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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 May 1999 Issue No. 429
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Table manners
By Andrew SteeleI had been advised to book before attempting dinner at Mashawina, one of the seemingly endless additions to the capital's repertoire of Lebanese venues. So book I duly did, and a whole day in advance. Scant lot of good it did us though, as will become clear.
Located off Nozha Street in Heliopolis, Mashawina is one of those venues which getting to requires even the savvy Heliopolitan to thumb through his or her aged A to Z. Better safe than sorry. Anyhow, after much cunning direction-giving to our gracious taxi driver, we arrived at its portal and entered with a flourish.
Now came the tricky bit. There was acknowledgement, albeit rather vague, of our booking. We were informed, however, somewhat brusquely, that despite the fact that many choicely positioned tables were indubitably people-free, we would, the maitre d' was very much afraid, have to make do with some dingy corner up the back passage. Such is life.
A table was quickly prepared while we stood in the way of the quietly flapping kitchen door, and chairs were drawn up in readiness. Once seated, the service we received became instantly slick. I must impart, however, that the more salubriously positioned tables remained empty throughout our meal.
Menus descended and we decided, as you do in a Lebanese bistro, to go heavy on the mezze initially, and then place a second, carnivorous order, once we had properly gauged how much meat we were likely to be able to squeeze in.
Cherished standards such as tahina, hummus and fattoush arrived promptly, along with more exotic contrivances including pomegranate bread, grilled red onion and grilled whole tomato. And here's how they rated:
The green dishes, tabboula and fattoush, boasted marvelously fresh veggies and leaves, but nary more than a soupçon of a very thin, watery dressing, which did nothing for them at all. The grilled things were also a tad dry. The tahina and hummus lacked a certain something, too. Olive oil is the answer. A generous slosh on all of the above would have perked them up no end. The chicken livers, however, were blissfully tender and had no nasty chewy bits of old vein to stick in your teeth and make you wince. A jolly nice rich brown sauce was pleasingly drizzled, but not to the point of drowning. And then there was the pomegranate bread. Two of us loved it and two of us loathed it. I was in the former camp: its wonderful bitterness and an after-twang which hit right at the back of the tongue made it, to my mind, a real winner. But there's no accounting for taste.
Satisfied, but hardly enamoured, we progressed to meat and poultry, having already been tantalised by the wafting of grill smellings from the ever-flapping door. Kofta with Lebanese spices was our dish of choice on the meat front, although I must add, that if you are a kofta fan, Mashawina had a very long list of varieties. It was moist and tasty, as was the excellent shish tawouk which accompanied. Quite what the Lebanese spices were we were unable to discern, but I'm sure a good shot of zaatar had got a look in somewhere.
All in all, one worth bearing in mind. Mezze and meat for four, along with several cans of Meister, came to an unastonishing LE210. When you book, perhaps indicate your dislike of flapping doors and dark corners.
Mashawina, 3 Abdel-Moneim Hafez Street, off Nozha Street, Heliopolis
Tel 2909816
