2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

With National Day coming up, I decided I’d share these photos from Verity Cridland’s archive taken in June 1962, when Kuwait celebrated its first National Day.

National Day used to be celebrated on June 19, but due to the summer heat an Amiri decree merged National Day with the accession anniversary of the late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, officially moving the celebration to February 25.

Verity was 12 years old when her father moved to Kuwait from Baghdad in 1958 as an assistant chief engineer, mainly responsible for roads and roundabouts. He lived here for five years before returning to England. Verity, her mother, brother and sister only visited Kuwait three times during that period, and most of the photos she later scanned and uploaded to Flickr were taken by her mother, with only a few by her father.

I’ll link to the Verity Cridland archive in a second, but first, I’ve put together all the National Day photos in a single post and shared them on my Instagram. The photos here are from two different celebrations and you can see them by clicking here.

Alternatively, if you want to go through her full archive, click here.

A friend of mine created a really practical website that includes nearly all the Ramadan desserts available in Kuwait this year. The list was originally adapted from the 70MB PDF @vast.selecsh put together, which wouldn’t load properly on his phone. So with the help of AI, he converted the whole thing into an easy to navigate website where you can filter desserts by type, brand, and price.

To top it off, he’s also highlighting our Diwaniya’s dessert authority approved picks with a special “Saleh Approved” badge.

If you want to check it out, click here.

I’ve been publishing my annual Ramadan buffet list since 2013, which means I’ve built a pretty solid and interesting archive of pricing data over the years. Below is the list of Ramadan buffets, updated for 2026. The list divided into two parts, hotels and restaurants. If I missed a place let me know in the comments, especially really cheap/affordable buffets.

If there has been an increase or decrease in price compared to the previous year then I’ve also highlighted that.

HOTELS

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9.5
Telephone: 24590000

Arabella Hotel – Icon Rooftop Lounge
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 22277744

Arabella Hotel – Envy Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD16
Telephone: 22277744

Courtyard by Marriott – Atrium
Buffet Price: KD17 (+2.000)
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD17
Telephone: 1848111

Four Seasons – Jawaher Tent
Buffet Price: KD28 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22006000

Four Seasons – Li Beirut
Buffet Price: KD27 (-1.000)
Telephone: 22006000

Grand Hyatt – Miral
Buffet Price: KD22 (+2.000)
Telephone: 22007698

Grand Majestic Hotel
Buffet Price: KD7.950 (-0.050)
Telephone: 22254700

Hilton Garden Inn – The Avenues
Buffet Price: KD22 (+2.000)
Telephone: 22262000

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Majliss Tent
Buffet Price: KD28 (+4.000)
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott – Terrace Grill
Buffet Price: KD27
Telephone: 22063636

Kuwait Continental Hotel
Buffet Price: KD9.5 (+1.550)
Telephone: 22527300

Marina Hotel
Buffet Price: KD20 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22230030

Millennium Hotel – Lamar International Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22050505

Montrose – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14 (-1.000)
Telephone: 22055700

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22253100

Park Inn by Radisson
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 22068540

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD19.5 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25673000

Safir Hotel – Fintas
Buffet Price: KD16 (+4.100)
Telephone: 25455555

St Regis – Diamond Ballroom Tent
Buffet Price: KD30
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25770000

SVN
Buffet Price: KD19
Telephone: 1876777

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD24
Telephone: 25766666

Waldorf Astoria – Oxio
Buffet Price: KD29 (+1.000)
Telephone: 24774414

RESTAURANTS

Almayass
Buffet Price: KD12 (+0.500)
Telephone: 25761001

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.250)
Telephone: 22533377

Babel
Set Menu Price: KD14.950
Telephone: 22081111

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD16
Telephone: 22275555

IKEA
Set Menu Price: KD2.95
Telephone: 1840408

Jihan Khanah
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1819991

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD13
Telephone: 24965500

Leila Min Lebnen
Set Menu Price: KD12 (-3.000)
Telephone: 22996414

Mughal Mahal – Hawally
Buffet Price: KD6.45 (-1.000)
Telephone: 22626782

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD12
Telephone: 22268666

Paul
Set Menu Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22208204

Saraya Palace
Buffet Price: KD8
Telephone: 25712998

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD7.950
Telephone: 22597171

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD12
Telephone: 22650052

I was in Mishref yesterday when I drove by this sign near the Korean embassy and thought it was too funny not to turn around and take a photo of it.

