Napket at Avenues Mall – Kuwait: A branch of the original Napket chain in London, the chic restaurant is tucked away inside Avenues Mall on the 2nd floor. The eatery prides itself as a sophisticated café/restaurant that is a confluence of modern and Baroque style interiors with contemporary trimmings thrown in for added glamor . The functional yet elegant café is a decent option if you are looking to grab a quick bite or if you want to savor a relaxed cup of coffee, croissants and the Napket’s famous cakes on a lazy afternoon.

We went there for lunch and the fact that the restaurant was empty should have been our first clue of what to expect.

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We arrived and headed to check out the food on display. There was a spread of salads, wraps, soups, sandwiches and pastas (you select the type of pasta and the sauce). It would be really nice if we could get the other items like sandwiches and wraps customized as well instead of just opting for whatever was displayed. We placed our order, penne pasta with Arbiata sauce, tomato soup for me and a BBQ steak panini for my friend and eventually got ourselves seated.

The décor is nothing short of gorgeous. In fact the place is worth visiting just to feast your eyes on the striking décor. Characterized by lofty ceilings, dark wood furniture and large windows that let in a lot of natural light balanced by nice soft artificial lighting inside; the interiors are well-appointed, orderly and aesthetic. There are single roses on all the tables and I–Pods for your personal use. This is indeed one of the most visually-stunning restaurants/cafes in Kuwait. There is a beautiful outdoor patio area (very elegant and old world European) that overlooks the patio area of the next phase of the mall.

We were seated for quite a long time before the food actually arrived and alas; I can’t resort to the pleasant cliche here which states that the wait was worth it. It definitely wasn’t. The tomato soup was bland and tasteless, the pasta tasted like it had been left around for a long time in the wait and hope that someone to come to order it, and the whole point of the Arbiata sauce, which is supposed to have plenty of zing and zest was completely defeated, since this had none! The BBQ steak panini was just about decent but at over 3 KD (over $10), it was way over priced.

Service was painfully slow and all they had to do was deliver our food, check on us once or twice and bring us the bill. The staff wasn’t very warm or welcoming either and treated service as just another drudgery that they had to go on with.

Napket seems to have put a lot of emphasis on the design (which is mind-blowing, no doubt) at the cost of their food and service. The food is average and overpriced. Napket, if anything, is worth a visit only for the atmosphere and if you are really hungry enough to grab a quick snack without expecting too much out of it.

What I liked: The striking interiors

What I didn’t like: The insipid food, the prices and lackluster service

Rating: Almost Bombastic

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