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Al Tekkia
by
Juergen Stryjak
Five times I have eaten in this little restaurant, and
five times my companions and I were completely
satisfied. That should be reason enough to start my
Restaurant Reviews with Al-Tekkia in Cairo –
although upcoming reviews will not always include only the
positive experiences.
The more my steps lead me to Al-Tekkia, the more
the difficulties increase to find the place. Well-hidden in
a quiet residential area, even the taxi driver wasn't much help.
Cairo is a metropolis where you have to provide the taxi
driver with information more basic even than the exact address of
your destination. But what is more basic than the neighbourhood,
in this case Dokki, between the Mohandessin Shooting Club
and Musaddaq St., and the name of that lovely little square
where the restaurant is situated, and, last but not least, the
restaurant's name? Nothing, of course. The Cairo taxi driver
doesn't seem to know the Ibn Al-Walid Square at all. Always
a good possiblity for assistance, if you've already reached
the neighbourhood at least, are that young men on their Vespas,
motorbikes and little pick-up trucks – delivery services
from near-by fast-food outlets, supermarkets, pharmacies etc.
There is nothing you can't get delivered to your doorstep in
Cairo, food, beverages, medicine, your laundry or even
diapers, so you will be easily able to catch one of these helpful
guys flitting through the city's jungle.
So, having reached Al-Tekkia, you will have the
feeling you have made a real discovery. This feeling can
only be disappointed by the discovery that the restaurant is
occupied by a noisy laughing crowd of locals and foreigners
as well. How did THEY get here? Last time I entered Al-Tekkia, I
found a large group of French expatriates and/or tourists,
sitting, having the menu translated from Arabic into French, which
obviously was a very funny performance, judging from the excessive
laughter, which only was surpassed by the clamour from
the TV set on the side.
But, have no fear, the menu is written in English,
too! Although the all the tables are not always
occupied, an advance reservation will prevent disappointment.
Your daring will be rewarded with a fine selection of excellent
Egyptian and Arabic food. The prices are reasonable. Appetizers
known as the Egyptian mezze course, cost between LE 3 and LE
9; a main meal between LE 10 and LE 25. The restaurant's interior
is not worth mentioning, only a simple pizzeria decor with white
walls and some forlorn pictures – that's it! The waiters won't
try to excel each other in speed, either, but when it comes to
recommending some selected dishes, there is no end, because almost
every menu item is worth recommending.
As usual in Arabic countries, you should try at
the beginning of your meal some salads and other starters and you
won't regret it. The Tahini is creamy and thick, the olive-topped
Babaghanoush is of strong and intensely rich taste. But the
Mousakka Beshamel (eggplant combined with ground meat) and the
grape leaves stuffed with rice, spices and minced meat are very
soft and will bewitch you. For the main course you can
choose between a large selection of different beef, rabbit,
chicken or duck dishes, coming from the charcoal grill or the
oven, served with pommes frites (French fries) or rice. Several
times I have had the the Al-Tekkia chicken. It melted in my mouth
and tasted great, definitely worth recommending, but ask for
Oriental Rice instead of the common white one. Its oriental
version is brown and topped with nuts and raisins.
Every visit to Al-Tekkia, I have decided in
advance to crown my visit with a dessert, but never have I reached
this point. I was simply not able to add to all those yummy,
juicy, spicy sauces, salads and meat dishes, anything else.
Maybe this is a good reason to try the Al-Tekkia home delivery
service? As you now, there isn't anything you can't get delivered
to your doorstep in Cairo...
Al-Tekkia. 12 Ibn Al-Walid Square. Dokki. 1 pm
until 2 am. Telephone: 34 96 673.
A good place to have a look at the Al-Tekkia menu
on the internet is at Otlob.com, a Cairo-based internet delivery
service displays the menus of some 200 restaurant and fast-food
outlets in the city, including Al-Tekkia. http://www.otlob.com
Maroush
By
Mariam Salama
On 64 Lebanon Square, Mohandesseen, Giza
(Cairo) can be found the "Maroush Restuarant".
The restaurant has a pavement café which is a place
"to be seen", or was until Lebanon Square was
demolished to build the new bridge! Maroush has a better
restaurant upstairs. It offers something like what was
really playing on my mind .. smoking a shisha "tofahah"
– with apple flavour. The restaurant also serves light
snacks, soft drinks and full meals if your appetite can take
it. It is relatively expensive but very good Lebanese food.
This a place to keep in mind while
considering a nice evening out, not for the food or the
service, but because it’s popular and because of the open
air seating. Girls on a night out on their own are well
cared for by the waiters, not even stray cats begging from
the tables can disturb them.
When we ordered Hommos Maroush with meat
(LE8), it came as a regular hommos. The chickpea mash did
not taste fresh, including the tasteless mince meat. The
tabooula (fine chopped parsley with bulghar wheat and diced
tomatoes) and fresh green salad (both LE4.75) were great. We
also had three tiny sambousek (LE1.75): the one with cheese
filling was delicious, and the spinach sambousek was just
brilliant. The Labnah L.E 4.75 was delicious.
Serving two main dishes at the same time
proved to be too difficult for the staff there, but
eventually, though within fifteen minutes we had both dishes
on the table. The steak filet served with mushroom (LE22)
came with mashed potatoes and rice. There were two thin
slices of meat, cooked dry, and mushrooms and gravy. The
Maroush mixed grill (LE26), was good but not excellent. The
chicken was good but over grilled and the Kofta was not that
tasty. The fries were ok. The tomato and cucumber garnish
was excellent.
With more than 50 other items on the
menu, try your own luck at Maroush. Our shisha and coffee
and juices were all very nice, and our previous tests of
shawerma sandwiches were successful. The Om Aly (LE6.50),
finally, was one of the best we had: hot from the oven, not
too sweet and my company took a very tasty crème caramel
dish for LE 5.00
Maroush is on 64 Lebanon Square,
Mohandesseen, Giza.
Home delivery is available but prices are topped up with 10
percent.
Tel: 3450972/3465350
Opens from 8 am and closes 2 am.
Felfela - Hurghada
By
Jimmy Dunn
The Felfela Restaurants are a chain in
Egypt so one will find these in a number of different
tourist locations, including Cairo. The one in Hurghada,
like many of the others, has excellent facilities, with a
water fall in the entrance. The hotel sits on the
beach, with layered terraces and the view is excellent.
Unfortunately, we wish we could say the
same about the food and service. I eat here with
several other people, including the local representative of
one of the big tour companies. Each of us had a
different dish, including shrimp, roasted chicken and Kabob.
None of the food was particularly fresh, including the
shrimp, which seemed odd for a seafront restaurant. Most of it was edible, but I would have difficulty saying
anything better.
What was particularly surprising was that
when the tour company representative, who bought us to the
restaurant in the first place, requested that his roasted
chicken be returned to the kitchen, he was told in no
uncertain terms that this was impossible.
Further, the service was slow to
nonexistent. We rarely even saw our
waiter.
This type of service is highly unusual in
Egypt. Usually, the Egyptians are simply great hosts
who are eager to please, and the quality of food is a matter
of pride. So it is with regret that we must discourage our
readers from this restaurant, but at the same time, advise
them that normally one can not go wrong with most other
restaurants in Egypt.
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