“This Tuesday Enjoy your favorite Ribs at Ruby Tuesday with our Buy one Classic BBQ Ribs and get one Free Promotion. Exclusive for our Salmiya Branch only.”

Visit the Salmiya branch and show that you have liked our Facebook page or followed us on Twitter.

Hurry offer valid only for today (7th FEB 2012) starting from 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM !!

 

Previous posts on RT [ HERE ] & [ HERE ]

As the first time, they are generous with their portion which got me running till around 9:30 PM. 2 major pet peeves and one pisses me off more than the other are:

1. Salad dressing portion.. In comparison to the size of the salad I think you guys could just have a bigger container with more dressing or just add 2 ! Unless we have to order extra?! @@

2. I complained from this the first time but you either gotta change the type of onion you use (Red ones) or do something about it! Rinse it after cutting! It’s too strong on my palate and a salad is not a salad unless it contains onions! what’s wrong with shallots – scallions or regular White onion?!  I am not sensitive to onion but I had to nod to people – avoid being too close because I don’t have a tooth brush – paste on me nor had I chewing gum! Reminds me of Ramadan .. he he he

Everything else was ok, I like how the salad was diced and it is clean (Although I didn’t inspect the lettuce as I do with other restaurants) I think I was really hungry to give a rat’s ass anyways !

Click on image to visit their website

Firin Bakery’s  the first of its kind in Kuwait with their Gluten Free cooked goodies. [ READ HERE ON GLUTEN FREE DIET ] Diets of that sort are specially needed for those who suffer from Gluten intolerance, Celiac Disease & Wheat allergies besides that, people who tend to be conscious about their health in general would like this place for sure.  

I’ve been following Firin Bakery on Twitter [ @firinbakery ] for a while and managed to drive by their shop in Hawally a couple of times but it was always closed! I kept insisting that they had their delivery service on so where do they operate it from!? Till I decided to go ahead today, park the car, get down and see if someone’s in or not and to my surprise, they were opened even the nice lady inside unlocked the door for me as she was busy placing the good on display.

There were more items still not on display like the walnut cupcakes and the cookies are else where.

I’ve also read that they had fatayer so I was craving that but it was too early in the morning and they only had sweets and since I have to go renew my subscription at Diet Center I said what the heck, I might as well eat well today!

Their packaging with the Gluten Free logo and the rolling pin (which happens to be the shape of their cute business card)

I ordered 2 coffee crumbles (individual size cakes) + Walnut Scone which I handed over to mother as I ate one coffee crumble. For a Gluten free cakes, that was pretty good and soft – moist! I never imagines that it would be like this since the stuff I got from mega markets before tend to be hard.

Delicious center consisting of Cinnamon!

I am no cupcake fan even when I make them at home so I skipped that and got me some cookies

3 of 2 types, Chocolate chip & Peanut butter. I liked the chocolate one more but you know it lacks that crumbly texture of a regular cookie as for the PB one, it was good but too heavy for me.

Now to be completely honest, Yes there is a necessity for such businesses and God bless them for the efforts, taste wise I really liked it and I can’t wait to try the savory fatayer but the bill was a party pooper for me! I mean what if I was considering ordering a large batch of cookies or scones for a gathering or to take over to my parents. Let’s say I am Gluten intolerant God forbid, this will burn my pocket! It is pricey specially for the size of the stuff they make.I won’t compare it to scones, cakes nor cookies we get from regular coffee shops because of the ingredients but they are much smaller in size so..

P.S: Sorry for the way this bill looks! I just remembered that I needed to take a picture of it!

Regardless, I would encourage you to check their tiny cute place out and try their coffee cake in particular (YUM) – fatayer when you get the chance and to those suffering from the above mentioned diseases – allergies, may you live long and healthy en sha2 allah and I hope Firin helps you with your diet.

For more information on Firin Bakery, visit their website [ HERE ], check their FB group [ HERE ] or follow them on Twitter [ @firinbakery ]. They are located in Hawally on Tunis Street, Phone number: 22666100.

Other reviews I know of on Firin Bakery by Mark [ HERE ] and Danderma [ HERE ] .

Along with a couple of bloggers here, I was invited to attend her graduation ceremony & get treated to one of her self prepared drinks yesterday at Gloria Jean’s Salmiya (Opposite to Geant – where the old Salmiya cinema theater was located). I walked in to see [ NOON ], [ SWERA ], then got to see [ UM AZOOZ ] and last but not least – we weren’t introduced to each other – [ PINKGIRLQ8 ] n’ I made her a promise which I intend to keep till next time we meet enshallah :) there were also a couple of female bloggers but again, no proper identification – introduction was applied. Of course Naj was my date for the day but since you had your family gathering, next time we plan an outing to spend more time together. I walked out happy because I caught up with those ladies and it’s been ages since I’ve been around them with Alma on hand as well as duty resumption.

