Sushi Recommendations in Cairo

Sushi is one of the few foods, that I do not like. I've tasted it in different forms and locations, but it is not something I have developed a taste for.

Hence I cannot provide a primer on the best sushi in Cairo. But my friend Mona Daoud, loves sushi and this is her list of recommendations for sushi in Cairo.

"Mori Sushi. There are two in Zamalek; one which is right before the fish gardens and the other is a branch in Sequoia (reservation essential) It tops the other branch because they serve alcohol and have a pretty view. There is also a branch in Mohandessin.

In Maadi, there is Gaya on Road 253 next to seoudi market (stick to their temaky, it's awesome)

Then there is the Makani chain (excellent fresh salmon sashimi) but their other stuff is good too. There is a branch in Maadi next to Maadi grand mall and one in Mohandessin somewhere near Syria street. I heard the one in Heliopolis was horrible. There are other branches but I have no idea where.

There is also Sapporo (Fresh and basic, no fusion, no experimentation, authentic and positively succulent) at the Sheraton in Dokki. The prices are like sushi everywhere.

(Gaya and Makani are the cheapest two in Cairo)

Jo Sushi on Mohamed Mazhar street in Zamalek has it's on days and off days. Depends on your luck... just make sure to tell them not to use wasabi while preparing sushi for you because they mistakenly think that if they're generous with it, it will taste better.

There's also INakaYa , 6A Midan Aswan in Mohandessin. They have all you can eat nights for 90 LE on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. I haven't tried them though, so I'm not sure if they're good. I only heard about them.

Asia Bar on Blue Nile (boat in Zamalek) They have amazing sushi though it's more expensive than all other places, but it's worth it.

And there's Hanami in Giza, overlooking the Nile. 70% of the time their sushi was spot on.

There's L'Asiatique in Le Pacha but I don't like their sushi.

Bon Apetit"

Street Food in Egypt

ET came out with a wonderful article on eating out in Egypt this month.

Street Food Done Right
Looking to eat local? Here’s our guide to some of the best places for fuul, koshari, kofta and molokheyya in the city
By Ali El Bahnasawy

A mouth-watering, homemade Egyptian dish is one of a few things that remain on your mind when you leave the country. Along with memories of joking over shisha at a baladi café and those all-night celebrations after an Ahly versus Zamalek match, your mind can’t help but return to the taste of traditional Egyptian cuisine.

Unsurprisingly, Egyptian food is just like Egyptian people: it has many layers. From eats as simple as fuul and tameya, to grilled kebabs and stuffed leaves or fatta (a dish of toasted bread, rice, and meat), Egyptian food has something for everyone. And the best place to find that something is Cairo.

The star of local restaurants offering fine dining Egyptian style is, without a doubt, Abou El-Sid. Posing as a posh fifties dining room from Cairo’s heyday, each restaurant is decorated with colored walls and huge chandeliers, artwork and kitsch fifties-style trinkets. The menu of appetizers, main dishes and desserts is simple but full: Food portions are huge so be careful what you order. The kobeiba comes with baba ghanoug, hitting two birds with one stone, while the stuffed vine leaves with peppermint and yogurt dressing are superb.

Abou El-Sid’s main dishes reflect the general atmosphere. Molokheyya with rice and rabbit is an ultra-traditional dish that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in town. I don’t know how you feel about paying LE 18 for koshari but if you want to live the experience, expect to pay accordingly.

A newcomer to the Egyptian dining scene is El-Sit Hosneya in Dokki, an Egyptian-Moroccan blend that is comfy but expensive. The menu is similar to Abou El-Sid, but offers eight — yes, eight — different types of fatta. Try the one with the molokheyya. Another option, Kan Zaman in Heliopolis, offers live music and quicker service and equally tasty food, if El-Sid and El-Sit are packed.

If you’re low on cash, you’re in luck. Egyptian cuisine is famous for being both inexpensive and filling. El-Tekkia’s main dishes are between LE 25–55 and the collection of appetizers appeals to those on a budget as well.

If it’s meat you’re looking for, look no further. Egyptians love their grilled meats, from kebab to kofta, chicken and pigeon. Kebab and kofta are the specialties of El-Refaay in Sayeda Zeinab, where seating is in an alley crowded with old wooden chairs and tables. There is always a crowd, and when the bill comes, you’ll understand why all the cars parked in the alley are expensive ones.

For diehard fans of koshari — a famous and unique mix of rice, black lentils, macaroni, fried onion and hot tomato sauce — there’s no shortage of options. But make sure you’re able to pick out the good ones. While the painstakingly commercial Abu Tariq Downtown is known for its celeb visitors, head out to Heliopolis for Koshary Hend. Expect to share a table as a result of the crowds, or ask for a foiled to-go plate and you’ll be full for hours on less than LE 5.

