Maki - Mayonnaise everything!! (but it works!)

Where Issa, Muneera and Jaber are edible

If you’re from Kuwait or Bahrain, and you love Japanese food, you probably dined here...several times. I know I have. My first experience with Maki was all the way back in 2007 at Marina Waves. I remember it blew me away! I came home raving about it and advised anyone visiting Kuwait to go there. Not long after that they opened up on my home turf. Medetashi medetashi! (Hooray hooray)

Maki is not for Japanese food purists. I’m just putting that out there. One look at their extensive (iPad) menu and you’ll see why. Oh sure they serve a standard selection of sashimi and sushis, but the maki section is where they take a detour. Almost everything on their special maki section is slathered in some sort of creamy condiment or sprinkled with panko. Several loyal diners from around the region had their name immortalized on the menu; representing a tasty selection of seafood, nori, veggies, and lots of “special sauce”. Some are so popular they’re featured not one not two, but three times. I’m looking at you Issa. 

We were a rather large group that night so here’s where the iPhone note pad comes in handy. (Since I couldn't possibly memorize our complicated order) We had:

“2 Wazani Maki

3 Issa Maki

Volcano

Maki Chef Special

Negimaki

Salmon Sashimi

2 Creamy Ebi Maki

Plum Chicken

Crispy Salad

Beirut Salad”

and last but not least the ubiquitous Edamame.

The Maki Honeymoon is a drink I always enjoy. Looks like a cosmo but isn’t! Come to think of it I’m not entirely sure what’s in it, but it’s a mocktail for sure! Kinda tastes like mimosa, or shampoo, but in a good way. You’ll have to try it.

I was very happy with the Crispy Salad, and the Negimaki is always a favorite. It’s comprised of scallions wrapped with a thin slice of broiled beef and a wonderful soy-ish gravy (aka. teriyaki sauce). It was the dish that had me singing Maki’s praises all those years ago.

If your table somehow doesn’t order the inescapable Issa maki. Leave me a comment letting me know because I find that hard to believe. 

Maki Bahrain is located in Moda Mall on the ground floor of the Bahrain World Trade Center.

TEL: +973 17522733  or +973 36999102

Grub Shack - You've Been Grubbed!

Being the new 'habba'* burger place in town, my friends and I had to try it out! Upon arrival I was not shocked at the line that formed by the door. If anything it promised more excitement and good food at the end of the rainbow. Ummm 20 minutes in we finally get to the till. 1 Lava, 1 Chuck, 1 Grub please! Vying for one of the three tables proved to be a challenge, but we managed to secure one. Another 15-20 minutes passed before we had our food. 

I ordered the Lava burger. Mainly because the toppings are exactly what I'd choose in a 'create your own burger' kinda place. Pickles, Onions, Cheese, and "Special Sauce" (which we all know is a derivative of a thousand island, give it up McDonalds!) What makes this a 'Lava" burger is that the cheese is inside the meat. That's cool but I didn't care much for it. I felt it took away from the meat's juiciness. Ironic you say? It felt like the Lava's patty was a bit too over processed for my liking, which I can assume is to make way for the cheese. *[when I visited again I asked for a plain patty with the cheese on top. Ergo, forgoing the epithet 'Lava" altogether. But I preferred it that way. Their regular patty shows off the Angus beef that they serve in it's best light.] 

My one grievance is the bun. They say it's brioche, which is fine, but I felt it was missing something. Maybe a bit more butter? Yeah it was soft but it just didn't combine cohesively with the patty. I felt like they were of two different standards. I'm being a bit critical here because the bun is so often disregarded and isn't given the same consideration as the rest of the burger's elements. I think they [grubshack] are aware of the bun's importance but I think for me it just fell short of the main goal. I like my bun a little toasted but not dry. It should be moistened by the juices of the meat and the condiments (needless to say the butter). And unfortunately I didn't get that, it was hardly toasted at all. BUT, the patty itself was so good I can overlook this egregious oversight.

The fries were a little on the peppery side but it's a fresh spud. Not frozen. Their Grub fries are a variation of a saucy French fries option you've probably seen before, aka. Fancy fries, Animal fries etc.