Kholoud, from Gloria Jean’s PR team welcomed me and allowed picture snapping around the cafe..

Our table – Hafsa Q., winner of Danderma’s blog competition was there and it was nice chatting with her especially about children ;p

Danderma busy making drinks

Again, Danderma busy behind the counter

Some of the items you could purchase from Gloria Jean’s

Now to be completely honest, I only tried Gloria Jean’s once when I was at KFH’s car branch in AlRai and I was amazed at their display! I didn’t know they offer such a variety of food items!

They had it all! Sandwiches in different types of breads and wraps, Salads as well as dessert

and as much as Kholoud tried to convince me to grab a bite, I remained loyal to my Diet center box in the car! :/ wella that chocolate cake looked scrumptious!

Moving on to our hostess…

I asked her for a skinny drink, something she’d recommend to me and I think she mentioned macademia nut something and she started preparing it

Milk with perfect froth!

My drink with my nickname ! :p

My drink with Swera’s doughnut balls

Busy barista!

The it came time to announce the winner of Danderna’s blog competition, mini speech and D.’s graduation

Hafsa receiving her gift from Gloria Jean’s

Mr. Subhi with the PR team and Danderma (I blurred the pics cuz I wasn’t sure if you’d mind posting pics or not ;p )

Danderma with the cap PinkgirlQ8 got for her

Dandermay’s certificate

We didn’t go home empty handed for the good people at Gloria Jean’s gave us a bag which contains French coffee – Kholoud tried to explain how to prepare that and I wanted to tell her I breathe Turkish coffee so that’d be no issue to me ;p along with Red thing which entitles holder to a discount from them

And just to be more fair, I tried the Toffee Butter coffee earlier today and it is AMAZING! I am no fan of flavored French coffee but this is going to be a problem for me! AND YES, it’s in a Starbucks cup- mug ;p

I would like to thank Danderma for this opportunity and say that it’s finally nice to meet you in person as well as see new and old faces. Gloria Jean’s also gets a special shout out for organizing this mini gathering as well as the goodies :) and after seeing the place and tasting the coffee, I would recommend you readers to try them out and post – comment on their FB group [ HERE ]. It was lovely to meet all of the ladies and see Azoon and Ahmed in mature and boooy is that kid adorable mashallah! Hafsa, I hope you start preparing drinks for us soon :P

Here are today’s pics of Alma while at Mubarakia on Friday. I was craving Kabab so bad, I decided to give myself a treat! Diet can wait!

My funky Dear Nanny!

ChikaBaby in the making!

P.S: i never stopped blogging to those who asked, I just find it hard to spare some time at home with Alma around since she starts bashing the laptops besides the fact that I don’t go out much as I used to. Guess I need to work my schedule out a bit!

I woke up really early on Friday and got all dressy and makeup-y to meet the ladies and arrived to the Avenues around 9:15 ish. First one for the class maybe, I was seated and offered breakfast (part of the package) and I only had coffee knowing that we will be tasting the dishes made (Only down side to this class is not having a “hands on” experience) which would have been great! I asked Mr. Lay (manager) *Waves Hi* to snap some shots and he welcomed the idea!

You see, it was empty yet the display was full and they had too many delicious stuff which I managed to keep away from :/ I love their place because it is spacious and comfortable on the eye with the display, seating arrangement and colors.

One issue though, I was lost as to how to get to there! I checked the Avenues’s iPhone app and it was wrong and like others with bad REAL client servicing, I informed them about and no one replied! Says on the application to park in P10! WTH!

What’s nice about Carluccio’s is that it’s diner as well as a deli where you can buy your favorite Italian cooking items like Pasta, Sauces, Coffee, herbs, sweets and kitchen essentials!

Coffee, Tartufi and biscuits, oils and rice!

Pasta, dried Porcini mushrooms, Pesto and others items you could buy from there!

Books and more Tartufi <3 Chocolate truffles which I got me a jar of ! It’s “drop dead” delicious!

The Interior

Last time I sat on that couch, I was with Ree ;p pregnant, hungry, not knowing what to eat! But i did eventually!

Yes, that’s what I was fighting! I want to have an Off Day from Diet Center!

