Tuesday 18 June 2013
Poland Restaurants
Co Tu has become something of a legend with Asian food lovers in Warsaw, though relatively few foreign visitors know of this fast-food eatery located just off the popular tourist track of Nowy Swiat. Established twenty years ago by a Vietnamese immigrant, it is run today by his niece, Nguyet (Moon) - a great favorite with the patrons - with the help of several other family members. She has perpetuated her late uncle's dedication to fine food at prices that even students of the nearby Warsaw U can afford. A three-course lunch - with soup, main course (all served with rice and salad), beverage and dessert - will set you back as little as10 US dollars. There is almost a hundred items on the menu - and some of the hits include spicy fish soup, grilled beef with sesame, chicken with chili sauce, roast duck and many more. Co Tu has twice been honored with the coveted "Golden Ladle" award for consistent quality of cuisine and service - something that is not necessarily the norm with a lot of other Asian fast-foods in Warsaw. You order at the counter, pay, pick up your cutlery and take a seat at one of the dozen or so tables - where your order will be brought to you within minutes. No tips are expected. Co Tu might not be that easy to find for a visitor: though the address suggests location right on the popular tourist route of Nowy Swiat - it is in fact situated some 50 yards to the east of the street-front buildings, within the first block. Enter one of the gates on the eastern side of the street, pass through the backyard and a row of shops parallel to Nowy Swiat and look for the first, bright-yellow unit in a row of shops perpendicular to Nowy Swiat. - It's not as complicated as it sounds and you will be rewarded with a good meal and a broad smile from proprietress Nguyet.
Tuesday 11 June 2013
Brazil restaurants
It's not hot dogs or apple pie, but Atlanta is exporting two restaurant concepts to the Middle East, where the ancient world is hungry for American food concepts.
In the last month, two Atlanta-based restaurant chains have signed master franchise agreements with Middle Eastern businessmen. The agreements will allow the foreign groups to sell franchises themselves, which will spur further business in the Arab world and beyond.
Brent Gilbertson, founder of Fire of Brazil, an Atlanta-based Brazilian barbecue restaurant, or churrascaria, signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to make Abdul Wahed Al Kooheji in the Kingdom of Bahrain his international master franchiser.
Al Kooheji is already working on almost a dozen deals in Europe and the Middle East, and soon could finish a contract for a restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine. His business pner also is a royal sheik.
"After the [first] Gulf War, when Saddam got kicked out of Kuwait, for the first time we got satellite television," said Al Kooheji from his Bahrain office.
"It was eye-opening for the Arab world to get to see what there is in America. Everybody wants American products."
"When I was there," added Fire of Brazil's founder Gilbertson, "it was kind of strange. I'm sitting in a hotel room watching three versions of CNN: CNN Europe, CNN USA, and CNN for the Arab world. They see the rest of the world. We don't really see them."
Atlanta restaurant broker Harold Shumacher, who has traveled abroad extensively, said there is an almost magnetic lure to American products.
"Despite the politics, the United States has an incredible attraction throughout the world," said Shumacher, a former food critic.
"It's a cultural attraction that's driven by movies, television, pop music and all kinds of media. It's a symbolic representation of a country and its economy's arrival that there is enough money in the country to support these things."
He likened it to an American walking into a French restaurant. "It says, 'I have the sophistication and taste to walk in here and the money to afford it."
Of course, American franchises have been expanding internationally for years. Well-known chains such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, TGI Friday's and Applebee's dot the landscape from Beijing and Dubai to Paris and Berlin.
But what makes the case of these two Atlanta chains unusual is that they have a tiny presence in the United States compared with the giant footprints of chains such as McDonald's. And, especially in the case of Fire of Brazil, its international expansion may outpace its U.S. growth.
Fire of Brazil currently has only four U.S. stores open -- two in Atlanta, one in Nashville and one in Wellington, Fla.
McDonald's, by comparison, has 31,000 units worldwide.
Both Atlanta restaurateurs jumped at the chance to cross cultural and geographic barriers to expand in the Arab world and beyond.
Fire of desire
Al Kooheji was on a business trip to Atlanta, when he had a meal at Fire of Brazil on Atlanta's northeast side.
"I thought it was a fun, unusual experience. The meat looked good, tasted good and smelled good. I thought it would be a good experience to bring to the Middle East and North Africa."