Happy Ramadan everyone. Here are the Ramadan timings you’ll probably need, if I missed any other important ones, let me know in the comments.

Banks: 10AM to 1:30PM (not including airport and malls)
Government: 8:30AM ~ 10:30AM to 1PM ~ 3PM
Car Registration Renewal: 10AM to 3PM
PACI: 10AM to 1:30PM (Kuwaitis) 2PM to 4:30PM (Expats)

360 Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8:30PM to 1:30AM
Al Khiran Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8:30PM to 1AM
Al Kout Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8:30PM to 1:30AM
Assima Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 8PM to 1AM
Avenues Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 7:30PM to 1:30AM
Boulevard: 10AM to 3PM and 6PM to 1AM
Marina Mall: 10AM to 4PM and 7:30PM to 1:30AM
Salhia Complex: 10AM to 3PM and 8:30PM to 1AM
The Warehouse: 10AM to 4PM and 8:30PM to 1:30AM

Cinescape: From 8:30PM
GrandCinemas: From 8PM
Sky Cinemas: From 8PM
VOX: From 7PM

Al Shaheed Park: 5AM to 2AM
Abdullah AlSalem Cultural Centre: 8PM to 12:30AM (ex. Sundays)

Co-ops: Most open 24 hours
Lulu Hypermarket: 8AM to 3AM
Sultan Center: Standalone stores open 24 hours

Ace Hardware: 10:00AM to 11:30PM
Bin Nisf: 8:30AM to 2:30PM and 8PM to 10:30PM (ex. Friday)
IKEA: 10AM to 4PM and 8PM to 2AM
Jarir: 10AM (Friday 2PM) to 5PM and 8:30PM to 1:30AM
True Value: Open 24 hours in Salmiya, 10AM to 1AM in Al Rai
Xcite: Open 24 hours in Al Rai, Fahaheel, Hawally, Salmiya

Illustration by @windowsofuae

I just downloaded this great looking Ramadan app called “Siraj – Your Ramadan Light” by a developer called Forsan. It’s got a really cool simple to understand interface and is great for knowing what time Suhoor and Iftar is as well as all the prayer times.

Ramadan apps shouldn’t feel outdated.

So I built one in pure SwiftUI that feels like a modern iOS product.

Meet Siraj 🌙 pic.twitter.com/6cLuBMGcYv

— Forsan (@forsan87) February 17, 2026

Forsan wanted the app to feel calm and have an animated live sky that changes from Suhoor to Iftar throughout the day. It has a clean countdown, no clutter and the following features:

• Accurate prayer times
• Live fasting countdown
• Qibla compass
• Daily Quranic duas
• Widgets + Dynamic Island

The app is free to download, no ads or anything. Link

@balsayegh on twitter spotted the above poster at the Kuwait Airport which was clearly created using Ai. I’m really curious if the graphic designer noticed something was off and didn’t really care, or if he didn’t notice anything at all.

A short 5 minute video that looks at Kuwait and how it was designed around cars instead of people and how that’s contributing to issues like pollution, asthma and diabetes. It’s pretty accurate especially the bit where she mentions how cars are parked in the shade occupying what in other countries would be the sidewalk, while pedestrians are in the sun walking on the street.

Back in 2020 I posted about the Extreme Sports van parked outside Green Island renting bicycles to anyone who wanted to ride up and down the Gulf Road. That was before the waterfront makeover and the addition of dedicated bike paths.

A few days ago, Extreme Sports soft launched their first Extreme Bike Rentals storefront on the Gulf Road pathway outside Green Island. They’re planning to open four more spots along the Gulf Road, with approximately one new location launching every 10 days.

The other locations will be next to the Kuwait Towers, opposite the Kuwait Society of Engineers, next to Villa Fayrouz, and next to the Swimming Pool Complex.

