Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

November 21, 2009

Chowking Opens in Doha

Posted by xtian001 at 09:38 PM

Chowking in Doha

At last, Chowing opens in Doha! After months of speculation and rumors, the Philippine fast food chained opened its doors to Qatari residents on Wednesday. From Facebook friends, we found out that lines to sample the dishes are so long that you have to wait at least 30 minutes to get your food. So much for "fast food". Still, Filipinos are expected to flock the fast food chain located near Ramada on Salwa Road. I'm we'll try it out one of these days when all the hoopla has subsided.

Here is more news from Gulf Times:

Former Philippine president Fidel V Ramos and prominent Qatari businessman Hussein Alfardan formally opened the first Doha outlet of Philippine food chain Chowking on Salwa road on Wednesday.

Hundreds of Filipinos, led by the Philippine Ambassador Crescente Relacion attended the opening ceremony which was addressed by Ahmed Hassan Bilal, chairman of the Ahmed Hassan Bilal Enterprise, the local partner of Chowking in Qatar.

Bilal promised the gathering a great dining experience at the newly-opened restaurant which has two function halls which can accommodate up to 144 people. The Doha restaurant is the 427th Chowking outlet worldwide. The restaurant is open from 12noon until 10pm.

Erwin Elechion, president of Chowking Food Corp and Relacion also spoke.

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May 29, 2009

Turkey Central Reopened

Posted by mavis at 11:48 PM

Our favorite Turkey Central Restaurant along Prince Nasser Street, otherwise known as Mergab, has finally reopened. It had been closed for 2-3 long months, for reasons no one really knows for certain. The owners of the popular Turkish restaurant however were clever enough to put up a small take-away outlet just a few steps away from the main restaurant. And surprisingly enough, it continued to be in demand. We, ourselves have ordered food there twice before it reopened.

Tonight we had dinner there. It was nice to see that the place had been renovated. Now it looks much fresher and brighter. It was even nicer to know that the food is still as yummy. However we advise not to go there during the peak hours as it still is as busy and as noisy as ever. Inspite of that it still is one of our favorites here in Doha.

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April 03, 2009

Burger Kings' Steakhouse Burger

Posted by xtian001 at 06:59 PM

We went to Hyatt Plaza at 12 this afternoon as we were to attend a birthday party of Xiane's classmate in Jungle Zone at 3. We were deciding where to eat and decided that Mavis and I just order burger in Burger King while xiane wanted chicken from KFC. I personally I'm not too fond of KFC as I find Mavis' home-cooked fried chicken much better than KFC's. Anyway, we saw that they were promoting their new "Steakhouse Burger". Judging by the photo on their big banners, this one was going to be yummy.

Doing some research now, Burger King press releases states that the Steakhouse Burger

Features a flame-broiled steak burger topped with two slices of melted American cheese, A.1. Thick & Hearty steak sauce, crispy onions, red ripe tomatoes, crisp lettuce and creamy mayonnaise on a premium bakery bun.

Taking my first bite, I was overwhelmed with the flavors of the whole thing. The bun was really good! It was tasty and for me, quite good. I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 just because if you're really looking for the "burger" taste, the other ingredients covers the taste of the burger itself. I'd suggest that they add another burger patty fro more ommphh on the burger taste. But aside from that, I think I like it better the the Johhny Rockets Burger. It's probably at par or a half notch higher than the Cheese Steak Burger from Hardees.

Give it a try and tell me what you think about it!

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December 12, 2008

Johnny Rockets in Doha, Qatar

Posted by mavis at 09:26 PM

Johnny Rockets at Doha, Qatar

I remember how my husband used to tease me for 3 months about me not treating him and Xianelle yet from my own salary. Well yesterday, the teasing officially stopped since I was finally able to give them a treat. Johnny Rockets, an American burger joint here in Doha, was an easy choice as to where I would be treating them. Easy because we haven’t really tried it and he’s been wanting to try it for the longest time but it just didn’t materialize before yesterday.

Johnny Rockets is located along Salwa Road beside the Nissan Showroom. The place is very much like a 50’s diner, neat and cozy. The menu is simple; it’s basically all about burgers. Honestly, looking at the menu, one would think that there should me more items to choose from. Anyway, being a burger joint, we normally chose the burgers. My husband got the Double Rockets while I got the St. Louis. His was two layers of burger patties with onions, tomatoes and lettuce; burger at its simplest and the least adulterated form. Mine was smothered in cheese and a few slices of bacon. Then it was time to taste the burger…

Thankfully it wasn’t disappointing at all. We both loved our burgers. It was tasty and cooked just right. You know that it was pure beef and you can taste all the juices coming from the burger with every bite. Needless to say, we were satisfied with the food, basically with the burger. The fries and onion rings side dish that we ordered were also good. On the other hand we had to order a breakfast item for our daughter since we thought she’d love the bacon. We were right; we had to order another batch (4 strips) of bacon for her.

The overall Johnny Rockets experience was fine. We enjoyed the good food and nice ambience. Although I still think that there should be more choices on the menu and the staff should be more lively and warm to the customers. I think that we’ll be coming back for more burgers in the near future.

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Happy Pizza

Posted by mavis at 09:52 AM

We got this comment from one of our readers in Wales.

I thought I wou'd just drop you a line to let you know that your daughter is a bit of a Mini Legend within my team at work.

Basically, we chose to welcome a new member to the team by going for Pizza one day. One of our team mates googled "Happy Pizza" to show his support for the idea, and send the photo of Xiane around to us all.

Ever since, "Happy Pizza" (Complete with raised arms and large smile) has been the team motto... and has since morphed into anything from "Happy coffee break" to "Happy cancelled meeting".

Anyway, I appreciate this is all probably very random to you, but it seemed right to let you know that your daughter is a celebrity between a team of Marketing Assistants in Wales.