Al Kooheji quickly met with Gilbertson, a longtime Atlanta restaurateur who created the Brazilian concept in 2002.
Within a day, they'd signed a deal giving Al Kooheji rights to franchise in his native Bahrain.
Six months later, Al Kooheji asked for the rights to franchise all international markets, except North and South America and the Caribbean.
Amazingly, he has not yet opened his first restaurant in the Middle East.
But Al Kooheji, who has run franchises such as real estate office Century 21 and food concepts from Texas-based Johnny Carino's Country Italian to South African Nando's Chicken Restaurants, says he knows a good concept when he sees one.
"I've been in the food business for many years. I've got an eye for a good concept. [In the Middle East] we love meat, cooked well, especially over charcoal. I felt like there was a need for [Fire of Brazil] in the region."
Gilbertson says his U.S. restaurants do $2.5 million to $3 million in sales annually, for dinner only.
Al Kooheji sees a huge future for the Brazilian-style, all-you-can-eat skewered meat extravaganza both in the Middle East and Europe.
While Atlanta has a number of Brazilian-style barbecue restaurants and the ranks are growing in the United States, the concept is just hitting European and Arab markets, he said.
"There's only one in the Middle East, in Riyadh. It's in one of the most expensive and prestigious hotels. You can imagine the potential," said Al Kooheji. "It's only the beginning of the churrascaria."
Al Kooheji is already finalizing deals to bring the concept to Kuwait and Qatar. He's also working with three European groups to open 25 stores in three regions there, including Scandinavian countries, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
He's even talked to Australians about exporting the concept there.
"In the first four to five years, we'll have 40 to 50 stores."
As for Gilbertson, the chain's founder, he said he jumped at the chance to give Al Kooheji master franchise rights.
"I don't want to be dealing with people all over the world," he said. "It's a lot easier for him from his side of the world."
Aside from the multimillion-dollar fee that Al Kooheji paid him to be the master franchiser, Gilbertson will also split the franchise royalties with Al Kooheji.
Al Kooheji said he likes working with American franchises. "American franchises do it right when it comes to food and quality."
And American concepts offer strong training and support. They don't just walk away after he's bought franchise rights, something he's experienced with non-American companies.
Al Kooheji, 41, was educated in Australia and said he's been traveling to the United States for 20 years, so he's kept a close tab on food trends in Western countries.
Sheikh Khalid Al Khalifa, a real estate and major businessman in Bahrain, is a pner with Al Kooheji in The Living Concepts Inc.
The company also is developing Maya Le Chocolaterie, which sells everything to do with chocolate, from candy to drinks, and a coffee concept called Dash Coffee, among other projects.
His first Fire of Brazil, in Bahrain, will open in four months.
Al Kooheji has had to make some changes to the menu to comply with Islamic and Jewish cultural taboos.
He's taken all pork off the menu there, and he's adding more seafood, such as king prawns and calamari. He also plans to put more lamb and goat on the menu, and have a local kabob.
Ironically, in Europe, especially Germany, Al Kooheji expects to add more pork items, especially sausages.
In the last month, two Atlanta-based restaurant chains have signed master franchise agreements with Middle Eastern businessmen. The agreements will allow the foreign groups to sell franchises themselves, which will spur further business in the Arab world and beyond.
Brent Gilbertson, founder of Fire of Brazil, an Atlanta-based Brazilian barbecue restaurant, or churrascaria, signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to make Abdul Wahed Al Kooheji in the Kingdom of Bahrain his international master franchiser.
Al Kooheji is already working on almost a dozen deals in Europe and the Middle East, and soon could finish a contract for a restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine. His business pner also is a royal sheik.
"After the [first] Gulf War, when Saddam got kicked out of Kuwait, for the first time we got satellite television," said Al Kooheji from his Bahrain office.
"It was eye-opening for the Arab world to get to see what there is in America. Everybody wants American products."
"When I was there," added Fire of Brazil's founder Gilbertson, "it was kind of strange. I'm sitting in a hotel room watching three versions of CNN: CNN Europe, CNN USA, and CNN for the Arab world. They see the rest of the world. We don't really see them."
Atlanta restaurant broker Harold Shumacher, who has traveled abroad extensively, said there is an almost magnetic lure to American products.
