Eating in Mohandiseen: From scary to all right

This week I thought why not leave my comfort zone, my beloved Zamalek, and head somewhere busier and more diverse? Mohandiseen was my choice. It has vivid shopping streets and a seemingly infinite number of eateries open there regularly. I landed on three new restaurants: A retro Lebanese lounge called Kanaka, an Italian/international bistro with a nice open-air area called Zucca, and a fine-dining restaurant called Gabriel.

Gabriel: Out of a horror movie

I understand the urge to create an impeccable fine-dining food experience in a world of fast food and take-out joints. But Gabriel, on Abdel Moneim Riyad street, gets it all wrong. The place immediately screams tacky. Black and gold wallpaper, black and gold chandeliers, black and gold marble flooring. It felt like stepping into Cruella de Vil's fortress (the golden version). An interior atrocity.

Despite the horror, I grabbed the black and gold menu, sat on a black and gold chair, and ordered myself a bowl of mushroom soup and pasta with scallops. A bread basket arrived quickly with hot fresh buns, but there were a fair few cold rolls that the waiter had obviously forgotten to heat. A small plate of herby butter tasted okay. The soup had chunky pieces of mushroom that looked nice, but at the bottom I found a soggy piece of toast soaked in some garlicky oil. I don’t know whether someone forgot it there, or if the chef got confused between mushroom and onion soup. Either way, off-putting.

Throughout, the waiters stared at me incessantly, which I found understandable since the place was deserted. No doubt they rarely got to experience human contact. I could hear the chef screaming “pick-up” from the kitchen. That’s how empty the place was.

My pasta (LE50) arrived. It was fishy to the extent that I thought those poor scallops had died on that plate a week ago. I was so traumatized by this that I was ready to fake a dramatic illness just to avoid eating it.

Everything about the place was nightmarish. On the bright side, I didn’t get food poisoning or develop a phobia of black and gold. I wasted LE100, but I was just happy to have gotten out of there.

Gabriel: 30 Abdel Monem Riyad Street, off El Batal Ahmed Abdel Aziz Street

Kanaka: A fair Lebanese experience

“Kanaka” in Arabic means a tea or a coffee pot. If you don’t know that, you’ll find out by visiting Kanaka on Midan Amman in Dokki — you won’t be able to avoid the huge gypsum version by the entrance. The interiors of the restaurant are white and blue and marvelously fresh. Light and airy white walls, floral arm chairs, and colorful wooden window shutters. But everything felt copied from somewhere else. Floral chairs and cushions are the signature of Zamalek’s Sequoia restaurant, as are decorative shutters. Other décor touches seemed directly inspired by Cairo’s many branches of Lebanese eatery Tamara.

I liked the place. I just hated the fact that no one thought of something original to do (other than the huge kanaka, but that looked dorky). The food was delicious, especially the Lebanese sausages dipped in sumac sauce (LE25) — super tasty, but also a Tamara signature plate. The fattoush  (LE20) was scrumptious — fresh lettuce and exactly the right mixture of sumac and pomegranate molasses. The vine leaves  (LE25) also exceeded my expectations. They were fresh, juicy and soaked in virgin olive oil and lemon juice, just as they should be. The sausage and cheese mana'ish (LE22) tasted more like Lebanese pizza though. I think they needed more of the topping and less of the dough and cheese. Overall, other being run by copycats, Kanaka is a good place to have a quick Lebanese bite. The service was fast and the waiters were efficient and friendly.

Kanaka: 48 Amman Square, Dokki.

Zucca: A lovely open-air patio

Zucca recently opened in the place of the now-defunct Makani Sushi, off Syria Street in Mohandiseen. The place looked so much bigger than it had before that I wondered how the previous owners had shrunk it into something so awfully gloomy. Now there’s a rather lovely open patio-like area with white wooden chairs and cute-looking traditional lanterns on each table.

The menu was comprehensive. Juices, smoothies, pizzas, pastas, and main courses that were mostly standard international, but with a focus on Italian.

I ordered an orange smoothie (LE19) that turned out to taste pretty much like lemon, but I didn’t mind because it was fresh and reasonably sweet. I also ordered a Hawaiian salad  (LE42) that I enjoyed to the last bite. It was an exuberant and involved a surprising mix of chicken, pineapple, and apple. The best I’ve had in a long time. The main ingredients were bathed in an abundance of iceberg lettuce. It was so rich in flavor that I would have taken out the mayonnaise, it wasn’t necessary.

My quatro fromaggi pasta  (LE35) was a little heavy, the penne looked like little fish floating on the surface of a sea of cheesy white sauce. I couldn’t finish it, but at least I wasn’t plotting how to escape.

I would definitely return to Zucca even for a quick cup of coffee on that lovely wooden patio. The service was fast and the maitre d'hotel was knowledgeable and friendly.

Zucca: 9 Amr St., off Syria St., Mohandiseen.