On the other side of Cairo, in Imbaba, is the best destination for cow and camel liver, arguably in the country. El-Brince, an Arabic transliteration for The Prince, is also an excellent outdoor venue in a traditional, crowded Cairo neighborhood. The walls are adorned with photos of the restaurant owner and a gaggle of Egyptian celebrities — certainly a testament to El-Brince’s good food. For the uninitiated, start with the cow liver. The grilled oriental sausage is made with a special sauce that is unmatchable. The molokheyya comes from a specialized cart at the corner of the restaurant and is one of the best in town. Because of its location and service — quick, but impersonal — many expect El-Brince to be cheap. It’s not. Expect to pay no less than LE 50–70, but know that it’s well worth it.

The Details

Abou El-Sid 45 Road 7 Maadi, Cairo Tel: +2 (02) 2380-5050 www.abouelsid.com Open 1pm – 2am every day Other branches in Zamalek, Mohandiseen and CityStars in Nasr City

Khaled Habib

El Sit Hosneya 47 Michel Bakhoum St.Dokki, Cairo Tel: +2 (02) 3338-6007 Open 10am – 2am every day

Kan Zaman 80A El-Thawra St. Heliopolis, Cairo Tel: +2 (02) 2417-0953 Open 10am – 2am every day

El-Brince 79 Taalat Harb St. Ommal City Imbaba, Cairo Tel: +2 (02) 3311-6265 Open 4pm – 2am, every day

Koshary Hend 5 El-Thawra St.Heliopolis, Cairo Tel: +2 (02) 2418-3946 Open 24 hours, every day

El-Refaay 5 Mongy Alley El-Darb El-Gedeed Sayeda Zeinab, Cairo Tel: +2 (02) 2392-6159 / 2390-6996 Open 7pm – 3am every day

El-Tekkia 105 Hegaz St.Heliopolis, Cairo Tel: +2 (02) 2638 4343 Open 1pm – 2am, every day

Fuul Me Up

Mashed mudammas beans, best known as fuul, is probably Egypt’s most prevalent dish. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s a mainstay of the national diet, and can be found everywhere from fuul carts in Imbaba to posh restaurants in Heliopolis. And because of that, Egyptians have mastered the art of preparing fuul dishes of every type. Here are a few ingredients to add a little flavor to your fuul for little money:

Plain with oil, Egg and tomato, Lemon and red pepper, Sweet potato, Mint, Beef, Cheese, Carrot and cucumber, Pastrami

Back to Egypt, Back to Reality! - Costa Coffee

After a not so great holiday (dh's gastric problems resurfaced, but at least we got it diagnosed this time - because we were in India - identified as "erosive gastric duodenitis" - now he's on 21 days of high dosage medication and 4 months of low medication but strict diet) we returned to Egypt a day ago.

After spending a day in getting the house liveable and a lot of pending paperwork in order, headed over to Hyper One to refurbish my larder.

Also had confirmed a brunch/coffee meeting with my friends in 6th October at Costa Coffee in the same mall.

Meeting with them was great fun as usual. We googooed at the babies, congratulated the mom-to-be and had a great destressing chit-chat session.

Since it was past noon and I was hungry, I ordered a new item on their menu - "Philly Steak" Sandwich. I was expecting this : but what came to the table was a sandwich with pickles, tomato slices and luncheon meat. There was nothing Philadelphian or any steak in the sandwich!

I thought they must have got my order wrong and tried to explain to the waiter that what I wanted was a Steak sandwich and he insisted that I had received the right order. I then requested one of my friends on the other end of the table, who is fluently bilingual to explain to him in better Arabic than my pidgin version to translate. She had arrived a while before me and said that she had ordered the "Philly Steak" and had the same luncheon slice sandwich delivered and the same conversation, ending in the same result - the waiter insisting that the right order had been served.

Possible Explanations
1. Costa Coffee the UK based chain whose tagline is "Italian About Coffee" has completely messed up the recipe for the American Sandwich.
2. The Egyptian branch of Costa Coffee has messed up the recipe.
3. Today's delivery to the 6th of October, Hyper City branch was messed up at the production/labeling end.
4. The waiter/sandwich toaster made a mistake with my friends sandwich and to validate his story, he gave me the same "mistaken" sandwich.

What do you think?

If you have tried this sandwich at any of the other Costa locations, what were you served?

Cakes and Cookies from Hope Village Society in Cairo

The Hope Village Society makes and sells cakes on behalf of street children in Egypt.

