Al Boom Steak and Seafood Restaurant re-opens for Eid Al-Fitr
Guests who wish to enjoy a cultural restaurant concept serving delicious steak and seafood in an environment that is respectful of Kuwait’s heritage are able to once again book at Al Boom Steak and Seafood restaurant as it reopens on July 26, 2014.
Al Boom is the class of dhow that Mohammedi II belongs to, and so this was chosen as the name for the restaurant. Since opening, Al Boom has been a perennial favourite of residents and visitors alike. The restaurant has hosted State and government functions and welcomed Presidents, Prime Ministers, and members of royalty and continues to be one of Kuwait’s most popular and renowned restaurants.
A brief History of Al Boom Steak and Seafood restaurant:
Abdul Husain Marafie was a man of vision who realised the importance of preserving and recording Kuwait’s past. Chairman of the owing company of the SAS Hotel, as the Radisson Blu Hotel Kuwait was called then; he decided to commission a dhow to be used as a restaurant for the hotel. He turned to his close friend a former sea captain, Mohammed Al Maskati, for advice on this project. Mohammed Al Maskati suggested that he should visit Beypore in India on the Malabar Coast as many Kuwaiti dhows had been built there. It was on this stretch of coast that Mohammedi I, the largest ever of all
Kuwaiti dhows was built for Husain Marafie’s grandfather in 1916. He sought out the Barami family who owned the shipyard where this great vessel had been constructed. It was agreed that a new smaller dhow would be built using the original drawings for Mohammedi I.
In 1979, the keel was laid. Construction took a further two years during which time Husain Marafie and Mohammed Al Maskati paid 18 visits to the shipyard to supervise and oversee the project. Among those workers building the new dhow were descendants of those who had worked on Mohammedi II. When finally completed in 1981, Mohammedi II was towed by tug to Kuwait over a ten day period. In Kuwait, a team had constructed a dry dock in front of the hotel. A large group of chanting sailors hauled the dhow ashore using ropes and traditional methods.
Once Mohammedi II was fixed into her berth, carpenters from the shipyard travelled to Kuwait to put the finishing touches to transform the vessel into the restaurant known by all as Al Boom.
Her masts were erected and her rigging was set while wood carvers fashioned designs on her interior beams. Lamps were brought from Syria, and carved tables, chairs and other furniture were sourced. A kitchen was added, and upstairs a comfortable diwaniya was furnished for diners to retire to after dinner for dates and coffee.