Its been a while since we ate at Pizza Express. In fact we had only eaten there once before when Amber introduced us to her favorite pizza place in Kuwait. Since we were at the Avenues and Ro was very hungry we decided to pop in for a quick meal.

As usual the food court by the cinema was packed but amazingly there were a lot of free tables at Pizza Express. Since there was a big crowd outside and it was getting noisy, we picked the more quiet table #1 inside.

We started off with some drinks. The Green Giant for Ro and a Peach breezer for me. And I know what your thinking but no, this is Kuwait and this was an alcohol-less breezer.

Since we wanted to eat light we decided to skip the appetizers and get started on our pizza. We picked the Salmon pizza. You have to try it out! Poached salmon and creme fraiche dripping down …yummy yummy yummy!

To top it up I ordered a Tiramisu. Now from the image on the menu, I was expecting a small slice. But when it arrived, it was a huge chunk of sinful delicioso!!! So sinful and delicious that Ro, who is abstaining from sweet dishes, ended up eating most of it!

The staff  here were very nice and the place was well lit and very organised. Table #1 where we sat had the best view of both the outside, inside and the kitchen.

Now for the ratings:

• Staff Knowledge: ****½ (4.5/5)
• Service: ****~ (4/5)
• Food Quality: ****½ (4.5/5)
• Price: ****~ (4/5)
• Location & Branding: ***½~ (3.5/5)

Overall Score: ****~ (4.1/5)

If you have never tried Pizza Express, go there this week and you have to try out their Tiramisu!

So you’ve been lugging 20 bags around the mall like a porter for your wife and the stomach is now blocking out all commands from the busy shopper. As you reach the food court the most prominent signboards are the Lebanse tree and Santoor. My stomach drags me towards a more Indianish Santoor but hold on, there is a Chinese counter hidden behind the big Santoor hoarding. Its Shanghai Express tempting me with them juicy looking Chinese items, the food, not the staff since my wife is giving me “the eye” from over at the Santoor counter. I’ve never noticed this place before.

I decide to have a 3-item combo plate. My choice is the noodles along with some brocolli beef and lamb. They add a wonton on the top along with a long spring roll. First time i’ve seen someone give a bonus on the 3-items combo plate.

Head over to the table, dig in and its amazing. Very tasty and quite filling. In fact, so filling and tasty, that I ask them to pack my lamb side so I can eat it later at home. Very neat packing job.

There was an odd thing about Shanghai Express and Santoor being side by side. Shanghai Express had Oriental counter staff and Indian cooks where as Santoor had Indian counter staff and Oriental cooks! Did the cooks decide to swap places? What matters is that Ro enjoyed her spicy meal form Santoor and I the Chinese.

Now for the ratings:

• Staff Knowledge: ***½~ (3.5/5)
• Service: ***½~ (3.5/5)
• Food Quality: ****~ (4/5)
• Price: ****½ (4.5/5)
• Location & Branding: ***~~ (3/5)

Overall Score: ***½~ (3.7/5)

They are definitely worth eating at again.

It was around 9.30 at night and Ro just got off (pretty late) from work. Now she was exhausted from working late and so was I from being made to unnecessarily slog at the office the whole day so we decided to eat out. The nearest place I could think of was the Avenues. 

So we reached there in 15 mins and since it was a week day, the parking lot was almost empty. Took the lift up to the food court and after a quick look around the place we picked Ruby Tuesday.

I was pretty impressed with the layout and that loft they have. Looks like one of the better airport restaurants. Was too tired to climb up those stairs to the loft so we picked a seat with a “nice” view of the 5th ring road and some greenery. Too bad no one bothered to wash the windows on the outside or it would have been a “great” view.

Onto the orders. We started with drinks. Ro ordered a Strawberry Lemonade and I opted for the prominently advertised Mango Sangria. All I can say is that my Sangria was superb. Take care of that ice at the bottom though. Got a brain freeze towards the end!

For starters we ordered a spinach and artichoke dip. It was great and pretty filling. For the meal we decided to try out their burgers for a change. Ro opted for a crab cake burger and I picked the Alpine Swiss. Yes mine is the big brown ugly looking one in the pic below. But don’t let the looks fool you. It was a really great burger. Other than that “rawish” onion ring, the rest of the burger was perfect. One odd thing on our plates was the tiny steel bowl with ketchup. Tiny steel bowls are what you normally find in Indian vegetarian restaurants and not with your burger and fries!

The staff were very friendly and helpful. The ambience was great and not much noise but that could be cause there were only 4 tables occupied! Overall a great meal at the end of a stressed out day.

One thing to watch out for while you walk towards the restaurant is the little stream of water along the wall and the tiny glass “bridge” while entering the restaurant. Its a very nice design concept but if your mind is waiting to sleep like mine was, you could almost trip into it.

Now for the ratings:

• Staff Knowledge: ****½ (4.5/5)
• Service: ****~ (4/5)
• Food Quality: ***½~ (3.5/5)
• Price: ***½~ (3.5/5)
• Location & Branding: ***½~ (3.5/5)

Overall Score: ****~ (3.8/5)

Ruby Tuesday is always a great place to eat at. I’m yet to eat there on a Tuesday though!

I never noticed this before. I wonder who designed the stalls at the mens rest rooms at Avenues. A tampon disposal unit?

If you’ve watched “She’s The Man”, you know they can be used to control nose bleeds  I’ve heard of a lotta fights breaking out at Avenues with a lot of bloody noses, so probably there is a high demand of these units!

This is what the Dubai Festival City parking garage looks like. Not as large as Avenues perhaps, but look more closely at the picture above. Notice those little lights above the cars, they are all red. And the one above the empty spot, its green. 

Now wouldn’t it be nice to have this in all parking lots? Saves a ton of time finding a free spot and will also reduce the level of carbon monoxide in the garage from not having to get in and out of lanes.

I did do some experiments while I was there.

1) If you stand under the “thing”, it turns red.

2) If you jump while you’re under it, your head will break the “thing” (be sure to wear a helmet).

3) If you park a car with the sun-roof left open, it will keep blinking between green and red

This is one of the best pizza’s I’ve eaten. Since Ro and I were at The Avenues and I’d read about this new pizza place on Mark’s blog [link], we decided to give it a try. 

The service was super. We wanted to eat on the balcony (if thats what you can call it) facing the fancy fountain. They pulled up a table and 2 chairs just for us. The view was great, could have been more romantic, but I guess this is good enough in Kuwait.

We ordered the “Rustica Special” which is an all Salmon pizza. Simply awesome. Also found a “monte mario” juice on the menu and since it had my name, it had to be a great choice. And it was. One of the nice things I liked was the bread and sauce which kept be busy till the pizza arrived. (Yes, I’m a glut).

A great meal for just KD 8. Sorry Dominoes, you are now #3 on my list after Pizza Express (#2).

If you need to find this place, its at food world on the first floor close to the balcony thing.

Love this sign. Too bad no one reads it while entering the parking lot at Avenues.

Its real irritating. All these dumb-ass youngsters driving around the well-lit parking lots with headlights on full beam. “Take off those cheap sun glasses fool”. What is it with all these idiots wearing sun glasses in an underground parking lot.

And using those bright white flood lights. Aren’t these illegal?. If your blind get a driver! Or take a cab!