Caracas, Cairo

Caracas,
Arkan Mall
Cairo

On this last trip to Cairo, I was amazed at the explosion in the food scene of the city.

Arkan Mall is one such new set up catering to residents of 6th October and Sheikh Zayed areas. It has a multitude of eateries on the ground floor, all of which have a combination of indoor and outdoor seating and most of whom offer Shisha options too.

We chose Caracas, because I loved their purple and teal coloured chairs (it was a tough choice, and I needed a deal maker) and I'm so glad that we did.

Since we arrived just around the time of the Friday prayer, we were informed that food would take some time, but coffees could be served quickly. Since we weren't in a hurry, we were ok with this option and the coffee & sahlab did make their appearance very quickly along with complimentary eish (bread), olives and a sesame + pomegranate mollasses dip.

We ordered a selection of hot & cold mezze and I was quite surprised at the quantity when it arrived. I would recommend one mezze per person - given the size of each dish or order more, but skip the main course. The mahammara (36 EGP) and the fig jam which accompanied the grilled halloumi (40EGP) were outstanding, as was our main course of  daoud basha (70EGP)

My only complaint, is that I wish portion sizes were smaller, so I could try out more of their wonderful food.

Rating : 4.5 / 5

Bora Bora, Cairo

Bora Bora
Zamalek

Located on the Nile, it has a beautiful ambiance and is a wonderful place to relax in the evenings if you visit before 10-11pm, when the party people come in and take over. Until then it is a serene quiet place to unwind, while watching the Nile and the occasional fellucca glide by.

They do serve alcohol. A large Bacardi (60ml) is 65Le. Pint of Sakkara beer is 20.25Le. Their main course mainly comprise of pastas. We preferred to stick to the Egyptian mezze, forgoing the main course. Soft Drinks are 10Le/can.

The food was some of the best Egyptian food we have had in Cairo, second only to Abu El Sid. All the vegetarian dips - tahina, baba ghannoug and Labna are 10Le. The Labna was especially wonderful - a flavour of cream cheese and cheddar cheese, with the consistency of cheesespread.

The vine leaves - again some of the best I have eaten in a restaurant in Egypt were 20Le. They need to be eaten when fresh and hot, else the fat in the stuffing begins to weigh heavily on the palate.

The Alexandian Liver at 42Le, the Alexandrian Sausage at 28Le and the fried calamari at 49Le were excellent. The texture of calamari was just right as was the seasoning. One of the few times we did not even feel the need to squeeze lemon over the dish.

They do serve shisha for 7LE and charge another 4Le for the disposable pipe that they use. They offer lemon flavour which I have not yet encountered elsewhere and it was quite smooth.

Note : it is advisable to reserve a table as this is quite a popular hangout at nights.