Youm Eswed! *Cries*

Their Specials <3 Gnocchi !

The ladies arrived, got some breakfast which looked amazing and at 10:30 we were told to head inside where they had the place set up for the cooking demo

I just wish next time they’d consider having cooking stations for participants to get down n’ dirty you know!

Sous Chef Banish! Hope I got that right! :$

What was on the menu today

Head Chef  Mr. Davide in action ;p bonjourno !

Class started with The Minestrone a la Milanaise which is your hearty vegetable soup topped off with a nice dash of Parmigiana

Soup in the making! Oh I just wanted to stir the veggies up and I did! And Chef got scared when I was about to add the Zucchini at the wrong time ;p

Ladies finally got the guts to check the pot !

Final result of the Minestrone = Molto Bene !

Next on the menu was the Risotto Con Funghi with 3 types of mushroom, lots of butter and enormous amount of calories!

Porcini Mushroom, button mushroom and I forgot the 3rd one! ;p

Stirring the Carnaloni rice is essential while adding stock !

It was sooooo good, I had to avoid asking for another portion because as chef says: ” We addeeh more buuutteeer” ! cute accent!

Last but hopefully not least from their classes in the future, Coffee Panna Cotta! and if you ever think this dessert is light- think again buddy!

Double cream boiling after adding the gelatine and there’s a massive amount of sugar in this pot as well!

Sous chef plating the ready made Panna Cotta servings since it has to set in the fridge while Ched Davide makes the toffee sauce!

The reason Chef Davide decided to serve them up like this is 1. They have coffee in the recipe – 2. Each serving of the amount of ingredients we had contains 350 calories! :o MINUS THE SAUCE!

Beautiful up close n’ personal

I swear I only took 2 spoons only – tea spoons that it!

Done with all the cooking, Q&As, ladies (including us left with a good bag filled with Carnolini rice for the risotto making, Biscuits and 2 “buy one meal get the other free” coupons which is cool!

I didn’t like the Baci Di Dama biscuits, too heavy but I managed to buy a jar of the Tartufi Neri with almonds (I think) from the inside and they are divine!

Jar Vs. DC’s box = Jar wins!

<3

Overall, I personally had a great time specially meeting Jessy and Nunu + Ghalya who’s a cutie mashallah.

We paid KD 12 for the experience but I honestly think that next time participants should do some actual cooking but that price includes the breakfast, class as well as the goody bag which is fair. Bestest part is hanging out with 2 special ladies and hopefully this won’t be the only time.

Carluccio’s located at the Avenues, Phase 1 Level 1 -Phone: 22597310 for reservations. You can also visit their website [ HERE ] for more details. Special shout-outs to Mr. Lay, Chef Davide, Sous Chef Banish and the nice staff whom names I didn’t catch for the lovely event.

No post on this blog will not include a photo of Alma and today I am posting a picture I snapped of Ghalya, Jessy’s daughter at Carluccio

Isn’t she adorable! All focused with the chef! yakhtyyyyyy

And since it’s my sister’s b-day (one in the photo with Alma), I just wanted to post this here and wish her a fun filled day!

I celebrated my birthday on January – Friday 13th! and although the majority tend to be superstitious about that freaky date, mine was relaxing, full of love and wonderful! Clueless as I was to the surprise in the making, I helped my family a lot by providing them time for the cake to arrive as well as dinner so I went home to check if Dear Nanny had things done then left to my parents house… What no one knows except Julie ;p - LOL – is that playing on Instagram at my place, I managed to take a shot of this bug on our window

After that I was checking the Feed and spotted my name on a cake !

HAHAHAHAHA- Sorry Julz but that was sincerely funny!

So I kept quiet, played dumb and watched them buzz around the house trying to keep things ready and my husband was asking: “what do you wanna do tomorrow on your b-day?” or “I’ve got the feeling that I’m gonna mess my diet tonight” LOL !

I excused myself to go pray – more time for them to set the cake down and gather waiting for me ;p and it happened! All the clapping and singing! God, I am anti birthday celebrations :/ I’d consider every day my birthday if I’d receive gifts! >:)but what was really cool is having my Birthday cake done by Julie of [ A Little Sugar ] ! I’ve always wondered what they’d create – design for me and it came out beautiful as all her work.

A cute fully decorated cupcake on top of a Pink cake! So I’m full of sugar it seems ;)

Another view of “Me”

I love the details – which are all edible btw – on the cake!

