Feed: Welcome To Cairo - AggScore: 72.9
- Oops no blog post for a while…. Better get something done today! #
- I gave a fasting security guard some water… Should I feel bad? #
- @waelabbas They used to be there up until 1994/96ish. My partner's guardian used to be the USA no1 Peugeot dealer and he still misses them! #
I went out wandering in Maadi early this afternoon to grab some shopping and a bite to eat…. I completely forgot that it was a Friday during Ramadan. Any hope for Egyptian cuisine had been dashed, so I ended up at the Maadi branch (10 Road 263) of American Burger chain, Fuddruckers.
Being a vegetarian I tend to avoid burger chains but this was open and I was sure I would find something on the menu.
Fuddruckers Maadi, Interior
My first impressions were pretty good. I walked in and was promptly greeted by a very friendly server. I was seated quickly in non smoking and given a menu to mull over. I was actually the only customer in the restaurant which actually felt really nice. It was very clean and well laid out. I only had my mobile phone for pics so sorry about the quality!
The menu was pretty decent for a burger joint. They had a selection of burgers in different weights with a selection of toppings. A few fish dishes, plenty to drink (inc, non-alcoholic beer, woo hoo 
) and of course some steak options.
Luckily for me they had a veggie burger option too.
I went for the Fuddruckers Value meal. It was only 31LE and came with Veggie Burger, Fries, Soft drink and a Brownie… Not too bad at all I thought.
As I waited for my meal to be frshly cooked (well that’s what the signs around the resturant said), I started feeling a little guilty about eating in public during Ramadan! Some of the workers had to be fasting and working in a food place where Westerners come and stuff their face could not be any fun!
My drink arrived first. The soft drink was actually a Fountain Soda, not a can as I had assumed. This was the first time since arriving that I have drank the tap water since I gor here. I bravely tucked in and it tasted ok, just a little watered down. Still it was refreshing as far as a Pepsi ever could be.
Then the meal arrived. A plain burger in a white bun and a few fat cajun style wedge fries. It looked ok but my attention went first to the lack of fries and then to the consistancy of the veggie burger!
It looked squissy and a bit plain. Like fried potato and carrots. So I smothered it in tomato sauce and put the bun top on ready to take a bite. I hoped for a lot and I got….. well something that tasted like unseasoned potato and carrot in a bun!
I was very disappointed. The veggie burger recipe is awful and needs an update, even if it’s only a dash of salt in the recipe!
The bun was actually quite nice, clearly freshly baked and the cajun fries, although sparse, were as good as most restaurants of this type.
I regretfully finished the burger and then nodded my head for the waiter to bring my brownie. It came a few minutes later, steaming and covered in chocolate sauce. Again it was a small portion but just right for me at that time of day. Like a savior it tasted great and was a little crisp on the top and soft in the middle. Just what I needed to cancel out my potato sandwich.
Mmmmmmmmmm Brownie
Overall it was a good experience. The server was great. The meal was priced in the average for Western food category (Just under 40LE after tax) and the food was good with exception of the veggie burger itself.
So Fuddruckers Cairo… If you are reading this contact me and I will come to your factory to help you improve the veggie burger . Just needs a little beefing up without the beef
Have you been to Fuddruckers? Then I would love to know your opion of what you ate.
Thanks.
