Category: Food & Drinks

Sultan Center have introduced some new milk products which I spotted yesterday. They now have Mars, Starburst, Maltesers and Nesquik flavored milk. Their prices though are outrageous, the Mars milk costs KD2.150, the Starburst KD1.950, the Nesquik KD1.550 and finally the cheapest was Maltesers at KD1.450.

Food wise there were only two things that stuck out for me in Cairo. The first is the burger at the Four Seasons, the second is the spicy chicken fillet at McDonalds.

When I first had the burger at the Four Seasons tea lounge in Cairo (opposite the Zoo), it came with blue cheese which I thought overpowered the burger. So when I went to have it the second time I asked them to replace the blue cheese with cheddar and it made a world of difference. The burger turned out to be great and if I was to rate it I would probably give it anywhere between 3.5 and a 4 out of a 5. Highly recommended. (Burger picture above)

The spicy chicken fillet at McDonalds was another surprise. I don’t know why we don’t have it here in Kuwait but we should since we’re missing out on a great chicken sandwich. Unlike the McChicken, the spicy chicken fillet kinda looks like Burger King’s Chicken Royale but tastes like KFC’s chicken Zinger. So basically its the best of both worlds and honestly everything else I had in McDonalds in Cairo tasted terrible so the chicken fillet is the only way to go.

And that’s about it, there wasn’t anything else I had in Cairo that stuck out.

I had lunch at Abou Shakra today and so far its the best place I’ve eaten at since I’ve arrived to Egypt (not including the burger I had at Four Seasons).

The place is very clean, the presentation of the food is really great and the prices are pretty cheap. I had the mushroom soup since it was recommended by a reader and surprisingly I liked it a lot. For my main course I had the Abou Shakra kofta and although it wasn’t fantastic it was pretty decent, much much better than the one I had at Al-Rifai.

If you’re in Egypt next time this is a restaurant I would recommend.

So since I’ve been in Egypt I’ve been extremely disappointed with the food. First day I had Maison Thomas Pizza which was supposed to be the best pizza place in Egypt and it turned out to be very normal. Then I had Lucille’s burger which again was supposed to be the best burger in Cairo and it turned out to be average too.

So last night after work I decided to go all out. I wanted to have Kebab (or kofta whatever they call it here). I was told the best in Cairo was this very local place called Al-Rifai so we took our driver and headed there. We got there around 11PM and it was pretty packed but they quickly cleaned a table for us (with a tissue). When I saw the meat outside and the guy putting it on the skewers I could have puked right there on the spot and the smell of the meat wasn’t helping either. In the end out of 4 of us I was the only one who decided to risk it and eat.

The kofta wasn’t impressive at all. It didn’t have any flavor and I really have no clue why its really popular here. I couldn’t believe I risked food poisoning for something so disappointing. Now I don’t think I am interested in trying anything new, might just stick to fast food which is what I enjoy anyway.

Since I arrived to Cairo on the weekend I hadn’t really experience Cairo traffic until today. It took us around an hour and a half to get to Lucille’s a burger place that was highly recommended by a few readers on the blog while it took only 20 minutes on the way back. If that wasn’t bad enough there was a football match tonight in which the Egyptian team Ahli won and I ended up getting stuck in one crazy traffic jam celebration on my way to the production house.

Anyway finding Lucille’s wasn’t very easy and when I did the place didn’t look impressive. I decided to ignore the location and look of the place and go in and order a cheese burger. I had read a lot of positive stuff about this burger so I was really expecting it to be great, it wasn’t!

For everyone who rated this burger highly you must have had a different burger than the one I had because mine was pretty ordinary. Presentation wasn’t appetizing at all and although the bun was soft and the meat tender the burger overall was just fair. If it was in Kuwait I would have rated it a 3 or 3.5 out of 5 not more so I don’t understand how this could be the best burger in Cairo. The one I had at Four Seasons last night was a better burger than this.

No more burgers for me on this trip, I need to start having more local dishes.

This site has pictures of what is the coolest McDonalds on Earth located in Japan. It’s free of all McDonalds branding! [Link]

I wonder if it plays the Imperial March theme song while we’re waiting. [Link]

According to SomeContrast KDD have started dropping their prices. Is this because oil has dropped down in price, the economic situation, loss of business or something else? [Link]

In short, STAY AWAY! I am a huge Wasabi fan but the one in the Avenues sucks big time. I passed by them today for the first time for lunch and out of the three dishes I ordered I had problems with two of them.

First I ordered the salmon and avocado salad for starters, it took what seemed like an eternity to arrive and when it finally did it turned out they had forgotten to add the avocado. After having that mess sorted out turns out the salad dressing is different than the one used in their main city branch or at least tasted different. I also had ordered the exotic roll but it tasted like crap so I didn’t eat it. If all that wasn’t bad enough I had to listen to what had to be the noisiest kitchen door in the world which squeaked like a haunted house every time someone went in our out of the kitchen.

For your Wasabi cravings stick to the main city branch, I know I will.

Picture by iDip

The ultimate Bacon flavored spread. Yummmmy…. not! [Link]

The strangest photoset on flickr that I’ve seen. The set contains pictures of random objects on top of cheeseburgers… [Link]

My new favorite chocolate. According to Wikipedia its only available in Australia and New Zealand. Its like the regular Mars bar except it has crispies embedded in the outer layer which makes a world of a difference in my opinion. It’s available at Sultan Center for 450fils.

I love the new look, always preferred Pepsi over Coke and now I have one more reason why. The video below is what Pepsi sent out to 25 influential people but if you want to simple take a look at the new logo and bottle designs click [Here]

According to The Avenue’s website Arby’s is opening there! They have a list of all the restaurants that are open and opening at The Avenue’s and Arby’s is on that list!! Just go to their website, click on restaurants and then on the burger picture. [Link]

I just got an email from a reader called Nawaf saying that The Cheesecake Factory will be opening up at The Avenues phase III. The owners will be both a Kuwaiti and a Saudi, the Saudi being the same owner as The Cheesecake Factory in Saudi Arabia. I hope this turns out to be true although I doubt it since according to The Cheesecake Factory website:

Franchise Information
Thank you for your interest in The Cheesecake Factory. Our full-service restaurants are Company owned and operated. We currently do not offer franchises or joint venture opportunities and have no plans to do so in the future.

Also under locations on the website it doesn’t list Saudi Arabia although. I am guessing because the Saudi branch isn’t a “full-service” restaurant but just an outlet that sells only cheesecakes its not listed on their website? Here is a picture of one of the Saudi Branches. [Picture]

Update: I emailed The Cheesecake Factory asking about their Saudi and Kuwait branch and I got the following generic response:

Thank you for your interest in The Cheesecake Factory.

We are flattered that you feel that our brand would be a success in Kuwait. Our plan at this time however, is to focus on growing our brand within the continental United States and Hawaii, rather than other markets. We wish you the best of luck with your endeavors and hope that you will have an opportunity to dine with us again sometime soon!

Thank you for contacting us and have a wonderful day!