That’s the top of the cupcake lady on top of the cake base – how cute! All is fondant covered and everything again I say is edible!

The saddest part was having to cut through the cake so we removed Mrs. Cupcake and dug in the cake base

Dear lord, if i hadn’t enough self control that things would have been eaten up by me! I took a thin slice of this chocolaty, yummy YUMMY goodness! OMG! The thing about Julie is she understands what her clients want and my husband told me he didn’t request a specific flavor but she know what I like :) chocolataaaaa <3

And because we got too curious on what was filled in cupcake lady, we cut through it to find a White cake with cream and cherries I assume! Equally delicious and fattening!

I was so happy to see the family gathered around the table, specially with Alma clapping (she does :) ) and smiling, my first birthday with her and enshallah many more to come. I was so happy that Mrs Julie managed to squeeze my cake on her already fully booked schedule because she’s always booked in advance mashallah!

I am happy that i got gifts: a Michael Kors watch, a Green ensemble which makes me look like a tree and I tweeted it and got hugged for it ;p

and my husband got me an Aigner watch! <3 My family knows – can understand my obsession to that brand! I have several watches of different colors to match any color I wear and the latest is a Black – Silver one with Pearl dial off the latest collection At Geneve Novelties..

The full “A” – Love the color BTW! Need Red ;p E7emmm

Thanks to those who made this memorable, thanks to Julie for the cake, thanks to those who sent in their b-day greetings and thanks Man for the gift and Alma :*

Previous posts on A Little Sugar read [ HERE ], [HERE ] & [ HERE ] or you could follow her on Twitter @A_LittleSugar & her FB group link’s mentioned in the beginning of this post.

La3yoon Ruby Tuesday Kuwait’s Tweep!

You know I like RT and I know I like RT! Only thing stopping me is my Diet Center diet plan but as soon as I get an off day, I will go hog on my favorite meal: Chicken Bella! and a Blondie as well! *drools*

Ruby Tuesday Kuwait’s having their Ribs festival which was and still is a big success. A variety of Ribs platters for your choice and liking - Dear Nanny said and I quote: “Deeliiii”shios” and you can read it [ HERE ]. I happen to be a huge fan of the person behind the Twitter account because she/he’s very active, interacts well with people and know what – how to answer if people address her/him but what I don’t get is a company like [ Cinescape ] deciding to have social networking media and handle it through inefficient individuals with all due respect but if you can’t answer a simple query or ignore tweets you don’t like and worse, block those who are trying to complain then might as well deactivate the account!

I will blog about Cinescape in details later! They need it!

I’ve watched my husband – jealously – lose weight after subscribing to [ Diet Center Kuwait ]  for a couple of months, not only that! Unpacking his meals box was so exciting because of the variety of food they make available to dieters and sometimes the portion would be so huge he used to allow me to share and back then I was a cranky, hungry -not knowing what to eat due to the Acid reflux and very lazy to do anything myself pregnant woman! Their food was good since it’s low in Sodium and they encourage less salt intake anyways. My favorite meal was the mushroom steak with rice and veggies.. I used to order that like 4 times a week!

7 months after delivery and my weight is dropping down very slowly :/ add to that not me being able to do some outdoor walking because kid is fussy and now with duty hours being so long it sounds impossible unless on weekends which I intend to do; Bottom line, husband decided to enroll me in Diet Center’s food course as a trial and see if it has significant results I would continue for 3 months at least.

First day of work I got the box early morning sadly enough you can’t take breakfast on the same day and keep it for the next one and I was hungry.

I have the full day plan – breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack… all very good- actually, you get to pick out your meal ahead and they figure out the portion based on the calories the dietitian calculates for you and I am supposed to have 1050 calories a day! BAS! I was dying on the first day but again it’s adjustable. We have an appointment today to check on our weights and I think pick up food items for the next 10 days.

Basically it’s the 5 small portioned meals that we are supposed to have all day long in one box, taste wise Diet Center is great! I’ve known it ever since I first tried in Lebanon when they initially launched their services. Aunt used to get their mana2eesh (it’s like a Lebanese pizza) and freeze them yum! I lost so much weight on those it was insane! I am particularly in love with their dessert.. guilt free ya3ny ;p Only con is their plan price but I understand that the quality of meals and freshness of ingredients are their main concern besides, we’d spend much more than that dining outside the house!

You can follow them on Twitter @DietCenterkw , or visit their website [ HERE ] which allows you to go through their menu and learn more on their services.

