as an amazing and inventive menu with an attentive service in a modern, clean, and relaxed atmosphere! Khaled knows of the Chef whilst at school for they, Coincidently, went to the American University of Paris! the set menu seems reasonable with only 64 Euros/person.

Thanx for sharing Khaled.. 3wafii :)

Spring Restaurant, 6, rue Bailleul, Paris; (33-1) 45-96-05-72

Louis Vuitton Makes Honey !

2011-08-23T20:24:00.002+03:00

Louis Vuitton Honey

Can't wait for some peanut-butter from YSL .., NOT !

Why, is why I want know?!

more about this nonsense here !

Caramel Bakery Charity for Somalia

2011-08-15T18:21:00.000+03:00

Somalia Charity

Lavender Cheesecake

Rajaee

Sweet is not necessarily edible, and by that i'm referring to Caramel's Sweet Charity gesture by reaching out to Somalia's suffering people!

"Feed more than 65 underprivileged people in Somalia"

with very order from Caramel Bakery! I couldn't wait to receive more detail about this charity gesture as promiced by the nice lady at Caramel, so i'm blogging about this now because:

Somalia, Now; needs every effort and all donations no matter how little it may be to help out provide what we all here take for granted.
It is a great Idea that all businesses, not only bakeries; should follow suit because it shows a positive humanitarian aspect.

i'll provide more details once i receive it from the owners of Caramel!

on a sweeter note, the lavender cheesecake (seen above) looks and smells like its going to compete with my favorite Caramel dessert!