Japengo Cafe, Dubai

Japengo Cafe,
Multiple Locations
Dubai

Outlet visited:
Dubai Festival City
232 6220

The Japengo Cafe decor looked cool and welcoming, so I selected this location over all the other endless eating options at Festival City. The ratio of staff to customers looked 3:1 and I hoped that it meant quick service at 3:30pm, but unfortunately I was in for a long wait.

I was seated quickly enough by a very polite Maitre D, who gave me enough time to peruse the lengthy menu of Appetizers, salads, sandwiches, sushi, sashimi, maki, temaki, Italian, wood fired pizzas, stir fries in crispy baskets, Oriental, Lebanese, Specials, Sides, Desserts, fresh juices, fruit cocktails, coffes, teas and Persian dishes.

I ordered an iced tea - 16dhs - which arrived soon enough. While ordering the iced tea, I had also ordered my main course. Unable to decide between the grilled lamb chops(72) and the Nasi Goreng (51), I asked the Maitre D for her recommendation. Usually if a Maitre D recommends the cheaper option, it means the restaurant is sure of that dish ensuring repeat customers.

I went with her recommendation, but was in for a really long wait. After 25 minutes of trying to prolong my iced tea, I finally found a waiter who hovered close enough to get his attention and asked for my meal. He brought it instantly and what followed leaves me with no doubt that they forgot to serve me my meal even though it was ready much earlier.

The fried rice was colder than room temperature, the side stick of chicken satay was cold and starting to harden around the satay stick. the roast chicken piece was starting to dry out and was also cold. The rice had no balance in flavour, the satay sauce had potential, but served at low temperatures lost its punch. the roast chicken could have been awesome, but was a solid lump of not too tender flesh. (all 3 were a part of the nasi goreng dish)

With so many staff manning seperate counters for each specialty and with very few customers, I expected much better service. Seems they were more involved in their own conversations and preoccupied with eating their own lunch (which I saw some of them do in the restaurant) than serving paying customers.

Didn't bother ordering dessert as I was already running half an hour late with this delay and couldnt afford another half hour.

Would rather grab a sandwich at Cinnabon, the next time I am in the vicinity.

The BBC Good Food Team seem to have had a better experience at the Mall of Emirates Location:
http://www.bbcgoodfoodme.com/bbcGF/restaurants/Default.aspx?m=rs&v=1&rID=387
Dare I risk it at another location?

Leil Nhar, Beirut

Leil Nhar
Ashrafieh facing Sagesse School
Hekmeh Street
Beirut
01 325326
www.leilnhar.com

Leil Nhar means "Day and Night" and is a wonderful eatery that is open 24 hours. The vibe we got when we walked in was that of a 60's style diner transported into 2009. The place was buzzing at midnight when all the eateries in the nearby mall had closed for the day. It was filled with young people, just chatting and laughing, smoking cigarettes, having fun and just enjoying the company of their friends. The bright decor and the large screens playing cartoon network with the volume muted but English subtitles, just added to the lively atmosphere

The menu is mostly breakfast kind of items with a few pizzas and desserts thrown in for good measure. The menu is divided into traditional Lebanese breakfast items(1000-4500), various cheese platters(6000-7500), salads (6750-8750), baked potatoes with different stuffings(4500-7000), sandwiches(6250-11000), pizzas(9000-11500), Desserts(3500-6000) and drinks(1000-4500)

We ordered the eggs and potato sandwich (6250) which had mint, tomatoes, olives and olive oil thrown in for taste and I ordered the crab sandwich (7250). My sandwich was excellent - light, crispy and fresh with the lettuce and lemon mayo not masking the delicate flavor of the crab meat. Sandwiches are served rolled in Lebanese pita/eish/khubuz which is a very thin bread compared to what is served as Lebanese bread outside of Lebanon. The closest I could compare it to is an Indian Roomali Roti, but this is much softer.

I also ordered an eggs and bacon (9000) which was eggs scrambled with bacon served with freshly baked Lebanese bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and olives.

To drink we had a carrot juice (4250) and a Lemon Iced Tea(3750), both excellent.

Our first experience with Lebanese food was excellent. Everything we ate was light, fresh, clean and just felt so healthy. No wonder Lebanese are known for their wonderful looks and complexions. if I eat this healthy and fresh daily, my complexion should improve too.