Not only is this a worthy cause, but their cakes are truly awesome.

I've tried their Lemon Cake (from 10LE - 20LE depending on size) and Coffee Cake (15LE).

The best of their baked goods that I have tasted so far are the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (20LE for a dozen) These are some of the best cookies that I have eaten in Egypt.

Check out the Hope Village Society at http://egyhopevillage.com

You can contact them for details on ordering at "hopevillage1988 @ hotmail . com" (without the spaces)

Buying Tea Bags in Cairo

If you are looking to buy Tea bags in Cairo, there are a couple of brands that you can try.
Twinnings - the tea bags available here are imported for the most part. So quality is assured.
Ahmad Tea - again imported. Quality good.
Lipton - Both imported and locally prepared tea bags are available. Locally made tea bags for plain tea are pretty decent. The flavored and special teas arent as good as the imported varieties.
Isis - local herbal teas. Good quality. I adore the hibiscus and cinnamon variety which is rarely available. So I stock up when it is available.

Flavored and herbal teas are available in a wide range of flavours.

Locally made tea bags will be much more reasonable than the imported ones. You may need to try which brands are acceptable to you and which ones it makes sense to buy the imported variety or bring them with you from home.

For an idea of prices. A box of 15 hibiscus and cinnamon tea bags by Isis costs 2.95LE.


Hibiscus tea (karkadi) is quite unique to this part of the world and is a nice souvenir from Egypt for a gourmand friend back home.

Buying Garlic Paste in Cairo

The concept of ready made garlic paste does not exist in Cairo while it is an essential in Indian cooking. Until a few months ago, the only option I had was to make the paste myself. But recently I have found that "Gold Alex" offers a passable substitute.
Its a bottle of finely minced garlic preserved in a bit of oil and salt. Costs about 5.25LE. . Its handy to have in the fridge for the days when cooking in a hurry.

Buying Rice in Egypt

I'm often asked which brand of rice I use in Egypt. The answer is best given in a series of points.
1. I do not use Egyptian rice for anything except making rice pudding (kheer/ruz bi laban) or risotto because it has a sticky consistency like arborio or sushi rice. This particular rice needs perfection to cook as a side dish for curries, which doesnt suit my touch, taste, see, smell, feel style of cooking
2. To make Indian dosas (rice pancakes of different types) I bring the appropriate rice back from India
3. To make regular rice for daily use, I buy the "Cooker" brand. This used to come in a green topped box, now it comes in a red topped box.

A 2kilo box costs about 26LE. It is also available in 1kilo boxes and also in plastic bags. If you buy a box that isnt dented already, the boxes are very durable and air tight so they can be reused for storing other things at home.


The bottle in front is a current offer at Hyper One where you get a bottle of Crystal hot sauce with a 2 kilo box.

Revolving Restaurant, Grand Hyatt, Cairo

. . . This is a lovely restaurant to take your date to with its awesome ambience, phenomenal food, panoramic view and attentive yet unobtrusive service. It is also a place I would recommend for formal business dinners or if you need to impress your (prospective) inlaws or anyone else for that matter. . . .

. . . The Salad St Jacques was pan fried scallops (slightly crisp on the outside, tender juicy & succulent on the inside), served on a crisp potato pancake with marinated red peppers and some greens. I would highly recommend this dish any day.
Read the entire review on My Restaurant Review Blog

Wadi Foods

Wadi Foods is a local Egyptian Company which grows, bottles and sells organic products.

I have been extremely happy with their olive oil selection including the naturally flavored varieties (which come in attractive bottles that look very elegant on a dinner table and can be served as is)


Their olives come in multiple varieties (black, Kalamata & green) and with various pickling spices.
They have excellent capers and sun dried tomatoes too. (tart and firm, not soggy)

The pepper pickles are not as spicy as I (an Indian) would like them, but I have friends who aren't into extremely spicy food, who love these pickles.
Do remember that in a non Indian setting, pickles normally refer to something that has been preserved in brine (salt water with a little souring agent) The cornichons are good and the lime pickle is what we call in konkani -meetha udkache - which means preserved in brine. they also have vine leaves, if you are inspired to create your own stuffed vine leaves at home.

They say that, all Wadi Food pickles are handpicked and then processed naturally by curing them slowly without any chemical additives or preservatives. They do taste that way.

