online supermarkets in Qatar - reviews

https://www.carrefourqatar.com

Carrefour Qatar Online 

 wide selection , slow page ,  delivery  after a  day
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Carrefour Now through  Talabat.com


 a lots of items but far less than  the Carrefour  Qatar Online

 delivery within hours

 many items on the site are not available

  somebody is calling always from their customer service  to discuss the replacement of the missing items  - there are two issues with her
 
1 .


      her English comes with thick Tagalog accent  - hard to understand

      

   
      her French is non-existent  so you have to find out how Tagalog speaking people would pronounce this or that  French product's name
       
     
     
       this is quite  a big effort  and often times I agree with  every replacement  simply because I have         no idea what she  is talking about


2 . But I never forget to ask how much the new bill would be

 It happened that the replacement was something much more expensive than  the original item .

Other problem with this supermarket  that it delivers sometimes items that are expired or close to expire .

Out 20 orders twice I got items which were taken clearly from the garbage  -smelling , slimy  mushrooms , rotten lemons . I had to discard them at once . I was just too tired to call them to complain .
Dairy products sometimes are  close to expire .

 With all these issues they are still the best choice of supermarket in case  you need them now .

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Korean Food Center

 through Talabat 

 I order from them usually spicy noodles , snacks like chestnuts ,sweet potatoes .
 They are very fast  with the delivery .
 They are offering Korean food . Canned fish , dried veggies and mushrooms , kimchi , seaweed , sauces  ,wasabi etc. I find their prices reasonable .

  So far these are the  online supermarkets I have tried  in Qatar . There are some more ones on Talabat . You can  give them a try .

Cool-de-sac or indoor playground in the Pearl

That was a new place for me . It is in the Pearl not far from Novo cinema . This is an entertainment center with restaurant  for kids .
It offers soft play areas ,slides ,lego building station , face painting ,computer games ,play stations ,painting .  The age group  they expect  is from tots to 12 year old . However my 10 year old was a bit bored .Most of the kids looked preschoolers . The thing that I liked at this place was the number of hosts and hostesses calling the kids by their names and ready to play with them . We might have been in the middle of a party because every half an hour a dance or game was initiated by the hosts . After all my 10 year old had a good time but not sure  he wants to spend his hard earned pocket money here next time .
The entrance fee is 55 rials for unlimited time .That sounds reasonable . But it is trap .The cheapest drink at the restaurant is 10 rials .And the nugget-fries meal for kids is 35 rials and despite the title "gourmet restaurant " it was nothing special -just the usual nugget meal . . You are not allowed to bring your drinks or snacks . If you leave the place you are not allowed to go back .So do not arrive hungry or thirsty here otherwise you will pay a lot for traditional junk food .
I  met  there someone I had known before and it was so difficult to chat because it was too noisy . The face painters  did a great job  - real artists work there . The staff is mixed - Europeans and Filipinos .Both were nice and welcoming ,patient with the kids .


 Where Andalucia way ,Building b12
Medina Central ,The pearl , Qatar
 Contact : 
4437 8421
Daily Admission Fee – for unlimited time 

Children 3 and up – 55QR
Children 2 and under – 36QR
Adults - Free
Drop’n’Play – 145QR * includes a kid meal
All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. No adults will be allowed entry without a child. No outside food or beverages. Socks are required in some play areas.

Fathers are allowed to enter as well  - I saw fathers playing  video games and building lego creations :)

Short films reviews at the Ajyal Youth Film festival 2015

It was a cultural weekend ... We saw a bunch of short films at the Ajyal film festival: there were Nepali,

Kurdish, American, French,Canadian , Qatari films ...
It seemed to me that the directors competed with each others in choosing the most distressing, topic

they could when they created their films .The French film was the "happiest" story ( By Mutual Agreement ) : There was a couple

about to divorce . They suddenly realized that the cause their marriage deteriorated was their five-year

old only child . . they could not really enjoy life since his birth - so they decided to get rid of him ...

all of this in fun, light and absurd style - after a lots of attempted murder - finally themselves the evil

parents are hit by a car -not the little boy! The story was a bit like Hansel and Gretel , But in that story

the kids are returning to the parents who tried to kill them !
Of course, this was a good critique of parental hedonism and irresponsibility, which flooded the world.