The desserts on display looked excellent especially the marshmallow cake (chocolate cake topped with marshmallows and smarties (6000), but we were quite stuffed with our mains and dessert seemed too decadent after all the healthy food. So we turned it down, which in hindsight we could have indulged in, given the steep climb to reach our hotel! (all those calories would have simply melted away)

Leil Nhar does deliver home except the egg items.

Our bill came to 36750 with 2 large bottles of water. The bill came printed with both Lebanese currency value and the dollar value. There is a 10% VAT added onto the prices. The dollar value was about 25USD.

Service was excellent, quiet, quick, unobtrusive but extremely attentive. We'd love to go back if we were staying longer and I didnt have this compulsive need to try out as many different restaurants that I can in each city that I visit.

Il Fiume, Dubai

Il Fiume
Marina Heights Tower
Dubai Marina
04 422 4664

A charming bistro on the Marina in Dubai. It offers a delectable range of pastries, coffees, juices and meals too. We sat down here to grab a coffee (frappucinos - 20dhs), but liked the ambiance so much, that we decided to have an early lunch. They do serve sheesha at this cafe, so the smell can be a bit nauseous or reminiscent, depending on which way you look at it.

Il Fiume is decorated in a very contemporary style with a glass kitchen so you can keep your eyes on the chef while he prepares your food. They serve Italian and Lebanese food. While we waited for our order, we were served a basket of breads with 4 different dips and olives with cornichons.

I ordered a carpaccio di manzo (34dhs) which was beef carpaccio served with a salad of roccola leaves, halved cherry tomatoes and what tasted like pickled mushrooms in a balsamic vinegar dressing and parmesan shavings. It was good, but I have had much better carpaccio where the raw taste isnt as pronounced and the slices are much thinner. The Grand Hyatt in Cairo serves a wonderful version of carpaccio.

Our other order was a fettucini pollo (45dhs) without the chicken but substituted with mushrooms for the husband. This was outstanding. The pasta was cooked just right, but what elevated this dish to a much higher level was the mixed cheese sauce with herbs and sun dried tomatoes. Comfort food at its best.

They also offer risottos and pizzas on their menu.

Portions are just right. Service as seems usual for Dubai was quick and efficient. They were not at all cranky about the requested substitution of mushroom for chicken. After Egypt, this kind of service takes some getting used to (tongue in cheek-laugh) They have outdoor seating too and Il Fiume will have a wonderful view once the surrounding construction comes to a halt and the protective boards around the construction sites are taken down.

Shakespeare And Co, Dubai

Shakespeare And Co
Multiple Outlets
Across Dubai
http://www.shakespeareandco.ae/

Shakespeare and Co has a couple of outlets across Dubai. Their decor is quaint: a mix of a traditional English tea shop, but with a bit of the Mad Hatter's tea party thrown in too. Seating arrangements are different at each table. Stuffed Victorian Style seating and kids play room benches fight for space. Decoupage and pastel colors provide a strange yet pleasing visual collage. Tables were all low at the outlet that we visited (Emirates Hills).

They have a pattiserie on the premises and the pastries, chocolates and meringues were absolutely beautiful to look at and very attractively displayed and it took every ounce of our willpower not to indulge our sweet teeth :) We settled for a natural sugar fix with a fresh watermelon juice (23dhs) and an iced mango lassi (yoghurt drink - 32dhs) Both of them came with no extra sugar.

All attempts of trying to eat healthy went out the window with our food order though. I thought I was ordering a smaller portion when I ordered the Shakespeare special (45dhs), but this turned out to be batter fried calamari, french fries - outstanding, fried lemon slices - my first time trying something like this and halved jalapenos fried - nice and spicy, all served with an excellent tartar sauce. The lasagna al forno (42dhs) was also outstanding. But it is so rich, that it is an ample meal for two or more.

We were served some complementary bread that was fresh out of the oven and completely heavenly while we waited for our order to arrive.

Loved the decor, loved the ambiance. They do not allow photography on their premises (strange for Dubai) else I would have loved to put up plenty of pictures of this place.

Bakery @ Flamenco Hotel, Cairo

Bakery
@ Golden Tulip -Flamenco Hotel
2 El Gezira, El Wosta Street, Zamalek
Cairo


A German friend of mine, Gertrud recommended this bakery very highly for their German breads and desserts. She felt their authenticity could be credited to the fact that the GM, Mr. Groebel and his bakery chef are both Germans.

