Note: This review is extremely outdated. To read my updated review of the Burger Hub (29 August 2007), with major improvements from this old review,
click here.
P and I went to the Burger Hub in Kuwait City tonight for dinner.
We'd heard that they were one of the best burger joints in town, so we decided to see for ourselves. Overall, disappointing. Before I get into it, let me say that I'm not trying to be overly critical here. I understand that this is a small Kuwaiti business and it's a very good start, but let me give my honest assessment first and then get into that at the end.
Our first impression when we approached it from the parking lot and when we first walked in was: "Wow. Nice." It's quite small but in a nice way - cute and cozy. They were quite crowded and didn't have a table for two available so we sat at the bar. Once we settled into our seats, we started to look around and take it all in. The first thing I noticed was that every single customer in there was Kuwaiti. Not that it really meant anything to me - it's just something I noticed right off the bat. (Lots of girls dressed to the nines just to eat a burger. Maybe they were trying to impress the cow.)
As I sat at the bar, one of the first things I thought was that they could have used the space better. P noticed it too - he immediately said they could have added a small upstairs seating area (I think there's an office or storage room up in that block you see in the picture). Also, the bar was way too big, and is totally unnecessary. Let's face it, we're in Kuwait. Unless you're serving alcohol, why have a bar/counter that big when you're short on space? Remove it altogether, and just add tables.
It was five minutes before we got menus and another ten minutes before someone took our order (both times I had to call the attention of the waiter). Anyway, the burger selection was quite interesting and diverse, which is always a plus. But when it comes to burgers, unless it's
Lindy's Red Lion in DC, I'm going for a regular old gourmet cheeseburger. When I asked what else came in the bun, the waiter told me ketchup and mayonnaise. So I asked him to add lettuce and chopped onions. So he said, "Caramelized onions." And I said, "No, regular onions, chopped." "Ah yes, OK." Then, as he was writing down my order, he mumbled out loud, "Add lettuce and tomato." I said, "No, no tomato. Lettuce, and c-h-o-p-p-e-d o-n-i-o-n-s." "Ah yes, OK, lettuce and tom-, uh, and chopped onion." Then he took down P's order, which was called "La Rosee" (don't ask why) and had mushrooms, caramelized onions, and swiss cheese. One plate of fries to share. We were told that our burgers would take 20 minutes, but that we would get our drinks and fries first. That's fine.
As we sat waiting for our food, we began our critique. P and I are both design freaks - we love and appreciate good design and unique styles, and so we notice everything. I mean
everything, even things that most people wouldn't. And we always end up having the exact same comments. For example, the first thing we both said should go was the set of superfluous four panels up on the wall (in the picture above). In general, the interior design was quite nice - I liked certain bits of it. But the overall product was...well...a bit of a clusterfuck, to be honest. You had the whole copper industrial part, which I liked - industrial is always a good look (although it's been done better in Kuwait). Then you had the whole stained glass part, which was also nice, and actually meshed well with the copper. But then you had some walls (not the ones carrying on the copper industrial theme but like the one behind the four panels) that were really tacky. I'm not sure what that design technique is called, but it's where the paint is really textured and rough - but it wasn't done well at all. And it just didn't go with the rest of the place at all. It ruined it.
Then there's the other design aspect - their logo, branding, etc. First of all, their logo is not even worth talking about - I'm pretty sure the person who designed it has absolutely no background in design or anything remotely creative. Then, the colour scheme is totally off. On the logo on the sign outside, they use a bright red and yellow. These same colours are used on their takeaway boxes. However, their menus are maroon and more of a brownish-mustard yellow. Then their placemats are something different altogether - kind of a light brown (for red) and cream (for yellow). The menus themselves were done very cheaply - they were just very bland and felt like laminated paper...kind of like what you'd expect from share3 alma6a3em. The placemats were paper and the design was brown and cream stripes - they just didn't go with anything at all.
Also, and this is a big one, if you're going to put a paragraph of text in the menu (a sort of message from the owner, talking about the history of the hamburger and the reason Burger Hub was created and all that) then at least have someone edit it for you before going to print. I don't expect everyone to have perfect English skills - not at all - but before printing something like a menu for your own restaurant, just let someone who speaks fluent English look it over for you. It wouldn't take more than 10 minutes to edit. One example: "mince-meat" was spelled "mints meat". For a place that specializes in burgers, I found that hilarious. The whole menu was full of little grammatical, spelling, and typographical mistakes. Again, something you'd expect from share3 alma6a3em, but not from the type of place this is trying to be.