À l’amiable / By Mutual Agreement from oriGine films on Vimeo.

The Qatari film was not so depressing compared to the others : it was about a young man from India or

Sri lanka (?) who worked at the Katara as toilet cleaner . He tried to jazz up his boring ,rootless days with

some jokes that were badly received .It was an attempt to show the real problem of workers in Qatar against

the slavery accusations in the international media.The young man's uncle is having a smart phone and a wife in

India (? ) whom he can kiss good bye at night by the phone . It was just a light touch to the problems of the

labourer's in the Gulf but more than nothing .

The Nepali director had shown the world the real suffering of his own people in the  Beaten Path  . Blood , disease ,famine

,extreme poverty was counterpointed by the beauty of the nature and the noble soul of the main character .

The Kurdish story of the Bad Hunter started with a rape then it turned into a false accusation finally it evolved into a happy

end !It shows the way how a young woman needs to be tricky to turn her own tragedy into a happy event of her

life .

We saw a film about a man whose memory and this way his identity was robbed .It was quite difficult to follow

. Finally the director explained all the story . It was the Artificio Conceal made in UK , USA .

The most depressing topic was about a Canadian Arab man whose baby ( wife as well ?) died at birth and he

is not strong enough to do the usual rituals before the burial .
I missed the women from the film : in the Nepali film there was one single unnamed female character who was mourning the death of her husband . The Qatari film did not have female character ,either .In the American film we just hear the voice of a woman .Only the French and Kurdish films had female main characters .

None of those short films were better than my favourite Hungarian short films . I was a bit disappointed .


Many families arrived with kids . They were allowed to enter and see such painful topics . I can not understand the organizers !

Hamad International Airport is the sixth best airport in the world"

"Hamad International Airport is the sixth best airport in the world"Hamad International Airport occupied the sixth...
Posted by Hamad International Airport on Saturday, September 5, 2015

This summer was the first time I travelled via HIA - yes it was big = I had to walk too much and though I arrived early at the airport I had no time for shopping in the duty free after taking breakfast in an expensive cafe! I missed the old airport ! I did not have much time either to explore now  though I arrived 3 hours before the departure time and it was not crowdy at all !

 as somebody wrote on a facebook page "The old airport was ugly, small and extremely efficient. Hamad is beautiful, vast and completely inefficient. As a frequent traveller, give me efficient any day."

 What about you ? Have you ever travelled via HIA ?

PERSIAN RESTAURANTS - Shater Abbas

Lamb for our weekend picnic lunch ? - we nearly got objected as we do not like it -but when we tasted with my daughter the dish called "riyash " which seemed to be some spicy grilled lamb chops -then we were more than satisfied .It was a half year ago .Then we decided that we have to visit once the Shater Abbas restaurant for we can learn more about the Persian cooking here .

We entered the restaurant and went up the badly designed steps . It was a large place with separated family section -and even with some totally separated compartments . The whole place had some retro touch -and suddenly I felt as I was with my father in a club's restaurant at Lake Balaton as a little girl.Some columns as decoration even added to this feeling with their metallic op-art style .The walls were tiled with yellowish pattern -which was imitating a Persian carpet on the wall .One or two of this pattern was OK but it was repeated too many times all around us and made me feel dizzy . The wooden partition was decorated with art-deco motifs .The tables were large and nice and the chairs as well -they made me feel I am at an elegant place .Then I had to face a large screen on which there was a football match on -and it made me feel as I was at a pub .
I had mixed feeling about the interior design .I thought that the original design was spoiled with some amateur's elements .What a pity !
We opted for the open buffet .The tables were nicely set .The selection of dishes was very big - two long tables were full of main dishes .
A smaller table was dedicated to the hors d'ouvres and salads .
I started with mutabal -which is my favourite anyway - but it was the best I have ever tasted .The baba ganough was also very good .I went on with some soup - the addas was wonderfully spiced and the classic mushroom soup was excellent .
As a main course I chose first some khorma with beef and bean - it was not my plate of khorma .... Then I opted for some chicken biryani -it was very plain - almost supermarket quality .The kofta with potato in tomato sauce was very good .
I was almost full when I ventured for some mashi -in tomato sauce .It was some stuffed green pepper or zuccini - and it was surprisingly similar to the Hungarian dish called "stuffed pepper" ,some spicy roasted chicken was also tasted by me -and I felt sorry that I had not discovered it earlier .
There were too many dishes - and most of them one can't even taste .
The selection of the dessert was too modest compared to the main course selection : some egg custard in oriental style ,baklava ,melon .
The buffet lunch was QR 55 for adults and QR 35 for children .As they did not offer any kids meal we had to pay that for our four year old .It is not fair price for a small kid - I think .Plus we had to pay 17 % service charges though nobody served us .
The toilets were nicely designed with red and white tiles -but badly maintained .The flush was not working and the floor was flooded with muddy water .There was a cleaner who had some tools very 'retro 'besides she had to clean the glasses at the drink bar and even she had to serve some water to the guests .
Most of the customers seemed to be Arabs and Persians .It was full on Friday.