The items she recommended to me were the Brezen-stick (stangerl) and rolls and apple pie (not so sweet) and Zopf (like brioche) and the real German dark bread.

Since I was looking for Multigrain bread for my husbands strict diet, I decided to stop here and check it out.

The bakery has a warm welcoming feel to it and is very clean. There are a couple of tables in the bakery, if you would like to sit down and enjoy your treats in-store.

The staff at the counter were very polite and spoke English and knew the names of the items on sale and their basic ingredients. (Given my husbands complicated diet, I have to be very careful about ingredients in prepared foods and its quite difficult doing it in my broken Arabic)
The loaf of multigrain bread was expensive at 24LE (as compared to Monginis loaf of multigrain which retails at 5LE) but it is authentic and tasty.

I also picked up 2 large oatmeal-chocolate chip-walnut cookies for myself. At 4LE each, they were tasty and quite filling.

I have an old soft copy of their menu which I have pasted below, but prices this month are higher than the rates mentioned below. Also some items may have changed. Some items need to be ordered in advance.

Breads
Baguette long 4.75
Baguette half 2.50
Baguette brown long 10.25
Baguette brown half 5.25
Company Bread 7.50
Corn Bread 20.25
Farmer Bread 20.25
Muesli Bread 20.25
Multigrain Bread 22.00
Toast Bread 7.50
Toast Bread Brown 9.00
Vollkorn Bread 20.25
Zopf 18.00


Bread Rolls
Brioche 1.95
Kaiser Roll 0.60
Laugen Brezel 2.75
Laugen Rolls small 1.25
Laugen Rolls large 2.40
Rolls Multigrain 1.10
Rolls Rye 0.95
Schlumberger Weckerl 0.60
Rolls white 0.60
Stangel 1.10
Petit Pain 0.80

Danish & Croissant
Croissant 3.00
Croissant Cheese 5.00
Croissant Chocolate 4.00
Croissant Almond 5.00
Danish Fruit 4.00
Danish Raisin 4.00
Danish Cheese & Raisin 4.00

Sandwich 1 piece
Tuna 10.00
Chicken 12.00
Gouda Cheese 12.00
Smoked Turkey 14.00
Smoked Salmon 30.00


Cookies
Cookies 250g 17.50


Whole Cakes
Apple Strudel 24.00
Apple Tarte large 24 cm 45.00
Black Forrest Cake large 24 cm 75.00
Black Forrest Cake large 20 cm 55.00
Charlotte Royal 65.00
Charlotte Strawberry 75.00
Cheese Cake large 24 cm 82.00
Cheese cake baked 82.00
Chocolate Cake large 24 cm 75.00
Chocolate Mousse Cake large 24cm 75.00
Chocolate Mousse Cake small 20cm 55.00
Fruit Cake large 24cm 85.00
Fruit cake small 20cm 65.00
Mille Feuille large 24cm 75.00
Mille Feuille Chocolate large 24cm 82.00
Mille Feuille Strawberry large 24cm 82.00
Sacher Cake large 24cm 85.00
Sacher cake small 20cm 72.00
Strawberry Tarte large 24 cm 75.00
White Forrest cake large 24cm 85.00
Nougat Torte 95.00
Chocolate Cake 40 x 40 cm 160.00
Chocolate Cake 40 x 60 cm 225.00
Fresh Fruit Cake 40 x 40 cm 175.00
Fresh Fruit Cake 40 x 60 cm 245.00

French Pastries
French Pastry 4.50
French Pastry mini 2.50
French Pastry Soirée 2.50

Pound Cakes
English Cake 35.00
English Cake plain 25.00
Marble Cake 25.00
Orange Cake 25.00
Spanish Cake 32.00

Salison
Salison 250 g 13.75
Pizza 10 cm 2.50
Quiche large 24 cm 35.00
Quiche Mushroom 24 cm 37.00
Quiche small 10 cm 4.00


********************************************
General Manager
Golden Tulip Hotel Flamenco
2 El Gezira El Wosta Street / Zamalek
11211 Cairo – Egypt
T:+20-(0)2-273 50 818
F:+20-(0)2-273 50 819
M:+20-(0)10-680 99 38
www.flamencohotels.com
gmcairo@flamencohotels.com

Aromas, Kanpur

Aromas
7/135 Swarup Nagar
Kanpur
253 5190

Tuesday Holiday

Aromas is the most famous burger joint in Kanpur. Unfortunately this isn't saying much! If a burger joint sells Bhel Puri, Chinese soups, Pizza and Pav Bhaji too, that's an indication of things to come. The place has nostalgia value for the older residents and older alumni of the IIT in the city, as it was the only place to get "Western Fast Food" in those days.