By that point, every little thing I found wrong just got to me. For example, they had a little specials menu on each table (by then we had moved to a regular table), which was typed out on red construction paper, laminated. Fine. But, if you're going to have a list of special burgers with special names, you have to at least provide the list of ingredients that comes on each! How the hell am I supposed to know what a "[insert stupid meaningless name here] burger" is? Then, I'm going to have to ask the waiter to tell me what's in each, and all that's going to do is slow down what is already
extremely slow and inept service.
Speaking of inept service, guess what my burger came with? That's right - lettuce and tomato, no onions. At that point I decided not to say anything and just eat it. So I ate it. And here's the most important part of this review...the burger. To both me and P, the burger was less than average. I get more pleasure from a McDonald's double-cheeseburger than I did from this. First of all, the meat had too many offensive spices in it. Not the usual good mix of spices - ones that just threw the taste right off. And it just wasn't good quality meat. Then, the bread was...bad. Dry and bland. The overall thing itself just didn't have much taste (other than those damn spices). I asked for mustard hoping it would give it a kick, but even the mustard was bad. The fries were boring and not great. Oh, and we didn't get the fries first like we were told, but with our burgers, and we didn't get our drinks until about two minutes before that (and I was first given a Coke instead of the Diet Coke which I ordered).
Anyway, the final clincher was that the music was way too loud. The music was actually OK. I was just glad they weren't playing trashy R'n'B like most places play, nor did the place have a plasma screen showing J.Lo or Shakira in concert like other small places in Kuwait like to do (think Maki and Fusion). They were playing chillout house - mostly Buddha Bar stuff which I find very cliché and annoying under normal circumstances but which was a relief here, knowing what
could have been thoroughly ruining my dining experience. But it was just way too loud for such a small place.
Now, I know most of you are probably thinking, "Damn, they just ripped that place to shreds." And I know that sounds like a mean and unfair thing to do to a small, local business that is trying something new. But let me say why we were so critical. First of all, I think what this guy has done is great (at least I think it's just the one guy whose name was on the menu). OK, so maybe it's kind of copying Burger Boutique, but at least he's investing his money and time and energy into opening a good quality local establishment, trying to break the franchise obsession Kuwaitis have. And he's done a good job - the food concept is great, the interior design is modern and cool, the name is nice, and the place isn't expensive. Also, anyone who knows me knows how much I love, admire, and support small Kuwaiti businesses. But, at the same time, because I so want to see these places succeed, I am more critical of them than I am of places I don't really care about.
This place has tons of potential. They were on the right track - but somewhere along the way they fell short of being great. And what disappoints me is that the areas in which I find Burger Hub to be lacking make me think that their lack of perfection was a result of laziness and perhaps an attempt to cut costs. For example, the bathroom is really nice - dark wood and dull metals - carrying on the industrial theme from the restaurant. But then your eyes fall on the toilet seat itself: bright white porcelain. It's a major eyesore in an otherwise gorgeous bathroom. Why? Why not continue the thought and spend a bit more effort trying to find a toilet seat that matches well? OK, maybe I'm nitpicking here, but I just don't see the logic in it, other than the fact that someone got lazy. Also, the whole branding and printing thing is a disaster (the logo, takeout boxes, menu, placemats). That must have been the result of cost-cutting. But there were definitely areas in which he could have cut some unnecessary costs (like those four ugly panels) and put that money into hiring a freelance designer to do the logo and print materials. The way I see it is, if you're gonna do something, do it as absolutely perfectly as you can. It might take an extra day or week or month, and might cost an extra buck, but if this is your baby, your private business, your brainchild,
just do it!
As P and I left we acknowledged the fact that most of the things we found wrong with the place, most people would probably not even notice. We are both perfectionists and are both overly in tune with our senses - sight, sound, and taste, in this case. We appreciate little things that most people overlook, and so we notice the details. And when we see the potential for perfection being obstructed by carelessness, laziness, cheapness, or whatever the case may be, it drives us both up the wall. I'm sure that most people who go to the Burger Hub walk out completely satisfied, visually and gastronomically. And I think that's a good thing - because I'd like to see this place succeed. I would
love to see it fix some of its shortcomings, but I think the person/people who created it should be given props for going their own way and taking a risk.
Oh, and they tried to charge me .250 fils for the onions I didn't get.
And, for the record, while most of the service was below average, there was one guy - who I think is the host - who was great. He was very friendly and capable and did a great job. I didn't get his name but he was the only Indian man on staff - at least tonight.
