Banat Al Ghad:Girls of Tomorrow

A lot of my friends in Egypt often ask me whether I am aware of any NGOs that they can contribute their time to. There are a number of NGOs that are doing a lot of good work and are worthy of one's time and contribution. Here is the story of one such organisation -Banat al Ghad-that is working with street children, especially the street girls.

It was fascinating to talk to its Executive Director, Rania Fahmy, who took me through the starting up of the NGO and the expansions and developments that it has seen. Particularly interesting was to hear about the challenges that they face in convincing the parents of the street girls to let them live at the facility, rather than put them on the street.

You can read the whole story here.

Spa at the Four Seasons, Nile Plaza

Having a day out at the spa is the ultimate in relaxation. All the five star hotels in Cairo boast of spa services. I had the opportunity to review the spa at the Four Seasons at Nile Plaza for Community Times.

You can read the review here

Orchids in Egypt

When you think orchids, you think Holland. But a lone man grows orchids in Egypt and claims that they are even better in quality than those found in holland. He is a neurosurgeon by profession and took on growing orchids as a hobby.

For more information, check out my story in Community Times magazine.

The Ultimate Fuul Experience!

Anyone who has lived in the Middle East is familiar with fuul, a dish of fava beans which is the staple of the region. There are of course, variations from country to country-the kind that we had in KSA was mashed and creamier. In fact, for a long time, I just did not like the kind of fuul that I found in Cairo. Here, the fava beans are not mashed and it is usually prepared bland, with the tomatoes, onions, and the peppers added later on.

But then I had the fuul at Mahrouz and I can vouch for the fact that it is the best! Located in a lane near the Canandian embassy in Garden City, it is hugely popular. Nothing more than a little 'hole in the wall', there are plastic chairs and tables for ambience. But you come here for the fuul and not the ambience - and the fuul does not disappoint.

There is no menu and you have to pay close attention as the waiter rattles off the fuul dishes available-fuul iskandrany with tomatoes, onions, peppers and tahina (my favourite), fuul with shatta (chilli powder) and hot oil, fuul with butter, fuul with salsa and plain fuul. The eggtarians will just love their omlettes (spanish or regular) and the fried and the boiled eggs that can be ordered along with the fuul.

To mop up the fuul, there is the stack of baladi bread that is plonked on your table. Ask it to be heated and the hot bread enhances the taste of the fuul. You can also order side dishes of salads, white cheese and pickles.

Of course, there is no written cheque at the end and when it is time to pay, one of the waiters comes to your table, throws a cursory glance at the dishes and pronounces an amount. You are so satiated that you will not bother asking for the break-up. Also, the fact that it is not too much to pay for such a delicious meal will have you reaching for your wallet without any qualms.

However, after a couple of visits, just out of curiosity, I did figure out how the pricing works. It is generally, LE 6 for each plate of fuul and omlette, and LE 15 for every helping of salad. The figure is of course, rounded off to make it easier.

During Ramadan, the lane where the eatery is located is brightly lit with lanterns and rows and rows of tables are added to accomodate the hordes of people who arrive there during the suhoor. It can be quite an experience to have a suhoor meal at Mahrouz; however one must go early enough to grab a place.

The place is open from 4 p.m. till 4 a.m. everyday. The address is Haras Street, Garden City. It can take one a couple of wrong turns to find the place. Roughly, take the left near Nile Kempenski from the Corniche street and take the second left (it is more like a U-turn) and then take the first right. When you reach the crossroads, take a left (again it is almost a U-turn) and you are in the lane of Mahrouz.

It is All About Menus!

After the Otlob webiste (the ordering for home-delivery website in English), another website that can enhance the food experience for expats in Cairo is http://www.elmenus.com/. The tagline for the website says it all "It'a all about the menu!"

The menus of restuarants are listed on the website and it is possible to search for these restuarants by name. This is a boon, if for example you want to try out a new place but are not sure of what to expect at the restuarant. Through accessing the restuarant's menu on this website, you can avoid disappointments-both in terms of the food available and the prices.

If you are seized with the urge to eat a particular type of cuisine or even a particular dish, the website provides the possiblity of searching for restaurants offering that cuisine or dish. For example if you want to have a burger, then you type in 'burger' in the box provided for the search by cuisine and lo and behold!, all the restuarants that have burger on their menu will be listed together with details of the variety of burger and their prices.

You can search for restuarant menus by cuisine, by area, by special features (wi-fi, delivery, outdoor seating etc) or even use the website to get a list of restuarants and their menus that deliver in a particular area.

However, the website cannot be used to place the order at a restuarant. It does list the address, the timings and the telephone numbers of the restuarant. So, at least it does away with the necessity of saving the menus of your favourite restuarants for the purposes of ordering in food.

Their homepage has some interesting reviews of resturants by patrons, listings of the top five restuarants and the top 5 foods etc.

Eating around Cairo has never been so easy!