Tried their chicken burger for 45/- Nowhere near, even the generic chain burgers. Stand alone burger joints have the potential to be really good as they can tweak the recipes to suit local tastes. My chicken burger had more potatoes and flour than chicken in the patty.



Not a place, I would recommend to anyone. Not for the non-vegetarian burgers at least. Heard a vegetarian mention that their mushroom burger (45) was awesome. I don't think I will venture here another time. But feel free to add comments about own experience here.

Trianon Cafe, Dandy Mall

Trianon Cafe
Dandy Mall
Cairo - Alex Desert Road
(Near Smart Village)
CairoThis one is by far the best of the Trianon's that I have eaten at except perhaps for the original on the Corniche in Alexandria. (See my reviews of the Mohandaseen and Green Plaza, Alexandria branches.)

I highly recommend the steak with pepper sauce at this outlet. They really do it to perfection and the meat is served just the way that you request it.


The cakes and pastries are similar to the other outlets, but they somehow taste better here :) The walls are hand painted which contribute a lot to the ambiance.


The Moroccan tea is also something that I would recommend for cold weather. Its perfect for warming you up.

Sports Cafe, Cairo

Sports Cafe
37, El Batal Ahmed Abdel Aziz St.
Mohandaseen
3345 8425/8426/8427

We had heard that this is THE place to go to, to grab a bite while a football match is on, but hadn't managed to catch a match here yet.

Today, it was on our way and we really wanted a coffee, so we decided to make a stop.

The first look inside the Cafe, did not inspire any confidence. It looked tacky and run down. But having heard good reviews, we decided to curb our instinct to turn around and actually brave it.

The interiors were all in red and yellow with seats at the same height as the tables, so it is not the most comfortable of seatings but Its worth a visit.

Their coffee was much better than many of the versions we have had at coffee shop chains around the city. We tried the Cafe Latte (10.95) and Cappuccino (12.95), both of which were very good.

Their Maradona Sandwich was highly recommended but it wasn't available. Oh yeah, most food is named after footballers. We settled for a Zidan Delight - hot dog with sausage and peppers (16.95) and a Zinger Burger (23.95) - this was really huge, twice the size of something at say Hardees.

Food is a mix of American & Mexican influenced cafe food.

The good thing is that there are no extra charges added to your bill. The prices you see in the menu including service charge and taxes. The only other place in Cairo that I have seen this is at Lucilles in Maadi.

Food and drink was better than average. Ambience wasn't too great, but it can be ignored. This looks like a place that students wanting to watch a game would hang out at. Maybe I should return when a big match is in progress :)

Condetti, Cairo

Condetti Restaurant & Cafe
Locations in Dokki and Maadi
33 Amman Street, Off Mohi ed Din abu el Azz st. 3760 4114
10 Street 82, off street 6. 2359 2440

We ordered a home delivery from Condetti.

Portions are on the smaller side for Egypt. My Ceasar Salad(25LE) was half the size of a similar salad at Crocodile Grill, Fuddruckers, Chillis or Trianon. But I must admit that it had a nice grilled chicken and just the right amount of cheese to give it flavour without beating the purpose of ordering a salad (light and crunchy)

The Fried mushrooms (26LE) and the Condetti Chicken wings (21LE) - chicken wings stuffed with mince and crumb fried - were interesting but lost their punch in the delivery. I'm sure they would have tasted much better at location, freshly out of the hot oil.

The Condetti Burger with cheddar (29LE) was average. The cheese was not the regular sliced cheese, but it was not something I would go back for.

The Quattro Formaggi (33LE) was Penne pasta in a 4 cheese sauce, that was small sized but very filling. They do offer a pasta in white sauce with mushrooms which might have helped bring some texture to the dish.

They charge 4LE as delivery charge and delivery was quite fast. I was suprised to see a man in a full sleeved shirt and tie bring in the delivery. Only in Egypt :)

They offer breakfasts, a wide variety of coffee and other drinks. Soups, Salads, Pata, Pizza, Main dishes of meat, fish and chicken and desserts. Nothing to stand out though.