"Despite the politics, the United States has an incredible attraction throughout the world," said Shumacher, a former food critic.
"It's a cultural attraction that's driven by movies, television, pop music and all kinds of media. It's a symbolic representation of a country and its economy's arrival that there is enough money in the country to support these things."
He likened it to an American walking into a French restaurant. "It says, 'I have the sophistication and taste to walk in here and the money to afford it."
Of course, American franchises have been expanding internationally for years. Well-known chains such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, TGI Friday's and Applebee's dot the landscape from Beijing and Dubai to Paris and Berlin.
But what makes the case of these two Atlanta chains unusual is that they have a tiny presence in the United States compared with the giant footprints of chains such as McDonald's. And, especially in the case of Fire of Brazil, its international expansion may outpace its U.S. growth.
Fire of Brazil currently has only four U.S. stores open -- two in Atlanta, one in Nashville and one in Wellington, Fla.
McDonald's, by comparison, has 31,000 units worldwide.
Both Atlanta restaurateurs jumped at the chance to cross cultural and geographic barriers to expand in the Arab world and beyond.
Fire of desire
Al Kooheji was on a business trip to Atlanta, when he had a meal at Fire of Brazil on Atlanta's northeast side.
"I thought it was a fun, unusual experience. The meat looked good, tasted good and smelled good. I thought it would be a good experience to bring to the Middle East and North Africa."
Al Kooheji quickly met with Gilbertson, a longtime Atlanta restaurateur who created the Brazilian concept in 2002.
Within a day, they'd signed a deal giving Al Kooheji rights to franchise in his native Bahrain.
Six months later, Al Kooheji asked for the rights to franchise all international markets, except North and South America and the Caribbean.
Amazingly, he has not yet opened his first restaurant in the Middle East.
But Al Kooheji, who has run franchises such as real estate office Century 21 and food concepts from Texas-based Johnny Carino's Country Italian to South African Nando's Chicken Restaurants, says he knows a good concept when he sees one.
"I've been in the food business for many years. I've got an eye for a good concept. [In the Middle East] we love meat, cooked well, especially over charcoal. I felt like there was a need for [Fire of Brazil] in the region."
Gilbertson says his U.S. restaurants do $2.5 million to $3 million in sales annually, for dinner only.
Al Kooheji sees a huge future for the Brazilian-style, all-you-can-eat skewered meat extravaganza both in the Middle East and Europe.
While Atlanta has a number of Brazilian-style barbecue restaurants and the ranks are growing in the United States, the concept is just hitting European and Arab markets, he said.
"There's only one in the Middle East, in Riyadh. It's in one of the most expensive and prestigious hotels. You can imagine the potential," said Al Kooheji. "It's only the beginning of the churrascaria."
Al Kooheji is already finalizing deals to bring the concept to Kuwait and Qatar. He's also working with three European groups to open 25 stores in three regions there, including Scandinavian countries, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
He's even talked to Australians about exporting the concept there.
"In the first four to five years, we'll have 40 to 50 stores."
As for Gilbertson, the chain's founder, he said he jumped at the chance to give Al Kooheji master franchise rights.
"I don't want to be dealing with people all over the world," he said. "It's a lot easier for him from his side of the world."
Aside from the multimillion-dollar fee that Al Kooheji paid him to be the master franchiser, Gilbertson will also split the franchise royalties with Al Kooheji.
Al Kooheji said he likes working with American franchises. "American franchises do it right when it comes to food and quality."
And American concepts offer strong training and support. They don't just walk away after he's bought franchise rights, something he's experienced with non-American companies.
Al Kooheji, 41, was educated in Australia and said he's been traveling to the United States for 20 years, so he's kept a close tab on food trends in Western countries.
Sheikh Khalid Al Khalifa, a real estate and major businessman in Bahrain, is a pner with Al Kooheji in The Living Concepts Inc.
The company also is developing Maya Le Chocolaterie, which sells everything to do with chocolate, from candy to drinks, and a coffee concept called Dash Coffee, among other projects.
His first Fire of Brazil, in Bahrain, will open in four months.
Al Kooheji has had to make some changes to the menu to comply with Islamic and Jewish cultural taboos.
He's taken all pork off the menu there, and he's adding more seafood, such as king prawns and calamari. He also plans to put more lamb and goat on the menu, and have a local kabob.