One item on the menu that would be criminal to miss is the peanut butter grubbie. How do I describe this yumminess? It's like a snickers bar had a baby with a molten chocolate cake. It arrives at your table, all nice and warm, almost ready to give you a [figurative] hug. (Well this place promises to serve 'comfort' food does it not?) The smooth vanilla ice cream just succumbs to the warmth of this glorious glob of Oooh! I don't know if it's the creamy peanut butter chips or the chocolate/caramel combo or the salty crunchy peanuts in there but this dessert is the bomb diggty! Ya feel me? I'm not sure if there's an entire Reese's cup in there somewhere, I had no time to eat and analyze. My dinner group devoured this sugary creation in less than 2 minutes! All I know is, make a little room for dessert, (that is, if you can) Hats off to the pastry chef, Mahmood Janahi. Well done sir!

I am looking forward to my next visit. I have the Elvis burger in my sights. Peanut butter and bacon in a burger? Curiouser and curiouser!!

*habba: n. an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something; a craze

**update: the bun IMPROVED! Also, I find that the burger tastes so much better when you order it to go. Trust me on this one!

The Grub Shack

Hamala Strip (next to Midway Supermarket)

+973 17131363

6pm-10:45pm (temporary)

*update* Open 'til midnight on weekends

A Chuck Burger and some Grub Fries

                                                 

The Grub Burger

The Chuck Burger

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Grubbie!

Now you see it...

...now you don't!!

The Lava Burger

Bubbleology - Taro Taro TARO!!

The Fifth floor at Harvey Nics is renowned for luring in foodies and the fabulously famished people of London. We never know what we’re going to find when we visit. There was a sign for a Spice Girls themed afternoon tea which we regret passing up! (There just wasn’t enough time!) However, as soon as we ascended the escalator this gorgeous rainbow sign beckoned us towards the counter. Bubble tea!! I LOVE bubble tea! This was sure to be tasty! 

I ordered my favorite flavor of frozen yogurt/bubble tea of all time (and I think forever) TARO! Isn't it weird that it’s a starch? It’s so sweet and creamy and refreshing!! There are many other fruity flavors. What's unique is you can choose the flavor of your 'bubble'. Lychee, Apple, Regular etc. I just stuck to the classic plain tapioca. SO YUM! You've got to give bubble tea a try.

It’s safe to say I liked this place A LOT!! (the fact that it looks like a laboratory just makes it more fun!)

taro |ˈtarō; ˈte(ə)rō|

noun

a tropical Asian plant of the arum family that has edible starchy corms and edible fleshy leaves, esp. a variety with a large central corm grown as a staple in the Pacific. Also called dasheen . Compare with eddo . • Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta, family Araceae.

• the corm of this plant.

ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: of Polynesian origin.

Lola's Cupcakes - ZOMG so g00d!!

Hey guys. So I’m going to be brief here. Pick the passionfruit cupcake. Thank me later. The other flavors were average. But the passionfruit was a knockout!! Not to mention unique...AND one of my favorite flavors. Yep, I like tart tarty things. Enjoy!  

Tommi's Burger Joint - Pass the Pickle Jar

After a few fellow instagramers shared their meals at Tommi’s, and after ruling out Meat Liquor for it being a supposed “tourist trap”, I decided to give this joint a visit. Solo. Disclaimer: This place is not for agoraphobics (as some family members suffer from this misdiagnosed social disease. If you think you’re claustrophobic check the definition again. Chances are you’re an agoraphobe) I took one look at the place from outside and took a deep breath. I noticed two things. The first one being, obviously, that the place was packed; and two, the diners were predominatly male. But enough sociology, time for a burger!

I made my way towards the till and placed my order. There are only 3 options. Beef burger, cheese burger, and steak burger (there is a difference). The staff are ridiculously friendly despite the number of customers they need to serve, and the heat in the kitchen (there were little red fans cooling them down. Ironic considering it was 0 degrees outside.) I made a general judgement, Icelanders are a nice bunch.