It was a reasonable experience, but not one I would be enticed into ordering again. I may try the dine in option sometime and check if that will improve my opinion of this restaurant.

Rainforest Cafe, Cairo

Rainforest Cafe
City Stars, 5th Floor, Phase 1
Nasr City
Cairo

Rainforest Cafe is an American theme restaurant that has recently opened a branch here in Cairo. As the name suggests, the interiors are done up in the style of a rainforest with robotic animals. Cairenes would be familiar with this concept as Planet Africa has had 2 branches in the city since ages. But in my opinion the Rain Forest Cafe is much better in terms of experience, food, service and entertainment for young kids.

We visited the restaurant with friends and their 8 year old son, who thoroughly enjoyed himself right from the atmosphere and decor, to the giant aquariums, the thunderstorms at half an hour intervals, the complementary coloring books they gave him and his kids hot dog meal (20LE)

The property is huge spread over 2 floors, so seating is rarely a problem.

There is a wide variety of drinks, even the Ice Tea (14LE) comes in multiple flavors. Alcohol isnt served, so all the cocktails are actually mocktails. The banana pina colada was 19LE and the mosquito mojito and lemon juice were also 14 LE. I quite enjoyed my mojito and found it very refreshing. Large Bottle of water is 9LE.

The kid had his mini hot dogs for 20LE. 2 good sized hot dogs and plenty of fries which was too large for him. Even the kids meals are huge portions.

The cobb salad was 55LE. The fish and chips at 64 was a little too oily (think Chicken crispers oily at Chillis) for my taste, but my husband quite enjoyed it. The Amazon beef fillet (93) was excellent quality meat. I had the Maya's mixed grill which at 119LE is a bit expensive but it comes with 3 different types of meat and in really large portions, so it can be easily shared by 2.

They had a very interesting looking dessert called "the volcano" We were too stuffed from our main course to even attemot dessert, but maybe next time....

There is a merchandise shop at the entrance which could be quite a challenging expedition with demanding kids. Fortunately the little boy in our group did not fall in this category and we managed to emerge unscathed.

Its a wonderful place to take your kids. although the place is large there is only one entry/exit and the staff at that point are very careful that unattended kids aren't allowed to cross that point. I have heard mothers with younger kids say that the experience was overwhelming for the little ones. 6-7+ seems a good age to take them in.

Read an article about the opening of the cafe on Business Today Egypt

Prithvi Theatre Cafe, Juhu, Mumbai

This Cafe was one of my favorites in Mumbai. Yes, you read it right, it "WAS". (check my previous review)

Close to my house, this was where me and my husband often sat discussing the play we were going to watch over a cup of coffee and light snacks like cheese balls or dissecting and analysing the play we had just watched over raan and Prithvi's famous irish coffee :)

I often visited the cafe when I was feeling low on inspiration and creativity and it was marvelous how just being there in that location with the presence of immensely talented individuals like Makarand Deshpande and Kay Kay (does he go as KK now?) among others could charge me up.

There were the occasional Ekta Kapur actresses who would show up for a play, but they were completely ignored by the serious acting crowd (theatre) and the people who went there to watch talented actors.

This adda was like a 2nd home to me in Mumbai. The husband and me averaged at least one play a week and sometimes more than that. I was at the cafe with him or on my own twice or even more in a week.

Service was sometimes slow, but you could see the waiters doing their best to manage it all and you didnt mind. What few people knew was that the cafe had a really awesome dinner menu and it was amazing to sit under those lights hanging from the trees and enjoy a meal.

Once we moved to Egypt we watched on the news that the cafe had introduced a new, more Mumbaiyya menu. On our trip to India in January we decided to go back to the cafe for old times sake and we were HORRIFIED!

There were a new bunch of waiters who did not even seem to know the menaing of the word "service" It took more than 20 minutes of sitting at a table (which we found ourselves after scrounging vacant chairs from nearby tables) before the waiter even acknowledged our presence. Another 20 minutes to get us a menu. The menu had thrice the number of items than before, but not even 10% of them were available. We found this out the painful way, by ordering some items and then being told none of them were available. This process repeated a couple of times, till we finally asked the waiter, "just tell us what IS available" He hardly mentioned 5 items.

