Ethiopian in Egypt

The best little Ethiopian restaurant I ever went to was opposite the smartest restaurant in Jerusalem. I tried both -- at different times. The Ethiopian was sensational and much the best value for money. And it made me into something of an Ethiopian foodie.

So I had been aching to visit Samar el-Nil, an authentic little Ethiopian / Sudanese place in Dokki, but to do justice to the "sharing" philosophy of the cuisine, I needed a companion, in this instance my reluctant husband. Samar el Nil is a little tricky to find. Close to Lebanon Square, it's about halfway down a dimly-lit backstreet. It's worth it though - a vibrant and fun looking little place, it is clearly something of a haven for the Ethiopian diaspora here.

The menu's simple, and actually doesn't look terribly Ethiopian to those who eat it regularly. We ordered a "mixed" plate, and asked for tibs (or tibsy), a spicy beef dish, and the doro wat, a chicken stew. Our meal was presented on a bed of injera, a spongey bread described by some irreverent souls as resembling a dishcloth, along with some mixed vegetables, including lentils and something else I never did identify. (Alas, the picture right doesn't do it justice - the original photo was much too dim, and my efforts at enhancement have left it looking a little greasy. Veg on the left, doro wat on the right, spiced beef at the back.)

I'm quite hard to please but the beef was quite frankly the best I have had in an Ethiopian restaurant. The spices were just perfect, and it had a healthy kick.  Even my husband, who admitted mid-meal that Ethiopian wasn't his cuisine of choice that night, was pretty impressed. I am now of a mind to hunt out more Ethiopian in Cairo.

16 Husseini Street (off Abdel Aziz Gawesh Street) , Dokki, Cairo





 

Koshary, Koshari...

These days I am watching my weight, and koshary, a national staple, is hardly the dish to help with that. Ladles of pasta are smothered with with ladles of rice and lentils, topped with fried onions, chickpeas and a tomato sauce. It is a dieter's nightmare, but it is simply too good to pass up just once in a while.

On its own, I am slightly indifferent to koshary, but with a bit of chilli sauce on top, it becomes a dish transformed. The added bonus is that it's very cheap, arguably one of the best cheap meals you can enjoy in Cairo. All over the city, koshary joints beckon you in, and at lunchtime one has to fight a melee of hungry diners to find a spot. With such choice on my doorstep, I set out to find the best koshary. My mission ended somewhat prematurely, as somewhere along the way, I decided that if I was ever going to lose the pounds, I had to lay off the carbs.

So, here's my pick:

Cairo Kitchen, Abdel Aziz Osman St, Zamalek - funky little place with a great salad bar and daily Egyptian specials. Their koshary is wonderful, and they're very generous with the fried onions.  But the crowning jewel is their choice of spicy sauces which make this a koshary quite unlike any other in Cairo. Top marks. They also have a branch in Maadi.

Zooba, July 26 St, Zamalek - I love this place. Everyone is served at a long communal table (and it sometimes gets a little crowded and cramped), but the food is great Egyptian fare with a twist. They serve up wonderful spiced sausages, which you can eat straight or as a sandwich, and have an unusual display of beetroot and spinach breads. Their koshary is not the best I have tried, and the shatta (hot spicy sauce) lacks a certain zing. But certainly worth a visit if koshary is not all that you are after.

Abu Tareq, Champollion Street, Downtown - this place, spread over four floors, is famous among koshary lovers. It's hard to find a table, but well worth it when you do. The koshary (pictured right) has a nuttier, more peppery taste than those in Zamalek, and is quite delicious. The chilli sauce is good too. Almost top marks, but I still prefer Cairo Kitchen.

Sayed Hanafy, Orabi Square, Downtown - this is reputed to be one of the best koshary joints in Cairo. Overlooking the pretty Orabi Square, it's a pleasant place to hang out, and not as busy as some of the others. I believe the koshary was pretty good - the only problem is I smothered it with so much shatta (which here was so much spicier than everywhere else) that my mouth was burning for the duration of the meal. So I think it was good, but then again I really can't say.