Ironically, in Europe, especially Germany, Al Kooheji expects to add more pork items, especially sausages.
Monday 10 June 2013
Pakistan Restaurant.
In my opinion this restaurant project is going to increase the amount of tourist and local visit CVP. CVP itself is one of the best place to visit in Islamabad, and will provide a better future hanging out place. This tourist spot will improve the vision and thinking about those people who still think that the capital is just a tiny dot on the map of Pakistan. But on the other hand increasing tourism will have it negative impact, that is increased traffic, increased pollution, effect on wildlife etc
A suggestion in my mind to decrease the traffic would be by introducing 'chair lift system'. It will be a good experience for tourist and locals to have a fly bye experience throught the greenish margalla hills and on the other hand generate a good source of revenue for CDA or any private organisation.
Sunday 9 June 2013
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Saturday 8 June 2013
Great Restaurants in Dubai
From Cuban cuisine to even Mongolian, there truly is something for everyone. But of course, we’re not looking for humble backstreet fodder to ward off starvation here, but only the tastiest and (justifiably) expensive eateries that Dubai has to offer.
5. Verre – The Hilton, Dubai Creek
Dining at this large French Restaurant which is owned by Gordon Ramsay, the chef who’s more famous for professional swearing than professional cooking, will prove expensive, with meal costs stretching well into the triple digits. While the interior leaves something to be desired and the restaurant is somewhat antique compared to the new restaurants even now springing up like daisies all over Dubai, the fabulous minestrone with langoustines and minty crème brulee are sure to make it worth a visit.
4. Spectrum on one – The Fairmont Hotel
This ambitious multi-cuisine dining hangout popular with Dubai’s multicultural (and wealthy) crowd has food cooked before your very eyes from China, India, Japan, Europe, Thailand and the Middle East. The service is super polite and the servers like to add a forced personal touch to compliment their strained smiles. The only things which should be avoided are the somewhat mediocre desserts. Champagne brunch, with unlimited European bubbly, is offered at a shade over €100.
3. India Palace – Garhoud
With a slogan like “Dine like a Maharaja”, you know this sort of establishment has a lot to live up to. It’s also the cheapest restaurant on this list, with a three-course meal costing around €30 – all accompanied by live music and a terrific ambience. Items on the menu include Biryani and kormas, as well as extremely tasty Chicken Kebabs. Vegetarians may also prefer India Palace, as there is a Vegetarian emphasis here not known in many of Dubai’s other restaurants.
2. Beachcombers – The Jumeirah Beach Hotel
The emphasis on this restaurant serving Japanese, Indian, Thai, and even Malaysian cuisines is primarily on the family, with low tables and even PlayStations. Adults will enjoy knowing that their children are being well entertained whilst soaking up views of the magnificent Burj al Arab, the world’s only (self-proclaimed) seven star Hotel. It’s classy without being childish and the food is top quality. It’s an award winning, and of course correspondingly costly place to take your family, with prices for a meal at around €70-90.
1. JW’s Steakhouse – JW Marriot Dubai
Dubai’s most well known (and considered to be best) steakhouse, resplendent with classy designer interior, leather armchairs, deliciously soft steaks, and even just-off-the-boat seafood and lobster is considered among the be-all-and-end-all of culinary experiences in the city. However far the human race goes in gourmet sophistication, there’s hardly anything that appeals to the caveman instinct as much as simple, unadulterated prized animal matter. No, there is no “modern twist on old classics” or any of the boring old restaurant critic stock-phrases here, just pure meat and baked potatoes, delivered just right and screaming of classic quality. Marlon Brando. Frank Sinatra. James Dean. I contest that they all would have eaten here were they still alive. Isn’t that a good enough reason to justify the €100 and above for some meat and potatoes?
Ambrosia Resraurant
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One thing in particular Ambrosia two you can dine under the starry sky, sip wine and enjoy the world famous dishes prepared very meticulously.
Huka Lodge
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Lagoon
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Go to the Lagoon, the two of you will experience the trip by small boat lagoon, along with many dishes "damn good run out of space." Lagoon's menu is rich and diverse, but with bold features that can not match anywhere, the right to enjoy the day of their honeymoon..
One if by land, Two if by sea
-ddba0.jpg "One if by land, Two if by sea")
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