They have bicycles and tricycles available to rent in adult and kids sizes, and they haven’t increased their prices. It’s still just KD3 per hour. At the moment they’re open from 6AM to 10PM, but during Ramadan the timings will change to 3PM to 3AM. @extremebikerentals

eL Seed, the popular French Tunisian street artist known for creating large scale murals that blend Arabic calligraphy with graffiti, is currently in Kuwait. The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters invited him to paint a mural around the Abdulhusain Abdulridha Theater in Salmiya as part of an overall revitalization and maintenance of the building.

I always thought the building looked dull and lifeless, but the burst of color from eL Seed’s mural has completely transformed it. The mural should be finished by tomorrow from what I’ve been told. I was going to wait until it was finished to take photos, but the sky and light yesterday were perfect, so I had to take my pictures then.

If you want to pass by and see them working on it, you still can. The Abdulhusain Abdulridha Theater is located in Salmiya across the street from the Kuwait Bowling Club. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Lorry Now is a new Kuwait based on demand lorry and moving app built for anyone who needs to move furniture, large items, or move from one home or office to another. Think of it as the Uber for trucks, or a local version of U-Haul but without having to drive the truck yourself.

Need to move furniture? Did you go shopping and end up with items that don’t fit in your car? Or maybe the store gave you a delivery date that’s too far out? Just open the app, book a truck, and a driver shows up and takes care of it.

It’s a simple concept, but a very convenient one, with pricing calculated in the app based on the distance. If you’re moving furniture, you even have the option to specify whether you need assembly on delivery or both disassembly and reassembly.

The app also lets you track the truck in real time so you can monitor the driver’s route and progress. The service is available across Kuwait, so even if you need to move things to your chalet in Khiran, you can.

Lorry Now is available on both iOS and Android. The iOS version just got a major update a few days ago, and the Android version should be getting a similar update this coming week. If you want the download links or to find out more, head to their instagram account @LorryNow or their website LorryNow.co

The Kuwait Towers Garden, located right underneath the towers, is opening to the public for the first time. Previously, you needed a restaurant reservation or had to pay for access to the viewing deck to get into that area, but now the garden will be open to everyone.

Starting Ramadan and until May 14, access to the garden will be free. According to the organizers Hekaya World, the space will feature art, culture, and coffee. I passed by earlier today for a quick sneak peek and they were busy putting the final touches in place for tomorrow.

The acai spot Say Suco will also have a pop up under the tower with its own seating area.

The Kuwait Towers Garden has an instagram account if you want to check out, it’s @kuwaittowersgarden

Don’t forget to get your loved one a Shani today. shaniday.com

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, check out the list below.

Thursday, February 12
Opening Up: Musicals in Celebration
Palestinian Cultural Exhibit
Salt Movies: Gran Turismo
Graish Market at Messilah Beach
The Bazaar at Hessah Plaza
Zai Ramadan Expo

Friday, February 13
Opening Up: Musicals in Celebration
Graish Market at Messilah Beach
The Bazaar at Hessah Plaza
GR Yaris Cup Race
Oil Pastels & Coffee
Cars & Coffee
Slice Party
Toastmasters Annual Speech Contest
Giant Kites Display

Saturday, February 14
trunk show pop-up
Storytelling: Breaking Limiting Beliefs
Graish Market at Messilah Beach
The Bazaar at Hessah Plaza
Zai Ramadan Expo
pre-Ramadan DAI StoryTime
Alandalus Market
A Cultural Talk by eL Seed

Valentine’s is this weekend, so here’s a list of 16 romantic restaurants that have something planned for the occasion.

All the places shared are doing something for Valentine’s, whether it’s special set menus, live music, or decorations. I’ve also included the starting price, but keep in mind that some restaurants charge more for outdoor seating or offer different set menus, so it’s call the restaurant you’re interested in for more details.

Vigonovo
No minimum

JARS
From KD 25 per couple

Kei
From KD 45 per couple

Cantina
From KD 50 per couple

Roka
From KD 60 per couple

Al Boom
From KD 70 per couple

Paparazzi
From KD 70 per couple

Solange
From KD 80 per couple

Mei Li
From KD 90 per couple

Peacock
From KD 100 per couple

Dai Forni
From KD 110 per couple

Li Beirut
From KD 110 per couple

Republique
From KD 110 per couple

OFK
From KD 110 per couple

Sintoho
From KD 120 per couple

Ricardo
From KD 160 per couple