YES I resumed duty! After ONE YEAR, FIVE MONTHS of maternity leave, I chose to resume work with the beginning of  the new year. I’ve been up since 5:30 AM- I made sure baby had enough of me and I left crying because I will be away from her from 8 to 4:30 5 days a week! *CRY* I wish times were much more simple and life wasn’t as expensive so women would stay home and take care of the kids and yes I would totally encourage any mom to stay home (Based on my personal experience and at least for the first 2 years)… I am aware that I will be missing some important milestones but there’s nothing we can do about it unless I win the God damn Jawhara account prize!!! YA RAB !

So many changes which I need to keep track of, too many people left, many yet to leave and I was surprised with a “kind of “ career change in spite of being under the same domain as well as a new location / office but this time there’s a window!! YES some ventilation hallelujah. I am kinda pissed cuz I am away from those that I know but change is good no?!

I am so happy that there are windows <3 !! It’s refreshing and the view’s a killer! I never knew that garden was THAT big! 7amdellah ! As for the office space itself, it’s just great! I am gonna have my own mini fridge – microwave – Nespresso machine! You name it! and am filling it with my baby’s photos <3 so I see her all around me! *enshallah*

Oh, and the Man decided to treat me to a Diet Center subscription, Let’s see how that’d work with 1050 calories per day!!

I just miss one person in this world more than anyone or anything else … :(

Last week – (or was it the one before?), RT tweeted on having a blog and asked for suggestions and after a couple of tweets I promised that my next visit would surely include snapping pictures and that was that till the man decided to take us out for dinner. In the car we were debating between Friday’s and Ruby Tuesday but since we are both into salad bars we head to Ruby Tuesday branch on the Gulf Street next to Kuwait Towers which I personally like because it’s spacious and most of the time not crowded specially around the time we have our dinner. Of course Alma and Dear Nanny went along and honestly, that’s how I managed to take pictures because Dear Nanny’s responsibility is to handle her while we are out (if I am busy) or when we entertain guests at home. Dear Nanny was excited because it was her first time to see that street, the Towers and experience dining American cuisine.

Upon entry we were more than welcomed and Alma took all the attention from door to table and even afterward till she slept! I like their interior design which is very classy, cozy, very posh for an American diner if I can call it so with it’s dark wooden floors, dark leather couches, Cute table lamps; It doesn’t feel funky in a sense of a regular diner – bar nor is it harmful to the eye with the posters – items mounted on walls like the rest of them places. They are ready for Christmas this year with the decorations, lights, tree as well as a special offer for the same.

They have a special promotion for Christmas so you might as well call for reservations now!

It was empty at the time we went for dinner which is better!

I love love love the floor!

Love those lamps as well!

festive bar which kid was scared of ..

“Ok! She doesn’t wanns pose for the camera!” Amy, the Sharq branch manager with kid :) – you can see how happy Dear Nanny is! lol

Ok! She’s more interested with the football match on the screen..

Now for our orders

As I mentioned above, both man & I like RT for their salad bar which honestly contains a variety of items so we don’t order salads off the menu but opt to order some type of appetizer and the main course

My salad dish

Choice of appetizer was Spinach Artichoke dip, fine & yummy! Man devoured it

Dear Nanny’s dish: Ribs with rice – “mam, looks like the icing you put on your cakes” ! Lol and in her own words: “deliiiiiii(sh)ious”

I almost order this dish every time we eat there: Chicken Bella with mushrooms & artichoke sauce over a grilled chicken breast- very tender and light

Man had the Asian glazed Salmon, liked it very much but I didn’t try it since I am into Salmon that much

As for drinks, I had the Ultimate Mojito (also each and every time I go there) and Dear Nanny had a regular Fanta :/ I forgot to take a picture of the drink before !

Sadly enough, we wanted to have the Blondie dessert which a brownie with chocolates and nuts served warm with ice cream but Nikki- the waitress said that they don’t have that and they’re waiting for the ingredients to be shipped from the States

This was our total bill which is good for 3 persons  and there’s no service charge bas walla KD 1 for a regular Miranda is too much!

Again, here’s there twitter address and there’s on FB too [ HERE ]

To sum it up, we love dining at Ruby Tuesday and it’s great every time whether from the service or the food. Best of luck for the future RT team and can’t wait for special events and promotions coming up ahead :)

Don’t forget guys about their Christmas luncheon KD 7.5 for adults, kids half price on the 25th of this month. Kids also get special gifts. For more info on that contact: 22444454

P.S: All photos were taken by iPhone so pls excuse the bad quality.