Kuwait / Travel Information / Food

You can obtain raw food from "bakalas" (groceries) or the cooperative supermarket. Each district in Kuwait has a cooperative supermarket located in the district center.

These ìcoopsî cater well for basic necessities. The largest and most popular are in Salmiya, Rawda and Shamiya. In the coops, goods are available at prices usually below those of the private supermarkets. There are often fruit and vegetable shops and bakeries attached to the coops as well. Large quantities can be bought from the wholesale sections.

The district centers usually also have medical clinics, post offices, banks as well as hardware shops, eye glass shops, pharmacies, Bakeries, etc. Some even have playgrounds for children. In the area of shops, there is also at least one fast food restaurant.

There is a large variety of American and European food at private supermarkets. The meat market in Shuwaikh is a good cheap source of frozen and chilled Australian meat, in bulk. Local butchers have good local meat. In one month, Kuwait Municipality slaughters approximately 150,000 head of cattle and 200,000 sheep. There is a greater variety of American and European food at the newest private supermarkets such as the Sultan Center in Salmiya. In its food sections, you can find anything from Aunt Jemimaís maple syrup to English Christmas pudding. The Sultan Centers grocery section is as good if not better than any American large chain supermarket. It is open 24 hours. In addition to the local bakeries mentioned above, there are many patisseries. Like the private supermarkets, everything in the patisseries is more expensive than in the coops. The

"Chapra" is the wholesale distributors of fruits and vegetables. Here fruits and vegetables are sold in bulk, so they are quite a bit cheaper than the shops or coops. Fish can be bought at the fish markets in Shuwaikh and on the Arabian Gulf Road opposit to Amiri hospital. Fresh Zubaidi, Hamour, and the famous huge Gulf shrimp are available there.

The sellers will clean and fillet the fish for no extra price. Fresh Gulf shrimp is sold from August through January. Naturally, since the prices of local products are considerably less than those of foreign imports, life will be more expensive if you live on canned and frozen food, bought only from the private supermarkets. If you can adapt partially to local eating habits and explore the treasure troves of your local coop and the main souks, you wi11 find 1ife much cheaper, as we11 as much more interesting. There are a number of good Arabic and international cookbooks on sale in Kuwait.