I've always wanted to do this..

A bit naughty, but there is something tremendously satisfying about naming and shaming the places I DON'T like.. at the moment, there's only one..

I once read an excellent and entertaining review by an American food critic. From what I hazily recall, she went to a classy New York restaurant, the first occasion having informed the restaurant in advance, and a second time incognito. On the occasion that she announced her presence in advance, she was shown to the best table in the establishment, given the royal treatment, and she greatly enjoyed the experience (and the food).

A while later, the same critic made a reservation under a different name, and was this time given one of the worst tables, and treated shabbily throughout, and I think (if I'm not embellishing) that the food may even not have tasted quite so good. So it is with that in mind that I write up my review of Abou El Sid, by reputation one of the best restaurants in Cairo.

The first time I dined here in the evening was with a prominent Egyptian activist, well known to the staff. We were treated like minor celebrities - delightful and deferential staff, amazing food (we shared a number of courses), so good that it was the obvious choice to treat my parents (well, perhaps they treated me) when they came to Egypt for a holiday.

So the second experience. Despite having a reservation, we were directed to a table in a dark corner away from the body of the restaurant, and served by a waiter whose manner bordered on surly. He banged our food on the table, marched off before we had a chance to ask him anything, took away our bottle of wine still a quarter full (and never returned it), and left us all feeling a bit frazzled by the experience. And yet we still couldn't quite abandon our social conditioning and deny the man a tip..

Anyway, the food's quite good. Just avoid the stuffed pigeon if you're expecting any meat on the bird. I enjoyed my fettah with lamb - a creamy rice dish with bits of soft broken bread. The various veal dishes were also very good.

Abou el Sid, Mohammed Mazhar (off July 26 Street), Zamalek, Cairo. +20 101 00 8500; 150-200 L.E. per person. Alcohol served

Taramasalata in Alex

It has been a month since I last posted and not surprisingly, it has been a busy few weeks, the highlight of which was a trip to Alexandria, Egypt's northern city. It is a beautiful and faded city, and definitely deserving of a return trip or two.

Some highlights:

Eating at the Greek Club - a little expensive, but lovely terrace overlooking the harbour, and wonderfully tasty taramasalata. And, oh, the jumbo prawns... deliciously coated in a lemon butter sauce..


Breakfast at Delices - excellent patisserie founded in 1922 on Saad Zaghloul square. Very good scrambled egg on toast for breakfast. Sadly, some of the other old patisseries have either shut down, or were closed during our visit.

A walk round the Antoniadis Gardens (and villa, undergoing renovation) - very run-down, and a reflection of the deteriorating situation that guards stopped us from going into the beautiful (and overgrown) lower portion of the garden, suggesting that thieves were lying in wait. But we enjoyed the statues (see picture of Nelson, right, missing not one but two arms!), but sadly didn't get to see (or hear) the macaws that are said to have a fruity command of the English language, taught by British soldiers. The language apparently has been passed down from generation to generation of macaws! Extraordinary..

Another reflection of the worsening security situation was our attempt to have tea on the terrace of the Cecil Hotel, another of Egypt's lovely old colonial-era hotels. We were told that we could no longer sit on the terrace because of the political situation. "It's better to be inside," the front of house people told us.

Somewhat ironic as we returned to Cairo the day that football fans burned down the Egypt football association and police officers club in Zamalek. By contrast, Alexandria appeared something of a haven.

Across the Steppes..

The other day, I went to Ma'adi, that leafy suburb of Cairo where most of the streets are identified by number. You might expect that that would simplify things - after all, street 1 would be next to street 2, surely? Not so. It has been a source of some irritation that the streets appear to be randomly numbered, with street 2 just as likely to be next to street 1 as it is to street 31. 

Fortunately, I recently invested in a new smartphone, and about the only app that I have used so far is the GPS. And so, it was to my amazement that I was able to direct my taxi driver to street 233 with nary a wrong turn. 

