SHINING STARS
Don’t miss out on these limited-time yummy dishes at Mais Alghanim! By bazaar staff
What is a star but something that burns brightly and fades with just the fond memory left to ponder. Well Mais Alghanim is determined to bring the stars back to life with their new Stars Menu. Perhaps you remember tasting something wonderful, recommended it to friends and family and then realized the dish was only a part of a promotion and is no longer available? Put that disappointment aside, as the most popular restaurant promotion offerings are back! The Stars Menu is only available in the restaurants in the Sharq and Spoons Mall locations, and for a limited time only. One thing that contributes to the success of Mais Alghanim is that, if you ask those who have been, the food is classically good. Always consistent, the kitchens produce great-tasting, high-quality dishes. Each person asked can name you something they savor and will only go to the restaurants for. Plus, their local twist on traditional fare keeps you coming back for more. The Kuwaiti favorite ma’abouch is a paste of ingredients including garlic and green or red chilies that can be found in most local homes. This lends a piquant edge to the Stars Menu choices of hummus and green ma’abouch, and the deeply smoky Moutabal and red ma’abouch. If you love hummus you have to taste the halaby which is mixed with pistachios and mint. Unexpectedly it is the chopped pickles in this hummus that gives the crunch, and the nuts bring a softness to the tang of the pickle. It is possible to keep on arguing amongst ourselves about whether this next dish hails from Armenia or Turkey, but the one place you really want to make sure your Manti does come from is the kitchens of Mais Alghanim. Their rendition of this dish is as textured and tasty as you could hope for, with the meat-filled, fried dumplings adding a crunch to the yogurt topped dish. There can be nothing quite as satisfying as succulent chicken and the triangles of Saj Wrapped Chicken Shawarma is moist, perfectly seasoned, and with just the right amount of garlic. Do ensure you order at least two triangles per person. One is not enough, as you will want to make certain with a second piece that this appetizer is as delicious as you first thought! It was hard to not finish all the 114
Mais Alghanim- Spoons Mall
starters especially as they were accompanied by the best Iranian bread, perfect for scooping up all the deliciousness. But, the mains were on the way so we had to show some restraint. That restraint did not mean stopping eating, it meant tucking into a salad! We tried the Basket Salad first. With fried pieces of cauliflower, this salad has some depth to it. The bread basket is thin, fried and shaped similar to a taco basket that you might find in a Mexican restaurant. The salad is creamy and rich, the result of a well-paired Tahini and yogurt mixture. A load of Romaine lettuce is liberally covered in the delectable dressing and pickles
and sesame seeds cut through the lot with their particular flavor profiles. A lighter salad that packs an even greater flavorsome punch is the Rocket Salad. Rocca leaves are tossed in a homemade vinaigrette with pristine white strands of twisted Majdoulah cheese strewn across the top. Sweet and ripe pomegranate seeds which complement the barely salty cheese, are stirred through the entire salad with a few raw walnut halves, making this salad as beautiful to behold as it is to taste and eat. For the mains, we decided to go on a global journey from the Stars Menu and went