- Wanted a simple beard trim! Now I have a clean rnb style goatee, moisturized skin, trimmed eyebrows & gelled hair! Is this normal for Cairo? #
- Followed by a dog for over 1mile….Looked beaten & was bleeding so we finally stopped and fed it, Never Seen a dog wag it's tail so much
# - @sarahspeakstome Ha ha, that's brilliant! I can't wait until my next visit in reply to sarahspeakstome #
- Just found out that I need 8000 L.E of Dental work!!!! Still cheaper than USA and UK…. #
- @ryanluikens , That is an awesome commercial. I never knew it was Spike Jonze though! in reply to ryanluikens #
- @Charitytalent , I have not been there yet. What kind of goods did you pick up? Do they have clothes and fresh produce there? in reply to Charitytalent #
- @McFlurrio , Yum they are pretty darn good. I had to resist the cookies in Cilantro when I wandered past this evening! in reply to McFlurrio #
- @arabist , Awesome little article, thanks for that in reply to arabist #
- @Dina_Hussein , Oh! I have not been outside yet. Cairo as a Ghost town sounds unbelievable! #
- @salmansqadeer , That is one awesome set of tutorials… I think I will try and work through them one by one… #
- @nsabry , Yum yum… Where would a Cairo Newbie go for such delights? in reply to nsabry #
- @DescalzaDiary , I know… I was thinking the same thing! in reply to DescalzaDiary #
- @shadysamir , Is it likely to get busy later? Do you know of good places near Maadi for a new person in town to enjoy Ramadan festivities? in reply to shadysamir #
- @waelabbas , Montreal is awesome too if you get a chance to be there. I just finished living there for two years. in reply to waelabbas #
- @markjaffrey , Thanks very much…. It's good to get some feedback. I have only just started it but hopefully will find some readers soon. in reply to markjaffrey #
- @DescalzaDiary , Great post. in reply to DescalzaDiary #
- @WaleedNassar , What a cool site…. I have been here two weeks and am in love with Koshary! #
- @WaleedNassar , I have only found one so far. A fast food place on the side of Maadi Grand Mall… I think it is called A…. in reply to WaleedNassar #
- @WaleedNassar ,… The Koshary was nice but they didn't give very many chickpeas! in reply to WaleedNassar #
- @DescalzaDiary , Please let me know how it is. I have TD now and it's pretty good but know what you mean about it being not quite right! in reply to DescalzaDiary #
- @cultoftravel , Oh no that's ashame, I was really looking forward to trying them! Guess I have to wait. in reply to cultoftravel #
- @cultoftravel , Thanks… Maybe I will check it out next time I am downtown. in reply to cultoftravel #
- @cultoftravel , Not yet… I have not been out of the house in the last two days. Know anywhere good near Maadi? in reply to cultoftravel #
- @cultoftravel , Ah cool. How is downtown? in reply to cultoftravel #
Today is the first day of Ramadan and the streets of Cairo are particularily quiet, which is kinda eery…
I cam to Cairo pretty recently and I knew that Ramadan was coming up but to be honest did not know much about it apart from the fact that it could be hard to get paperwork done and some shops and reaturants may be a lot more closed than they usually are. Obviously there is much more than that to it!
Ramadan is the Muslim holy month. A time in which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. No liquid or food is supposed to pass the lips of a Muslim during Ramadan. From my short period in Cairo I know this must be nearly impossible! I have a lot of respect for anyone who manages it.
During the evening when the sun finally falls the partying starts with prayer, food, music and general good times with friends and family.
The Koran was revealed to Mohammed suring this month and the Egyptians sure know how to celebrate this.
For more info on Ramadan see Wikipedia’s page: Ramadan
I am really looking forward to some of the festivities.
Ramadan Kareem.
Please leave your thoughts and comments
I woke up today expecting my Apple Mac laptop to have picked up on Egypt’s Daylight Saving this year and change the clock automatically for me. However it seems that it did not and I have had to change it manually!
Today is Friday 21st August 2009 and at 12:00am this morning the clocks went back by one hour. Sadly it seems that many world time servers have not picked up on this yet so it could cause some confusion.
Just so that you can be sure, this website shows the current correct time for Cairo:
Thanks,
Forest.
I moved into my new Maadi apartment about a week ago and as I work online I needed to get my net connection worked out quickly. I took a look at the various companies offering ADSL service in Cairo including TE Data, Etisalat and Link but I have a Vodafone store just near my house and they are a company that I have used with pleasure in the past.
So just 4 days ago I walked into the store and asked for pricing on their ADSL lines. And I think they were pretty reasonable compared to other companies.