At the end of this navigational triumph was a tiny little restaurant called Genghis Khan, which claims to serve up Mongolian and northern Chinese food. It's hard to spot (but it's opposite Crocs, the shoe shop), and that's partly because it only has 4 or 5 tables. We were lucky to get a slot, and had we arrived a few moments later, we'd have been turned away.

The menu offers a bewildering array of dishes ranging from standard Chinese to more unusual offerings. Fortunately for our party, we had a long-time resident of China in our midst, and he directed us towards the hotpot, a fondu-like dish served up with raw beef, lamb, cabbage, spinach and much more besides.

The photograph, alas, does not do the dish justice. On the left side is a spicy watery sauce, on the right a milder concoction, into which diners drop slathers of raw meat, tofu, vegetables and noodles, and wait for them to cook.

The next step is to scoop them out into one's plate and mix it up with minced garlic and a sesame sauce. Although I'm not normally a fan of sesame, particularly tahini, this was an inspired mixture that set off the meat beautifully.

For those not into sharing, it is perfectly possible to order up the usual Chinese dishes (with a twist). Apart from the ubiquitous sweet and sour chicken, the menu also offered Kung Pao chicken, a flavourful Szechuan dish served up with peanuts, delicious egg-fried rice, as well as some good side dishes, such as sesame-coated green beans.

A hotpot with a smattering of side dishes and a Kung Pao chicken, with beer, set us back 80 L.E. per person, making it a very affordable night out. An excellent spot for dinner.

3, Road 233, Maadi. Cost: approx 80-100 L.E. per person if sharing. Beer served (no wine).

Fishing with a baby

You have to be slightly keen to walk from Zamalek to Mohandiseen. You have to be super keen to walk there with a pram and a nine month old baby. It's hardly the prettiest of ambles, and one has to climb a rather torturous flight of stairs to cross the Nile, and navigate the Cairo traffic without the benefit of a pavement. At least, though, there is a rewarding view of Cairo's houseboats, a now endangered species.

When we arrived, slightly bedraggled, our initial glimpse of Samakmak wasn't the most inspiring. "Outside dining" in Samakmak's case meant tables under a plastic awning, but it was pleasant, at least. And although it was empty when we arrived around 2 pm, the place started to fill with diners over the next couple of hours.

In Samakmak, as far as we could see, there is no menu. You are ushered over to the fish, chilled in ice, and told to choose, the prices set by the kilo. We went for king-sized prawns and Sea Bass, and told the chef to do his worst.

As we waited for our fish, our waiter served up a selection of salads - not the usual Arabic mezze, but rather more original offerings, such as fish salad, and cheese dishes.  When our prawns arrived, we rather regretted that we had only ordered half a kilo. They were simply delicious. Slathered in a buttery sauce, they tasted fresh and meaty. The grilled Sea Bass - 700 grammes - was also good, but perhaps less memorable. I slightly feel that all white fish tastes much the same. For which I shall probably be branded some kind of Philistine.

A good lunchtime place. Possibly an even better dinner place.

Samakmak, 24 Ahmed Oraby, Mohandiseen. Cost - approx 160-200 L.E. per person. No alcohol.

Some camel liver with that?

One gets the impression that few venture over to Imbaba unless they have a very good reason for doing so. Densely packed, Imbaba is one of Cairo's poorest neighbourhoods. But it does have a rather good restaurant..

Kebdet al-Prince. As its name suggests, it gas a weakness for kidney, and any other kind of offal you might care to name. And as a less than adventurous diner, it isn't somewhere that I would normally choose to go. But when my Arabic teacher invited my classmate and I to dinner, I could hardly refuse, even after he dangled camel liver as a carrot.

But the restaurant is so much more than an offal place. From a distance, we could see that the place was "it." It was buzzing. Large banquet tables had been laid out on the pavements, and they were thronged with a mostly young crowd, with waiters mopping up and laying new places at a dizzying speed.