Since we were a group and had already waited that long and gone through all the trouble of parking et al, we ordered one of each and told him to bring each item as it was ready in case some items took longer than others to prepare. 40 minutes after ordering, not a single item had reached our table. We asked the waiter about the status and he said "another 15 minutes" without even a trace of an apology in his voice.

So we told him to cancel the order and we walked out. He looked at us walk away with more relief than dismay on his face!

Doubt I will visit the cafe again, unless something changes drastically and they can match the standards of the previous avataar.

Please observe 2 minutes silence for the passing of a great cafe, that once was @ Prithvi!

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.

This is what I carry home with me as a gift for my siblings and now my cousins who all request this tasty treat as an Egyptian treat. Never mind that it is an American chain (founded 1985 in Seattle Washington) that entered Egypt as recently as 2003!

There are 3 basic rolls.
The first is the basic cinnamon roll where the pastry is rolled with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar and then baked - Cinnabon Classic
The second is the Caramel Pecanbon which is the Classic with the addition of yummy caramel sauce and roasted pecans.
The third is the Chocobon which is a chocolate frosting kind of filling in the roll topped with chocolate sauce.

They all come in 2 sizes - regular (11-16LE) and mini(8-10LE) and some of them come in bite size pieces

I particularly like the cinnasticks (11le-5 pieces) too which are awesome when they are fresh out of the oven and eaten hot with cream cheese frosting.

Cream cheese frosting, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, roasted pecans all these are available as extra toppings for an additional 2-8LE each.

The basic mixes all come from one location, but the actual baking and rolling happens on site, which is an exciting show to watch as you eat your own cinnabons. In my opinion, the City star pastry chefs are faster and more adept than the other locations (could be because of the faster turnover)

Tacoma coffee and some house blends are available for those so inclined. They are 3-5 varieties of salads and sandwiches for those who would like something non sweet.

Oooh and they home deliver too. This was when we figured our cat has a sweet tooth. After KFC this is only the 2nd home delivered meal she insists on sharing with us :)

Carvel ice-creams are now available a some of the locations.
The cheesecake(18LE) is ok, but I've had better. Same goes for the cookies (8LE)

The Rools are the Star! Fattening but worth an extra hours work out. Awesome stuff!

Trianon Cafe, Mohandaseen

Well, inspite of my middle opinion of Trianon in Alexandria I still went ahead and prdered home delivery from them in Mohandaseen.

The first time I ordered the Trianon grilled steak with pepper sauce and mashed potatoes (40LE) the steak was tiny, the sauce and mashed potatoes were awesome and in hindsight the size of the steak was just right for my stomach.

The second time I ordered it, I asked them to make it a little less than well done, (because last time it got too hard) and forgot to mention the extra spicy bit. The steak was done to perfection, but no sauce at all. It was just some pepper flakes sprinkled on the top. I don't know if this is because they completely forgot the sauce or because the previous time I had ordered extra spicy sauce.

The sauce is what gives the steak and the mashed potatoes the kick. Buttery and peppery goes great with the meat and the taters
.
The Ceasar salad last time had a bit too much of anchovies in me and the fishy taste overpowered all other flavours. Plus the salt had formed clumps which exploded unpleasantly in my mouth.

This time's Spaghetti bolognaise (27 LE) was a better experience but too much fat content and not enough sauce. I could feel the cholesterol building up as I nibbled through my husbands dish.

The mocha eclair was large and lovely if it had been left basic. The extra sugar icing on top was just too sweet, but once we scraped that off, we really enjoyed the underlying eclair and lightly flavoured mocha cream.

Trianon Cafe, Alexandria

Trianon Cafe,
Green Plaza
Alexandria

The same menu as their Cairo counterpart.

Nice setting in the Green Plaza Their sandwiches were yummy as were the fries. The pizza looked good, but I didn't try that.

The Viennese coffee did not look as exciting when it came to the table as it looked in the menu picture. But it did taste pretty good.

I had the angel hair pasta in cream sauce with chicken. It was interesting. Not outstanding, but pretty good.

The pasta and the Viennese Coffee with tax and tip was about 60LE.

Brownies, Alexandria

Brownies,
Green Plaza,
Alexandria

On the high recommendations of a friend and her niece, I decided I would not leave Alexandria without a stop at Brownies on my next trip to the City.