(prices on 19th August 2009)
Upto 1mbps - 122 L.E per month (approx $24 USD)- Upto 2mbps - 222 L.E per month (approx $40 USD)
- Upto 8mbps - 555 L.E per month (approx $100 USD)
Like all Egyptian ADSL packages these are all subject to fair usage policy which slows down your connection to 128kbps after a certain amount of data has been downloaded (1mbps = 40gb, 2mbps = 60mb, 8mbps = 120gb).
So to start off I ordered the 1mb line just so I could test and see if this was right for me. All I needed was my passport, my land line number and a Vodafone cell phone. I happened to have purchased a vodafone sim card for pay as you go on arrival. It cost me 20 L.E and I inserted it in my UK Phone…. It’s working like a treat.
The shop assistant filled out the forms and told me I would get a call in 4-5 days….. 2 days later the call came. The asked if they could come and install that evening but I was busy. So I booked an appointment for two days later today) at 1pm.
This morning I received a call and the technician asked if he could come early. I was around so I said yes.
He turned up, installed the router in about two minutes, had me sign a form and Voila, I had Wireless ADSL internet.
The only thing i had left to do was pay. To pay all you do is top up your pay as you go phone with the correct amount and then Vodafone take it off your balance. It could not be more simple!
So far it’s been nothing but a pleasant and easy experience and the connection is working well with two laptops and an xbox 360.
Highly recommended….. Especially as before my arrival many people told me it could take months to get the lazy companies to come and install! I am glad they were wrong.
This is not a paid review and is solely my opinion…
I just moved to Maadi, an area about 5 miles south of downtown Cairo full of rich expats and middle class Egyptians. So like an upstanding member of the Maadi community one of the first things I did was go and check out Maadi Grand Mall.
From the outside I would guess the mall was built in the 50’s or so. A pretty grand building and quite tall for area.
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vagabondblogger/482957477/
Considering that I don’t really like shopping that much I knew I best just get inside the mall and get my recon mission over and done with.
Stepping into the mall my first impressions were that it felt a little cramped. Low ceilings are something that modern architects tend to avoid and for good reason. Also the general feel of the place was a little outdated.
However the small ceilings and compact design of the mall actually do it some favors. Once you start wondering you realize the building that initially feels small actually packs in a huge amount of retail spaces and from a Western perspective you have no need to feel homesick. Brands from Nike, Puma and Adidas to Timberland and Hush Puppies adorn the 6 (I think!) floors. Each floor is simply laid out so it does not take too long to scope around.
Also there are plenty of local businesses too so whatever you needs from internet cafes to kitchen ware can be found under one air conditioned roof.
The very bottom floor has a pretty decent looking food court with a variety of Egyptian cuisine on hand and a fairly airy feel compared to the rest of the mall.
Oh and they also have a cinema showing many English language titles, with Arabic subtitles.
Although i am not a big fan of shopping or malls I give MGM a big thumbs up for convenience and sheer amount of stores available to me… I may never have to go downtown again!
- Yay my first tweet from Cairo…. will be back when I have something useful to say! #
If you buy fruits and vegetables from the open air markets (or anywhere for that matter) here in Cairo then you must wash them when you get home. This isn’t a huge deal and I find that it’s best to be done as soon as you return home. That way you can put it in your fridge and use it on demand.
I use a very simple method that so far has left me without any problems.
1. Fill a bowl with hot water and mix in a little dish soap. I use fairy. I’m sure anti bacterial hand soap would probably work for this too.
2. Fill a second bowl with cold clean water.
2. Get a small brush / pad and one by one give the vegetables/fruit a good scrub getting into all the cracks and removing all dirt.
3. Put each item into the clean water and allow to soak for 5-10 mins.
4. Drain and pat dry with a clean towel. I then cut off any rotten or weird looking bits and put them straight into the fridge.
Things like carrots and potatoes should always have their skins removed before eating.
If you have anything to add or any comments then please let me know