See other review !

PAUL'S CAFE

I was very disappointed when I found this cafe closed during Eid . Was there a mouse like at the Carrefour in summer ? I have not heard anything - just I saw with sadness that it was closed due to the municipalities order .
This restaurant cafe is so popular and not without merit .
The service is quick and nice .The decor is vintage style - rustic chairs arranged in casual manner.The cakes are tasty ,old fashioned calorie bombs .
When we asked for a kid's meal -first we were given some tasty bread and butter and tapenade .Then came the chicken sandwich which was described as small in the menu - but actually it was large enough for three kids . The ice cream was OK . The cappuccino was a real ,continental hot drink , not a bucket -but a reasonable cup comme il faut .
When sitting at this cafe I got the surrealistic feeling that I just arrived to South France to visit my non-existing French aunt -and this fictive ambiance made me feel so good ..

Pizza Places in Qatar

• Pizza Places in Qatar It might be useful to know : Biella cafe-pizzeria -ristorante 4677731 the Mall D- ring road + City Center il rustico ristorante italiano 4385444 rydges hotel al-bida the italian job - ramada hotel c ring road 4281428 papa johns -food center ,al khor + Al Emadi Building, along Ras Abu Abboud, Old Salata Contact Number: 4662161 sbarro - Al Emadi complex ,B ring road tel :4440401 +Royal plaza top floor tel:4477763 + Center point mall .Jawaan street 4477780 yellow cab - Tv roundabout 4888310 Lo Spaguetto -behind the royal plaza tel:4341601 Pizza Express - Villaggio Mall , City Center mall , top floor 4839595 Pizza Hut - American Pizza Ramada Junction 4657744 ,4657733 Pizza Inn tel 4443596 4783357 4817576 PizzeriaFresh Pizza/PastasDoha Marriott Gulf Hotel4432432 Porcine Italian Ritz-Carlton 4848000 Il Foro Romano Ristorante location :Hyatt Plaza tel:4581111 Ristretto location : Villaggio Mall tel:4507208 Romano's Macaroni Grill location : Villaggio Mall tel 451 75 85 Domino's Pizza Location Al Nasser Street and Rass Abou Aboud Street Contact Number: 4340000 My list is not full .A week ago I tasted Sbaro's pizza and it had very fresh ,Mediterranean flavour - I would recommend that to everyone .  

LE PAIN QUOTODIENNE that IS A CAFE- RESTAURANT IN Doha Villagio mall .Friday morning we went to the Aspire Zone playground with the kids .We planned also a breakfast after inside the Villagio.
To our greatest shock most of the buffets were closed -not serving breakfast . Le pain quotodienne was open .We had to wait around 15 minutes for a croissant and a mochacino and a little bottle of Fanta .The hot drinks were served in bowls and the food came on a chopping board .Everything is" organic" there -so every thing is expensive .It is O.K.when about the food . But what makes a little bottle of Fanta cost 8 rial there ?
I saw some British families happy with the place .
I would not choose this cafe as " my daily bread " even if I could afford it .To my taste this place was plain , boring and overpriced .

OUR DAILY BREAD, by Annika
by

annikasart

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