20
Jun

postedbyYousef

Melenzane means eggplants in italian, and is also the name of the new italian restaurants that has recently opened in Kuwait in Albidaa area. I was told that one of owners cooked, and he cooks regularly at the Melanzane. Always a nice sign to have an restaurant owner who cooks at his place.

We went there today at 5pm for lunch. The interiors have an under-construction/industrial feel, with most of the furniture turned upside down (tables on the ceiling, drawers that open upside-down) basically, it had cool interiors. Also the place is tiny and cozy which made us feel like we’re in for a treat.

I had high hopes for the food because the restaurant gave that kind of an impression.. However, when it was time to dig in, the food turned out shockingly bland.

We had the following

This was a complimentary bread basket.

Canned mushrooms used in the bread basket. Or atleast it looked and tasted like canned mushrooms.

Mushroom soup. The soup tasted like a cream soup with a little hint of mushroom. I know a lot of people would like a cream soup but we thought the mushroom’s weak presence at a mushroom soup was weird.

Stuffed mushrooms. They’re cheese and bread crumbs stuff mushrooms with something sweet in them too. It was very well presented but lacked in taste. Too bland.

Chicken livers on a bed of Rocca. I thought this one was ok. Just that. Ok.

The Risotto. A machine would’ve whipped a better tasting risotto. It tasted so bland that when we were done with it, it looked almost untouched. Very bland and uninspired.

We were losing hope by the time we took our first bite at this penne pasta dish. Surprisingly this one turned out good. I personally thought it was very good with ll the pasta being al dente and the rosemary.

My main dish wasn’t all that. The pasta on the side was as good as the one I mentioned above, but the steak was salty, and chewy.

The place look very good. The food looks beautiful, and we can feel the amount of energy and passion that was put into making all of this, but unfortunately the food itself wasn’t as good as it looked. I don’t know but I have a feeling that the current chef messed up big time and the dishes were supposed to taste much better.

When we were done we asked about the Kuwaiti chef, but were told that he’s not there, and that he usually cook at dinner times. We will pay another visit sometime soon and try to taste the Kuwaitis cooking, as I like to believe that today’s food wasn’t an indicator of the restauranteur’s ability.

Melenzane is located in Al Bidaa in AlArjan strip. Phone # 97299288.

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 20th, 2010 at 12:00 am

11 Responses to “Review: Melenzane Restaurant”

  1. ارحم من في الأرض 🙂

    بألف عافيه إن شاء الله

    الستيكات أحلى شي بالمطاعم الأمريكية وقليل الي يضبطها

    المطاعم الإيطالية أغلبهم ستيكاتهم جنها فخذ عبد أفريقي هههه عرده وناشفه وتتعلج لين ضرس العقل يطلع من مكانه

    شكرا

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  3. swera says:

    hhhmmm ive heard about this place but everybody says it served nice food! as bo flan said! steaks r only good in american rests! Italian ones shall provide only italian food!

    bel3afia 3alekm 🙂

  4. Summer says:

    the restaurant doesn’t look very promising :/

  5. Hamad says:

    bo flan, swera, not really ! most italian restaurant have good steaks and sometimes its much better than the american cuisines.

  6. khalid says:

    i have been there lastweekend,the food was un beliveable man.

  7. Marzouq says:

    Curious to check it out! Great pics as usual!

  8. sheikha says:

    I was planning to go this weekend, but now I have changed my mind because I trust your opinion a lot

  9. Q80 In Denver says:

    I’ve tried it along time ago when we they had soft opening .. I’m really shocked that you had a bad experience! Something might be wrong because the food was good especially 3 things that I loved

    1- Melenzane Casserole
    2- breaded chicken with penne and mushroom cream (I don’t remember the name)
    3- Mushroom Soup (Which I’m in shock!)

  10. thanks for visiting us and i hope that experiance will not be again with this bad comments, over all we are here to serve you good food and thats our real passion, what happen it could be happen in any resturants, and hope we will be learning and get more experiance from your comments.

    thanks and best regards

  11. Yousef says:

    أبوفلان hehe el steakat bilme6a3em el ee6aliya ham zaina tara.. malik shi’3il bily bilkuwait, bilkuwait 7ata el amakin elzaina ekhorona bilsteakat..

    swera I disagree. Good italian restaurant serve amazing steaks. I’ve tried the good ones and I can say that they do have and sometimes specialize in great steaks. Italian restaurants aren’t always about the pasta, even though thats what they’re famous for.

    Summer Actually it is very promising, thats why I’m planning to go back again and give it another chance 🙂

    Hamad exactly!

    khalid yeah? perfect! as I plan on going there again.

    Marzouq Thanks 🙂

    sheikha thank you 🙂 I don’t think it is a bad restaurant. I just think the chef screwed up big time and I have a feeling that they can do much better.. I’ll give it another try and will see what happens.

    Q80 In Denver Good! I’m glad that this is turning out to be an off incident. I have a feeling their food was supposed to taste good/better.. I’ll be going there again soon.

    melenzane team I agree, it could happen anywhere. I will be visiting again coz I sincerely think this place has potential and can do much better.