 I couldn’t help but look around the room. A chewbacca poster, and the lovely lights on the ceiling caught my eye. The menu is written on pieces of cardboard (one claims that they have the ‘Offer of the Century’, there is a chalkboard with a message of happiness, and little fans’ works of art. Since the place is so small, and it being Friday night and all, expect to share a table with a few strangers. Very communal. There was an inaudible indie track playing in the background. This is a casual crowd. A chic crowd. An artistic crowd. It didn’t take long for the ‘clickty clack’ of YSL booties to come through the door. The Arab girls arrive to try Tommi’s for themselves. Much to their discomfort and apparent agoraphobia, they had their burgers to go. But that’s irrelevant. 

And after quite a long wait for the food, (note to self: although they serve burgers, this is not a ‘fast’ food restaurant) this Arab girl was ready to feast! [Nice bald man delivered it himself, shouting my name halfway across the room until he got to me. I sat by the door. On a stool. Very New York dive.]

I took a few bites and decided to type on my iPhone note pad the following: 

“Didn't care so much for iceberg lettuce, it decidedly cooled things down. Cold lettuce; not good.

I got some mustard towards the end which punched things up. There are more condiments than you can count on two hands lining the wall. 

The meat was beautifully medium. What a tender patty! I’d call it miraculously tender. But I wish it was just about the patty. It's the accompaniments, it's the bun, it's the magic! The bun is alright, quite nice actually. It holds the patty brilliantly without slippage or sloppage. It's just the cheeeeeese. Just your average processed slice. Where is the mature Cheddar? Where is the Stilton or Emmental?? I guess what Tommi's tries to deliver is the authentic American burger. And in that case, processed cheese is right on the money, so I can't complain about that. I want food to take me on an adventure. This burger took me to Bikini Bottom, so this, Ladies and Gentlemen is the closest I've come to [what I think is] a krabby patty! Take that Mister Krabs! 

The fries aren't homemade, they're your standard skinny fries, just seasoned really nicely. I almost didn’t order them but I did, for a sentence that has been popping in my mind frequently, "Do it for the blog!" “

If it weren’t for that cold piece of lettuce, and the choice (or lack thereof) of cheese, this burger probably would’ve surpassed Honest. But then again this is my opinion. Take from it what you will. The general concensus from the reviews of this place is that it is a hit with resident Londoners and conscientious (Middle Eastern) tourists like myself. 

I'd better dust off my trainers, or this will be one gluttonous journey I might regret.

58 Marylebone Lane
Marylebone
London
W1U 2NX

Tel: 0207 935 5275

http://www.burgerjoint.co.uk/ 

Here we are

Bald man was SUPER friendly

I forgot to ask them about the significance of this on the wall

Pièce de resistance 

St. Christopher's Place towards Oxford Street

Gail's - Get the Mini Brownie!

Guys, (and girls) there's a reason why Gail's is popping up all over London! *slobbers* The food is SO goooood!!

Whether you're in Chelsea, SoHo, Battersea, South Kensigton or Hampstead there's surely a Gail's bakery around the corner. This afternoon we found ourselves walking down King's Road. Not far from another bakery/cafe, The Chelsea Quarter cafe. We had just bought their brownie and decided to compare it to Gail's. In this round of my impromptu brownie battle, I think it's safe to say Gail's won the preliminaries. 

Made to resemble an old apothecary, Gail's has a certain charm that we can't quite explain. We literally dashed in and out grabbing what looked good, but we hope to have a good sit down, dine in experience the next time we find ourselves in England. (Although it's cheaper to order out, than in) The cafe was quirky in all the right ways. We loved how they made fluorescent lights look cool. (Fluorescent lights are never cool. Only at Gail's) The caged cake by the window sill had a "can't touch this" kind of forbidden fruit sort of feeling, which made it all the more enticing.

The mini pecan tart was alright. But I think I had pretty high expectations since it's my favorite kind of tart, so I set that one up for failure. The salads were discernibly Mediterranean. No doubt coming from the repertoire of Ran Avidan, co-owner of Gail's. If you're familiar with Ottolenghi I think you ought to know Avidan by now. Where there's good bread, there's an Israeli in the kitchen, or so he says. And to be honest I find no reason to disagree.

That Gruyère and Leek croissant will have to wait. Gail's is a must visit on anyone's London itinerary. Write that down.  

209 King's Road 

SW3 5ED

T:  020 7351 7971