There were announcements all over the blogs that Fat Burger was open, and officially open by last Thursday. I had the chance to get a bite and I was hungry so we decided to get a bite from Fat Burger, and that was a very good decision. The building is located in a new complex on the seaside just a little before Alia & Ghalia Tower.

The Fat Burger is a bit bigger then normal and very spacious with lots of seating, you can see the order counter on the upper floor. The same menu and same cheer when they repeat the orders. My standard order is a double with cheese, lettuce, onions, and extra ketchup. A very simple and clear order, I will know right away if this is the same one I have been having every time I set foot in Dubai. The order came within 10 minutes, we had skinny fries with the order, I finished my fries first because I don’t like cold fries and I wanted to enjoy my burger.

I unwrapped the burger and pour a little ketchup on the lettuce, closed it up and go it ready for the big bite. It is just as good as before, a fresh tasting burger that I kept having every time I go to Dubai Mall. I devoured the sandwich, I almost bit my fingers off it tasted so good and its been a while since I had a Fat Burger burger. If you haven’t had it then you shouldn’t miss it, and its located in a nice new complex, it winter that place is going to be packed for sure. Lets just hope they maintain the quality, I know I’m going back there soon.

When going to the shalaih I looking forward to eating some juicy burgers as well as jumping into the water. With the Prime Cuts burgers I really had something to look forward to trying, but now I had to deal with the grill. I had the guys on bread patrol, cutting up the buns getting the ready, and the cheddar cheese was ready.

Now the grill is an interesting story, its big and can handle a lot of burgers, and I love coal bbqing except that you can’t control the flame, which makes professional gas grillers that much better. Now in this case this is a 15 KD griller made from a used barrel, and cut to fit a grill and welded together, and it works perfectly. Now the funny part is that it belongs to one of the guys from 4thringroad, and somehow ended up with us, but I’m using it and enjoying it so I’m not complaining.

Got the burgers on the grill and for the first time about 7 of guys were waiting behind for the food, I had to swat them away like flies. Usually I’m the only one stuck outside cooking in the cold, but this time around they were all just standing behind and annoying me because they were all so hungry. I kept flipping the burgers every few minutes since I couldn’t control the heat and I didn’t want the exterior burnt and the interior being under cooked. The first batch of burgers that were done, disappeared within seconds, they flew through them and some guys wanted more, these are thick burgers.

After about 18 of the burgers there were only a few left and so I cooked it on my time, making sure they are perfect. I would place each bun on the grill for about a minute to get it nice and crispy. The cheese melted perfected with the heat being nice and warm at this point, I took my first bite and loved it. It was really a juicy burger and very tasty, Prime Cuts now has a dedicated customer and these guys do catering too, so if you want someone to come cook your burgers for you, then they come out.

Everyone likes burgers and a lot of people like meats, but not everyone knows where to get good meat. I’m very particular about meat, especially steaks and burgers, the selection in Kuwait is not that good, we have decent meat but not great. Not until I found Prime Cuts, they have premium quality meats of all kinds. A friend recommended them to me so I called them up. Its a Kuwaiti run concept for a high end delicatessen which has been running and building itself up for over three years, they are suppliers of some restaurants and hotels in Kuwait, one of them being Meat Co.

For the first time I speak to people who are knowledgeable about meat, not just the usual butcher but an chef butcher, someone who knows all the kinds of meat and how they should be cooked and used for what dish. I told them I want to make the best brugers, they recommend to me Australian Wagyu Beef, 80% lean, they have the regular Australian Beef but the Wagyu will result in juicier burgers. They even asked what type of flame I will be working with, if its gas grill or wood or coal, they had a recommendation for each one. So I ordered 200 grams patties of Australian Wagyu Beef which is a bit more on the expensive side. They had all kinds of meat, T-Bone and Ribeye being my favorite types of steak, and the burger of course. They usually make 140 gram burgers which are very tasty, but like them thicker so I ask for 200 grams, they mix it with their own set of spices so the patty is just ready for the grill and give you instructions for storage as well. Now they have shipment of high quality American beef coming in soon, that I want to pick up from them as well when its in.

I will be putting another post about the results of the burgers, but lets say that 8 guys finished over 24 burgers in less then 30 minutes. I couldn’t step away from the grill, they were more like hungry hyenas then normal humans. I can’t blame them really, I’m supposed to be on a diet and cutting back but I had two really juicy burgers but thats for another post. I highly recommend that you call them for high quality and premium meat of all kinds.

Link: Prime-Cuts

There are days when the diet goes out the window, and there has to be a level of moderation but in my case that went out the window. This long weekend we all met up at the shalaih, filled up the HDs full of tv shows and movies to watch while staying in and in the water during the day.

At night we were bbqing some burgers and hot dogs, and they were damn good. But that isn’t the bad part, we had one of our friends, we will call him “The Ferret” who went and picked up some sweets for us and they picked up some dessert for us. In the form of 2 dozen Krispy Kream doughnuts and 2 dozen Hardeez Cookies, and I stuffed myself silly with those cookies and doughnuts. I just had this strange urge to have more and more, the cookies just tasted that good and the doughnuts were great too. But later on I didn’t feel that great about it, I wish I didn’t have that many. I check myself on the weight, turns out I gained 1.8 Kgs in just one day which I plan on losing this week.

