[UPDATE 1] They’ve dug up part of the road again!
[UPDATE 2] Check out our new Smoked Lamb click here
Hello!
Smoke House has had a rollercoaster three years since our doors first opened in 2009.
Our founding partners really wanted to bring that authentic Southern BBQ experience to Kuwait, and we’d like to think we’ve gone some way to achieving it!
To be honest, our first year was manic. We hit the ground running and grew a lot faster than expected. Between the rush of dine-in customers, catering for US military staff and Bneidar’s many chalet parties – its safe to say we were BUSY, if not overstretched.
God Bless The Ministry of Public Works
Our regular dine in customers will testify that physically getting to Smoke House has become harder, particularly since 2010, due to construction in Mahboula. Those wonderful people at the Ministry of Public Works (our sworn ‘Frenemy’) have taken their sweet time to build a road to our restaurant (we cringed one evening when a customer in a bright red Ferrari pulled up outside).
In late 2009, we were promised a road in 3 months. Here we are 3 years later finding it hard to believe that we finally have tarmac outside! The giant pit that we woke up to one cold February morning has now been filled.They’ve left behind a real mess, but we’ve decided if they don’t clear it up soon we’ll do it ourselves. The good news is you no longer need a Hummer, two tanks of diesel and hiking boots to pay us a visit.
Smoke House Delivery
Given the logistical challenge to get to us (respect to the die-hard loyalists who make their weekly trek!), we’ve witnessed delivery become a bigger part of our sales. Obviously, delivering food comes with its own set of challenges, such as keeping the heat IN and Kuwait’s dust OUT. Whilst we continue to run a very busy delivery service, we’re firm believers that nothing beats enjoying our food dine-in – straight from our kitchen to your plate. We’re super excited about this becoming more popular again as parking becomes possible!
Tinkering under the Hood
As some of you may also notice, earlier this year we tweaked our branding, came out with a new menu and added pictures. Those are just some of the visible changes we’ve made – the fun ones at least! Behind the scenes we’ve been even more busy.
We’ve made changes to the Smoke House team which required us to say some goodbyes and also hellos, to bright new faces. These include enthusiastic new partners and great additions to management. We’ve tweaked a few of our recipes, and worked to standardize a lot of processes to achieve more consistency (this was a real pain chore to implement, but should make your food even better).
Smoke House 2.0
As these changes kick in we’re excited about our next chapter. So the plan – once outside the restaurant is complete (with or without Ministry help) – is to invest in our ‘front of house’. That includes hiring more waitresses and cashiers (let us know if you know anyone bright and motivated). We’d also love to refresh our dine-in experience. Perhaps we’ll lower the lighting in our dining area, make it more cosy, upgrade our chairs and get some tunes playing! Happy to hear suggestions.
Yes we’re Social!
This new blog is testament to us getting social. We’ll continue to post general bits and pieces about new recipes (particularly different kinds of smoked meats such as the Lamb we’ve been working on) plus other announcements. Where some of you may notice we’ve been very active is Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. It takes a real effort to keep up with you all, but we’re active across all 3 and love being able to interact with our customers. Join in if you’re not following us already.
We’ve got some clear goals and are looking forward to having plenty of good food (and fun) along the way!
Thanks guys!
And so as you’ve read this far, THANK YOU to everyone who’s supported us from Day 1. Cheesy as it sounds, without you guys, there is no us, seriously. Thanks again from your overworked, socially active and well fed friends at Smoke House.
