Méli Mélo

Yesterday was eventful day! I left work around 4:00ish and was back home watching some TV…. We had some plans made for the night that I was waiting for since last week. We were privileged to get invited by Mr. Adel Behbehani to try this new Japanese & Gourmet Food Boutique “Méli Mélo*”. Basically we were asked to go try their Sushi/Japanese food, rate it, and give out comments.

We, a group of seven, went in at around 8:00PM…. The boutique setting looked like a chocolate store, there were a couple of bonsai trees, a very nice chandelier, a kitchen, some shelves with lots of Japanese food and cooking products, and very friendly staff members! A table was set just for us with some evaluation papers to full about Japanese food and restaurants in Kuwait, and another to rate the food items we were about to try! I was very thrilled!

We started off with a Japanese Green Salad. What can I say! I LOVED IT! It was a mix of greens, carrots, cucumbers, cashew nuts, and an apple sauce… the salad was gone in a matter of minutes, it was almost perfect, I just wished that the apple sauce was a bit thicker! A few minutes later, they brought spicy edamame, which I can’t really rate because I am not a big fan of spicy food and would rather have the plain one with sea salt… nevertheless, the plate was emptied as well. As I said, when you are in a group of seven people your taste buds get tickled in different ways! Then fried breaded shrimps were served. Let me just say that they did not feel oily at all… They were given out with sweet chili sauce and were so light and yummy! Negimayaki was next! I absolutely loved it and had two pieces instead since one of us in the group does not eat red meat so I jumped in! The meat was juicy and the taste of spring onions was not too strong to ruin it for me. After a bit came the calamari with two kinds of sauces; lemon based and sweet & spicy. I thought the lemon complimented the taste of the calamari really well, but the sweet & spicy gave it a twist! I cant even decide which sauce I liked better with the calamari, so I kept alternating till I said, “OK… THE LEMON!”.

The night kept getting better and better, and we were having so much fun snapping away pictures and discussing what we liked best… so should I continue about other food items we tried? I think you wanna know!

Sesame Beef came, and as I said… non-red meat-lovers gave us the opportunity to have more and more hehehe, I am not a big fan of sesame, so I tried to dig in for the plain ones, but even with sesame… no problemo for me! I kept going at it! Yes, it was that good. First kind of Maki arrived, its called Arabian Maki! Arabian? Yes, because it contained dates! Talk about creativity huh!? Not a big fan of dates, but turned out that I am a HUGE fan of that maki. The taste was just something different! Then the waiter brought what looked like a breaded maki rolls! No! It wasn’t maki rolls, it was chicken wrapped in cabbage rolls. Again, not a big fan of cabbage, but I was not trying to waste any minute here and missing out on any items served… I tried it, it was not bad. OK, so almost every Japanese restaurant here in Kuwait have their own version of the “Crazy” maki, right? Méli Mélo’s crazy maki was awesome! I don’t usually order crazy maki, but since our menu was set… I did not mind it at all of course, and actually loved it so much that I gave it two thumbs up!

Getting full... are we? I don’t think that would stop us from what was coming next! Chicken in Plum Sauce was next, followed by fried gindara fish. The chicken was okay, and the fish was not bad at all. As I said, our views varied very much at some given points. The waiter then decided to let us try their California Maki. I don’t usually go for it, because I think it is a waste of time hehehe, but it was really good. Kani Maki was next, and it was outta this world! Its what they call it their house special! I would so recommend this to any crab lover! What came next was also yummy! It was Cranberry Maki with Smoked Salmon! It’s a surprise with every bite, very interesting combination and very yummy too! One minute you are chewing salmon, the other is cranberry!

We were then asked to try their mixed fried rice and mixed noodles… both were good, but not something I would order. I would go straight for sushi and salads and heart meaty stuff LOL! The last two items we were asked to try were Volcano Rock, which I loved so much… specially the crispy noodles on top of it, and Chicken Dumplings… Not a big fan of dumpling so I am not the judge here!

Overall… it was a very fun experience… very interesting. The food was awesome, I would strongly recommend the restaurant for you to try once its open for the public (which is around a month from now). But that doesn’t mean you cant stop by and try their cooking products… such as Japanese pickles, teas, rice, noodles, vinegar, sauces….etc.

The store is located in Al Shaab Al Bahry on Al Kendi Street (Behind Flex Fitness Club and not too far from LOfat). They are open Saturday – Thursday from 10:00AM to 1:00PM and in the afternoons from 5:00PM to 9:00PM. Tel: 266-1520/1.
Give it a shot! Its worth it!


*Méli Mélo, pronounced "meh-lee-meh-low, is a French expression that means literally a “mix of this & that”. I find the name very interesting since their food was really a mix of many ingredients that compliments the taste or add a twist to it!