Brownies is located in Green Plaza in Alexandria which is part of the Hilton Complex.

Unfortunately, we had already had a late lunch and coffee, before we got to Brownies. So as a compromise, I decided to get them packed, so I could reheat them at home for consumption. The menu showed a range of coffees and some desserts and crepes. The brownies aren't on the menu, but they are available all the time.

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. But this one cost just 1/4th of the HRC sundae, so its more VFM. (HRC sundae now costs about 40LE)

Nice open area to sit in the garden, if you plan to eat in. Guess I'm gonna do that next time and enjoy the service too.

Hard Rock Cafe, Cairo

Hard Rock Cafe Cairo
Grand Hyatt Cairo
Corniche El Nile, Garden City
Cairo, Egypt
+2(02) 5321277/81/85

Hours:
Restaurant:
Sun - Sat 12:00PM - 4:00AM
Merchandise:
Sun - Sat 11:00AM - 4:00AM

It started with an Eric Clapton guitar (a Fender Lead II, for the gearheads in the audience). The beginning of something that nobody even knew was beginning.

It was just a goof. A laugh. A joke among friends.

Back in the seventies, Clapton - the original guitar god, founder of Cream and Derek & the Dominoes, creator of the immortal "Layla" - liked to eat at this quirky American diner in London called the Hard Rock Cafe. The place was this funky old building that used to be a Rolls Royce dealership, and it was run by a couple of young Americans who liked to keep it loose. Founded by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, two enterprising and music-loving Americans, Hard Rock Cafe was an instant classic. You could be yourself at the Hard Rock. It was good food and a good time.

So Clapton got to be friends with the proprietors and asked them to save him a regular table, put up a brass plaque or something. And the young proprietors said, “Why don't we put up your guitar?” They all had a chuckle, and he handed over a guitar, and they slapped it on the wall.

No one thought much more about it. Until a week later, when another guitar arrived (a Gibson Les Paul, by the way). With it was a note from Pete Townshend of The Who which read: "Mine's as good as his. Love, Pete."

The young proprietors put it on the wall. After that, the guitars never stopped coming. Today there are more than 70,000 guitars, drums, pianos, harmonicas, microphones, shirts, pants, scarves, shoes, handwritten lyrics, cars, bikes, a bus and assorted rock memorabilia - by far, the largest, most valuable such collection in the world - on the walls of over 138 Hard Rock Cafes, Hotels and Casinos in 42 countries around the world.

But it all started with the one.

And about 30 years later, the Hard Rock Cafe opened its doors in Cairo.

With an extremely large seating space, the HRC doubles as a restaurant during the day (with even a special day for little tots with face painters etc) and a club at night.

They boast one of the best selections of spirits in Cairo. And a large variety of cocktails mixed to perfection. My personal favorite is the Golden Rita (All margaritas are 70LE) Long Beach Ice Tea (59LE with cranberry juice instead of the cola in a Long Island Ice Tea - also 59LE) Rum Runner (46LE) Drinks like Cognac are 72LE a peg. Or you can keep the alcohol for a post meal experience by trying one of the Irish Coffees (57LE) with Irish Cream, Tia Maria, Irish Whiskey or Amaretto as the base.

On Fridays they have a special offer of unlimited beer & buffalo wings for 99LE.

The Jumbo Combo (59LE) is a great appetiser with a mix of Onion Rings, potato skins, Santa Fe Spring rolls (although I prefer The Southwestern egg rolls from Chilli's) Buffalo wings & chicken tenders with 4 different sauces. A little bit of everything for everyone on the table to taste.

I've had some great food here too. The pulled lamb sandwiches, Twisted mac (39LE), blackened chicken pasta (35LE) and burgers are all great. They more than fill you up as the portions are really large.

But its the deserts that are to die for. In particular - the Fudge Brownie Sundae (29LE) Its not only awesome, its completely VFM.

The Apple Cobbler (29LE) is also good, as are the cheesecakes.

Decor is the standard Hard Rock Cafe type with guitars, pictures and other rock memorabilia all over the place. What isn't standard is the gorgeous view of the Nile from the French Windows all around. By night or by day, the Nile is a very relaxing & calming sight. The feluccas during the day and the lights at night add much character to the scene.