Woke up 6:30 am Friday morning hungry, I was surprised I even woke up that early. I kept thinking about food and tried to keep myself busy but at the end I decided that I want to eat out, not the healthiest item but I knew I would burn off whatever I ate. I bbmed Kubayashi since he is always up early in the morning, he replied at around 7 am and was ready to go. We had a choice between Early Bird in Jabriya or Cafeteria Shuweikh, I was more keen on Shuweikh but we thought to check out Early Bird. The location of Early Bird had a ton of construction around it and some people seemed to be waiting, and honestly I don’t want to wait 30 mins to get table to have breakfast, so we turned around and headed to Cafeteria Shuweikh.

The place never changes, except for the main sign out front it even has had the same A/C units for the past decade, you never know which one is really working and which is broken down. You have standard orders, and cafeteria shuweikh isn’t for everyone. I had one cheese and one laham bil ajeen, meat on doe, with one 7 up, the meal is pretty much as bad as it gets in regards to calories and healthiness, but its pretty good. Enjoyed sitting there, and the place always has people at any time of day.

Breakfast of kings! I’m not usually one to have breakfast, but their breakfast and room service was something else. Even the breakfast at the buffet was fantastic and tasted amazing. I’m usually the type of person who looks forward to lunch but this breakfast couldn’t be resisted. Perfect scrambled eggs with the chicken sausages, then the amazing tasty fruit. I’m not much of a coffee drinker but those who drank it said it was very refreshing. The buffet is very good as well with a variety of foods to choose from, and I had a really good omelette with bell peppers and cheese. I always judge the hotel by room service, and in this case the St.Regis set a new standard.

When ever I’m in London I make it one of my top priorities to go eat at the Phoenix Palace and to make sure that I am very hungry. Its very easy to find, just off of Baker Steet & Marlyben Road. Walking in I noticed that they have expanded the whole place to a larger entrance and more tables, and still the place was full. They seated me on a four person table even though I was on my own. It was around 12:30 in the afternoon and the place was packed, business people, families, and a lot of Chinese. You know its a good sign when people from the country of cuisine go there to eat, and they always know what to order from what I have seen at Phoenix Palace.

Right off the bat I knew what I wanted to order, two appetizers and one main course for my meal for getting on the plane. Sesame Prawn on Toast, Vegetable Spring Roll, and a Peking Duck. They have the best tasting Peking Duck I have ever had in my life, I have been going to this restaurant for over 5 years now and its still as a good as every time I eat there, and I’m never disappointed. I usually want more people to come with me so I can order more dishes and share it with people, I never had any dish that I didn’t enjoy, the chow meins, the noodles, the rice, chicken and shrimp dishes, all so tantalizing, you feel as if they are tickling your taste buds. If you ever have a chance while in London and your craving Chinese food then this place should be the only place to visit.

Phoenix Palace Chinese Restaurant
5 Glentworth Street, London NW1 5PG
Tel: 020 7486 3515
Fax: 020 7486 3401

Keeping it light is the only way I have managed to initially drop weight, but today I felt like adding to the dish. Now my favorite vegetable is corn, I can eat that all day but after the meal you spend twice as long picking your teeth. Finding a good salad is key to filling me up without having a heavy meal thrown into the mix. In this case the salad was decent not the best in the world but it did the job of filling me up. But the corn on the cob was fantastic since it was fresh corn and I just went threw a few of them, not the whole dish of them even though I felt like it.

• Thin Crust Pizza Margarita
• Buffalo Wings
• Double Cheese Burger
• Philly Cheese Steak

It has been a about 10 days at this point and I think that my body has somewhat adjusted to my eating habits. I have cut back significantly with my eating habits but not as strict as before. I have just dropped around 1 kilogram over a week and I’m honestly eating comfortably, still keeping to small quantities but not completely cutting myself. Now at this stage I think I should seriously start working out but that initial step to go to the gym is just so damn hard, I just keep coming up with excuses not to go and then I say its just too late to go. So I have to break this cycle and start moving a little more. My main goal is to able to enjoy some water sports during the summer so I really need to strengthen my biceps and chest to be able to wakeboard at the beginning of the summer.

What I’m Craving:

• Chocolate Fudge Cake
• Coldstone Ice Cream
• Watermelon
• Four Cheese Pizza
• Slider Burgers

Recently a lot of people have been interested in Garrett’s PopCorn and for good reason too, its damn good. I recently was sent the caramel popcorn from Dubai, a friend dropped it off at my house and I remember the last tin can I went through. The tin can is air tight for the popcorn to remain fresh, and when you open the tin you can smell the caramel popcorn. I had a few hand fulls before putting it away, you just keep eating it without a second thought. I think that KNCC would sell more if they just had Garrets Tin Can instead of the popcorn they have now, if somebody else brings it then people will try sneaking them into the movie, I know I would try to.