They have some excellent tapenades that go well on bruschettas for an impromptu snack or on toast for breakfast. I love the sun dried tomato tapenade the best

They sell ready made pestos (Basil, mixed herb and artichoke) and pasta sauces (Arabioatta, Alfredo, Mediterranea and Basilico) I haven't tried these as I prefer to make my sauces from scratch, so I can tweak the taste to our taste buds. But I did try an onion paste of theirs for marination when I was in a hurry one day and it tasted quite awesome. I don't remember the exact name on the bottle and I haven't seen it recently. Some of their products go off the shelves for a while depending on the seasonal availability of their fresh produce.

The Apple Cider Vinegar may not be the same as the one available in the US, but its quite good never the less and works out much more reasonable and healthy than the imported varieties. The balsamic vinegar is ok for marination, but if the balsamic is to be used as a dip or as the main top note flavor in a dish, then I prefer to use my bottle from Modena.

All measurements on bottles are in the drained weight.

These are the logos, you are looking for, when searching for Wadi Foods products

Most of their bottle produce is available in the Major Grocery Stores in Egypt You can also buy them from the dedicated Wadi Food Stores around Cairo

The other advantage of going to their dedicated stores is that you can also pick up organic chicken and organic vegetables grown on their farms along the Cairo Alex desert road.

They also have appropriate baskets for their bottles, which are very handy when you want to take some over as a gift for your dinner hostess. Or you can even carry one of their fancy jars. - My husband is convinced that I buy half the products because of their bottles :) which I love to re-use in different ways.

Feel free to use any of their spice/bottle racks and combine it with whichever bottles you think your hostess may appreciate and create a beautiful basket for yourself. If you fall in love with the arrangement yourslef, just buy 2. I speak from experience :)



Credit Note: Pictures have been taken from the Wadi Food Website.

Teriyaki, Mohandaseen

Will the healthy food craze catch on in Cairo?

Read my review on Teriyaki, Mohandaseen

Cinnabon, Cairo

Cinnabon is one of my favourite things in Egypt and among my top 10 list of things that I will miss when it is time for me to leave.

Read my entire review on My Restaurant Review Blog

Mezzaluna - Italian

Awesome Italian Food in the heart of Mohandaseen.

Read my entire review on my Restaurant Review Blog

Trianon Cafe, Mohandaseen

Middling, but you can manage quite a decent turnout once you have experimented with the possibilities and tweaked them for yourself.

Read my entire review on my Resturant Review Blog

Brownies, Alexandria

Brownies,
Green Plaza,
Alexandria

10Le (tax included) gets you a lovely brownie with a scoop of ice cream and tons of chocolate sauce.

When I reheated the stuff today, the brownie was quite good, good texture but not nutty enough. The fudge melted amazingly well on reheating and regained its consistency once it was poured over the ice cream and brownie. The ice cream was a disaster, that was to be expected since it had obviously melted on the 4 hour ride from Alexandria to Cairo and refreezing it wasn't a good idea. Fortunately I had a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer which I used for the brownie. It did taste pretty good.

Not as good as the Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae at Hard Rock Cafe, but pretty good competition.

Read my entire review here

Al Tazaj, Cairo

Al Tazaj
Multiple Locations
Cairo
Common home delivery number 19018


I ordered a Barbecued Chicken Meal Combo from their menu which included 1 whole chicken, served with sesame paste salad + French fries + Pepsi + eish. All this for just 27LE.

I had to wait an hour for the delivery, but it was worth it. The chicken was small (maybe about 750 gms)and hence tender. It was butterflied and marinated in a mix of garlic, lemon, black pepper and a few other herb and spices. The meat was tender and the skin was crisp without being charred. Lovely consistency, lovely taste, amazing flavour. The BEST roast chicken I have eaten in a hotel in Cairo. This is the first time I am eating Egyptian food from a restaurant that I did not add any hot sauce or other sauce too.

Read the rest of my review

Craving Bhuttan? Try Sunbulah frozen corn

I've tried the Egyptian Bhutta (corn on the cob) sold on the roads during winters but it doesn't even come remotely close to the bhutta we are used to eating on the roadside in India.

An American friend of mine mentioned that the kind of corn sold here in Egypt on the roads is what is sold as cattle feed in the US. I don't know how true that statement is but it was an interesting story none-the-less. :-)

Anyway, getting back to topic. I tried the Sunbulah frozen corn on the cob today and its a pretty good substitute for the Indian corn.

The only issue is that it cant be grilled on the flame - what with being frozen and all: you would have to first thaw it then dry it etc etc. But if you boil it for a couple of minutes you can then eat it with your favourite toppings. Try salted butter or lemon juice, salt and chilli powder.

It healthy, yummy and fun

Afro-Asian Womens Charity Bazaar

Today was the Afro-Asian Womens' Charity Bazaar at el Sawy.

Present were the usual suspects. Home grown jewelry designers, the fake branded wallets and purses. Some of the open house people with stuff left over from previous sales.