Staff are friendly, responsive and speak fluent English (English speaking staff is a problem in some of the other restaurants/pubs in Cairo)

They have the standard Hard Rock gift shop with overpriced clothes & pins & glasses which you can shop at if you are a collector. Otherwise the same t-shirts are available in Khan el Khalili for 10LE :) LOL

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)

Since the scamster doesn't have a menu, there's no way you can verify the price. 2.5$ for a lime juice 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.

Pottery Cafe, Cairo

Pottery Cafe
Opp AUC Entrance

Its a cosy little cafe opp the American University of Cairo. Normally filled with students. Its a good place to catch a bite if you aren't interested in the fast food chains like Mcdonalds & Hardees which abound in the area.

Caught breakfast in there the other day. The Roast beef panini was 12.5LE Good roast beef. Not thick slices, but thinner ones & a little cheese.

The crepe salami mozarella 13.5LE was excellent in taste, although a little difficult to maneuvre onto the fork.

I would avoid the milk shakes. The milk here is too thick for my taste.

The American coffee was 9LE & the Honeymoon Latte (latte with honey & cinnamon) at 13.5 was excellent. They have a variety of diet, brown & white sugars which you can add to your drink.

They are a wifi hotspot, so grab a coffee & settle down to surf.

Remember there is a 12.5% service charge.

Brio, The Cafe Bistro

Brio, The Cafe Bistro
Behind Shoppers Stop
Dynamix Mall
Near Chandan Cinema
Juhu

Brio opened its doors about 2 weeks ago. It looks really fancy from the outside & you could be easily mistaken into thinking that this was an expensive joint and walking away.

For me, the craving for a coffee before visiting my favourite haunt (Crossword) was too strong to give it the go by & hence I entered and was pleasantly suprised by everything.

The decor is very modern and looks like a bakery set in the "Library Bar" if you get what I mean. 2 hostesses in uniform greet you at the door & ask your preference to be seated. There are some bar stools at the side and also proper sit down tables. Overall seating must be about 25-30.

The waiters all have smart uniforms with little half aprons and red french caps perched at an angle. Unfortunately smart looks don't translate into smart service as yet. The service is slow, especially if you order a frappe of other chilled drink, since there is only 1 person to handle all the drink orders. Coffees are priced similar to Barrista. You have the range from 30 to 100. The higher priced ones being a blend of coffees including the Brazilian variety. The Choco Caramel Freeze was priced at 65/-

Their Pepperoni pizza at 195/- was really yum & a strong competitior to Dominoes pepperoni. Brio's pepperoni slices are thicker & hence more flavorful. Their pizzas are all thin crust and they are served in under 10 minutes.

Salads are in the 70/- range. Their serving size is ample. The crepes come in a variety of fillings including savoury like spicy chicken paprica or corn & cheese and sweet like chocolate. They aren't always available though. The oven roasted veg focassia (85) seemed like a good option for the diet conscious.

They stock a variety of pastries too. There are 3 different types of brownies & a range of mousse, cheesecake & other pastries.

You can stop here for a snack or a meal. They sell various types of bread too. No home delivery yet.

Be aware that Vat of 12.5% is added over the prices listed in the menu.

Cuppa Cafe, Mumbai

Cuppa Cafe
Crystal Plaza
New Link Road
Opp Fame Adlabs
Bombay 400 058
Free Delivery 2674 2371 / 72

Missed the Caferati meet here last Sunday, but decided to check the place out anyways after the Anurag Kashyap workshop because we were kinda fed up of the regular Coffee Day, Barrista coffee.

I'm so glad we went here. It is so different from the coffee shop chains. Its quaint, cute, interesting, different.

The furniture is a jumble of styles. Partly outdoors, partly indoors. Indoors they also sell some knick knacks that are ideal for gifting. Even if you wanna eat outdoors, you have to go in & check out the awesome tables with the marbles in one and the sea shells in the other. Also loved the trail of leaves climbing up the corner. AS is mandatory for most joints in this area, there is a bulletin board covered with pics of TV stars who have sipped on a cup on location.

Coffee(Rs.30-80) & the soda pops (Rs.35) were yummy. Paratas (Rs.30)were some of the best I've tried in bombay. Sandwiches are overflowing with cheese(Rs.30-40) There are some lo cal snacks too that can be carried away.

But if diet be damned, then do try their desserts. The brownie is just right. No nuts or gooey butter to make u feel like u r sinning, but still absolutely tasty. Pack a box to munch on while watching TV or reading a book.