We took our seats, and my tutor, Mohammed, took charge, and ordered us a sampling. First up was Molokheya (Mloukhieh), Arabic for Jew's Mallow (pictured left). I'm told that you either love Egypt's national dish, or hate it. I hate it. I am probably doing it a huge injustice, but to me, it is a slimy, green soup which looks and moves like pondweed. And doesn't taste much better.

Next up was a lamb tagine (pictured on right of the picture), packed with meat and potatoes, and which was extremely tasty. Next came camel liver (I passed, but it was heartily approved by my fellow diners), and thin slices of roasted lamb in a slightly spicy sauce (bottom right of picture). The sausages (left of picture), coated in what I think might have been an oil lemon marinade, were my favourite, however.

Once we'd made quick work of the food, it was time to mop up. The next group of diners was already waiting to take our place. Here's no place to linger, although I'm sure I will be coming back.

Kebdet el-prince, 87 Talaat Harb St., Imbaba, Cairo. Cost - around 50 L.E. per person. No alcohol.

A dagger at my waist...

And so to Yemen.

I walked into this place with some trepidation, noting from the doorway its entirely male clientele. Nervously, I scanned the room for a separate female area, but saw none. Not to be deterred by the first hurdle, however, I walked in as unobtrusively as possible, and scurried over to the nearest table where I could sit with my back to the rest of the customers, and pretend they didn't exist.

Outside of the region, Yemeni food is perhaps not that well known. I have twice travelled to Yemen, once on holiday, and once as a reporter following the thwarting of the underpants bomber on a plane over Detroit. Both times, I was rewarded with some surprisingly good fare. Perhaps the most traditional of Yemen's food is Salta, a kind of green stew, made with (as far as I could see) whatever ingredients are close to hand. Although delicious, after having it every day during my first trip, it soon began to pall.

Another memorable culinary experience in Yemen was in its southern city, Aden, where I sampled perhaps the finest roasted chicken I have ever tasted. And it was this memory that inspired me to play safe at Yemen (the restaurant) and order chicken and rice, which arrived with a spicy tomato chutney, a clear yellow meat-based broth, and some deliciously doughy Yemeni bread to mop it all up.

As I ate, I watched the restaurant's clientele come and go. Particularly rewarding was the sight of Arab men who looked like they had walked straight out of the desert. One feels that it wouldn't be all that unusual to see customers devour a sheep's head. Yemen is one of the few places, I feel, that seems relatively untarnished by time. The locals still dress in the manner of their forefathers, a dagger clasped to their waist.

By the time I finished my meal (good, but not exceptional, but then I did opt for arguably the most boring dish on the menu), I still lacked the courage to face the male customers and head to the back to wash my hands. Perhaps I'll do better next time. Will there be a next time? I think so, but there's some way to go before they can rival Aden's chicken.

Yemen, 10 Iran Street, Dokki, Cairo

Beginnings

It's slightly scary starting a blog. I have no idea if anybody will ever read this, or if I am merely writing this for my own amusement. Actually, part of it is that I feel compelled to set myself a challenge or two in a bid to become better acquainted with Cairo, the city to which my husband, baby daughter and I moved three months ago.

Cairo is a wonderful city. We moved here from Jerusalem, where we lived three years. The two cities couldn't be more different. Cairo is a teeming Middle Eastern metropolis with a vibrant social and cultural scene, and a fascinating history. Jerusalem, by contrast, felt at times stifled by the weight of history and conflict.

But back to the point of this blog. We live in Zamalek, the area populated by the British during colonial times, and now home to embassies, consulates and a large expatriate community. As such, it is something of a bubble, and it is all too easy to spend one's days here, exploring the galleries, whiling away hours in atmospheric little cafes, sitting on our terrace... but it's not the real Cairo, and so I set myself a challenge of exploring the city's cuisine, Egyptian and everything else. Where I can, I will take photos, where I can, I will avoid posting about the humdrum, the chains... and if you should ever chance upon this blog, I hope you might draw some inspiration for fun dining in Cairo.