There were a few good stalls though. The Indonesian womens stall had some beautiful masks from back home for 60Le and 100LE depending on size.

The women of Brunei had some interesting stuff too.

The Bangladeshi stalls had some lovely material and saris that I didn't consider because I know I can get them cheaper and with a wider range in Delhi or Calcutta.

The Indian stall was missing though. I didn't see it anywhere. The pakistani stall had some awesome food. Chicken biryani for 15LE - 2nd best commercially prepared biryani I have had in Egypt and some awesome cutlets/kebabs - for 3LE each. they were very similar to the shikampuri's without the onion stuffing in the centre.

The good news is that this husband wife couple are planning to start a catering or restaurant business sometime soon. Will let you know as soon as I know they are up and running :)

The Bangladeshi biryani looked very low on masala so we skipped that. But they had a lot of food at their stall too.

hmmmm, I'm looking forward to the refuge Egypt fair coming up next weekend where African food is on offer (today was only Asian options on the food) longing to sink my teeth into some njeera and spicy curry. I hope the week goes quickly.

Highly Recommended : Gourmet Egypt

I've ordered off the website of Gourmet Egypt a couple of times.

They are a company that originally stating importing high quality meat and sea food to supply to the top restaurants of Egypt. But somewhere down the line, they realised that even regular citizens and expats would like to be able to buy this high quality protein. Thus started Gourmet Egypt.

The beef and lamb are top quality from Australia. I've ordered their meat and seafood pretty often. Meat is clean and low on fat. The seafood is delivered cleaned. The boneless crab meat is my favourite.

They have some ready to eat pies. I haven't tried them yet. But there are some of them sitting in my freezer and I will update what I think about them when I get around to heating them.


The 1kg New Zealand mussels arrive about 40 in a pack on the half shell. They were supplying this much before the occasional box found its way into some of the Hypermarkets. (This needs a bit of cleaning, if you plan to serve them in the shell)

They offer a lot of Sushi quality fish and cleaned shrimps!



The working of the service is pretty simple and straightforward.

You order off their English website. There's a 5Le delivery charge. You can specify any time constraints you have for home delivery. I have normally received my deliveries the next day itself and always within the time window that I have specified.

They have just last week opened their on ground store in Maadi near the Carre Four mall. It would be worth checking out if you are going that way.

I still love the Home delivery service though.

Caution !!!!! The juice guy at the Khan

If you are thirsty after trekking the khan and looking for a juice, then the juice guy next to Egyptian pancakes at the Khan is MOST DEFINITELY NOT THE PLACE YOU WANT TO GO !

They are Bl&**$ scamsters !

I have always grabbed a juice there (over 20 times in the last year) with my Egyptian friends and it has never cost me more than 3LE.

I had recommended to my visiting aunts (2 weeks back) that they drink juice at his place if they felt thirsty in the area. I told them it would be about 5LE. (including the doubling of price for a tourist) The guy charged them 10LE for each lemon juice !

I thought it was some kind of mix up and ignored it.

When I went to the khan with my uncles last week, we ate at Egyptian pancakes & got the juice from the guy next door. He came back to me with a bill of 60LE for 5 lemon juice. 12 LE each ! (4 times the actual price !!!!!) He refused to see reason, even when I told him that he was charging us 4 times the price ! (To put it in perspective, a canned aerated drink in the market costs a maximum of 2.5LE, at Fishawy it costs about 5LE and at the 5star Oberoi managed Naguib Mahfouz Cafe in the same area its 10LE+tax. Most 5stars - Hilton/Sheraton/Mariott charge within 15LE for a juice inclusive of taxes)

Since the scamster doesn't have a menu, there's no way you can verify the price. 2.5$ for a lime juice on the road is too much for any tourist (even if he/she is the supposed rich American)

Fix your price with the juice guy before ordering or don't order at all. I am definitely NEVER EVER going to drink a juice there again !

PS : The pancakes guy has a menu, so there's no trouble there.

Iftaar Buffet at Marriott Cairo Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino

Attended the Iftaar Buffet at Mariott.

Pretty standard and similar to other Iftaar buffets in the cities 5 stars.

at Mariott, the location is at Omar's Cafe which has a huge seating area.

Tip of the day : Make sure you reach an Iftaar buffet as soon as possible to the fast breaking time, because food gets over very quickly and once the main rush is over, the serving staff also have to eat. So if you reach late you can expect neither service nor food.

What to expect at the buffet ?

Read the rest of my review at : http://grandnunkim.blogspot.com/2007/10/iftaar-buffet-at-marriott-cairo-hotel.html