Smarter taste buds
Posted by: Qaiss in Health & Food Related Issues, New Concepts & Idea's, StartupsYo Sushi, a restaurant in Marina Mall that i truly love, the food is ready, fresh, healthy and eaten as soon as you sit on the chair. But what makes me think is that comparing to the UK branch, Kuwait branch is empty. In the UK you have to wait for 5 minutes atleast just to find a seat, even in non crowded areas . But here Yo Sushi is in a crowded place “Marina Mall” yet there are no customers there. Its always empty, i love that its not crowded but i’m thinking here from a business owner point of view, why do you folks think Yo sushi is not attaracting attention enough? Let me tell you something, the company that owns Yo Sushi, GBK and Pizzaira is a Dubai based company. That opened its first store in Kuwait! and not even Dubai, why? because their study suggested that Kuwait is a better market to open a restaurant compared to Dubai, can you believe that! Kuwaitis have tasted so many kinds of food, that there taste buds now are smarter than other GCC countries:P Bad food can never survive in Kuwait. Back to Yo Sushi, its a UK based restaurant that is doing great in the UK, but in Kuwait not even compared?? tell me what you think?
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May 14th, 2007 at 1:03 am
Because it’s in Marina which is concedered now as a “Low” place to go and it’s “Habba” has already burnt out!
When you say I went to Marina today it’s as same as saying I went to SooQ Sharg .. It is a stereo type issue I guess.
Don’t be deceived by the researchers telling you about freaking taste buds. In Kuwait you only have 3 choices 1-Movies ( Laje2 3a6efy)
2-Resaturates
3-Dewanya
So going to new restaurants (mainly) is just for the sake of change.
May 14th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Hey Qaiss, btw I probably commented more on your blog than i did in all other blogs combined for the last 2 months! I really like ur topics!
Anyway, I will have to go back to my comment on the subway post, its a matter of location, but not in the same sense that mishref says.
The reason is the concept of the place. Yo Sushi is a great place if you want to have decent sushi quickly without the hassle of ordering and being waited on.
People in Kuwait LOVE –
1- good expensive food with lots of sauces (i hate that)
2- being waited on and having someone serve them throughout dinner
3- looking at other people while having dinner
Yo Sushi is good food with not so many sauces (normal food), waiters are not needed and you can enter and leave with little or no interaction with any waiters, and its hidden inside in the corner.
Also, why would I go through the traffic problems of getting Marina Mall and then suffering to find parking….just to get quick sushi! if im in a hurry for sushi, I could go to Sultan Center and get their ready sushi packs (which are good). If Im at marina and want sushi i would probably go to maki or kei just because its another option where i can sit and have a dinner worth trip! If there was a Yo Sushi in my jam3iya i would be there alot alot more!
I hope that makes sense…..and sorry for another long comment
May 14th, 2007 at 2:03 am
Mishref: see i never understood the “habba” part which i totaly belive in Kuwait, but some till are going strong and “habba” has a time frame that works with some and not others. We should define habba..and the point about sake of change is true, food in kuwait is entertainment:( sad to say…live to eat phrase comes in handy here:P
May 14th, 2007 at 2:10 am
Q: khith ra7tik on commenting as long as you want, i love listening to you folks, anyways; location is the killer and rise of business in Kuwait, with a small twist of luck,, i say small again.. very interesting observation you have about the food, i guess it relates to the stupid ketchup and mayo sauce that kuwaitis love so much:P The waiter part i do not get, but i have the same point on the “looking” part, many restaurants in Kuwait shut down or loose because of bad “looking seating configuration” i’m not kidding, smart restaurant managers now understand such seating requirments for Kuwaiti youth are major!, casper and gambini knows!! i know this personnaly.
May 14th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Qaiss, remember a restaurant called Marche? It was a Movenpick concept in Khaleejiya a few years ago where you would go around from station to station to get your food. It closed not long after it opened, and my theory is that people expect to be waited on and the idea of doing everything yourself defies the point of going out…maybe im wrong but thats my theory
May 14th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Q: yah i do! and it closed realy fast, that was a true “habba” but if opneded now it may work, if you have noticed that the base of customers that eat in such restaurants have grew very large, that explians the explosion of japanese restaurants in Kuwait… you got a point about the serving theory and may have contributed to the demise of Marche.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:30 am
I’ve been having conversations lately about restaurants and marketing in Kuwait and it seems to me that a bit too much is pinned on marketing. Look, if you’re talking about clothes, you can kind of fool people into thinking some item is hip or elegant through marketing. But with food no one is going to belie their own taste buds no matter how much marketing you do. It really boils down to this: how tasty is your food and is it tasty enough to get people to pay a good chunk for it? The Yo Sushi in London was absolutely delicious and the one in Kuwait … well NO. When I went there it wasn’t bad but still not nearly up to par with the other conventional sushi hangouts. Another thing, although people are getting more and more into sushi in Kuwait, the idea of something being raw is still not 100% acceptable. Now add to that the idea of the food rotating around for a while before you eat it and you not knowing how long it’s been sitting out. The same concept was introduced in Fanar mall years ago and that restaurant is not there anymore. I think the rotating sushi idea is not appealing to the Kuwaiti consumer.
Also, the other place there, GBK, is pretty good and Morellis is the best ice cream I’ve ever had ever! So you have other options and not just the sushi place.
Regarding Marche, speaking as a girl I know a lot of women get embarassed filling up their plates in any sort of buffet setting because they don’t want anyone to notice how much they’re about to pig out!
So that could have contributed to the downfall.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:55 am
ahhhhh Q why did u mention Marche u brought back all my Boston memories!
Lol that wud never work in Kuwait, imagine girls with their heels and puffs carrying their plates. Or guys and their ghutra’s. La la ma yenfa3
May 14th, 2007 at 9:57 am
oh yaa back to the topic yo sushi? sheno hatha never heard of it. bs this thing that revolves nafs ely eb Slider Slation, I hated it! I was sitting at the end so my food has to pass in front of everyone sitting on the bar thingie.
May 14th, 2007 at 11:48 am
1001 Nights: yah true about the raw part, many Kuwaitis still cant get how good and healthy a raw tuna or salamon fish can be, this must have an effect for sure on the marina audiance, and GBK and morellis are good.
May 14th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Enigma: okay looks like you do not like food that “move around” concept:P
May 14th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
this is so off topic, but i love ur name ;p
May 15th, 2007 at 1:37 am
Baroque: huh!?!??