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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 June 2000 Issue No. 484 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 June 2000 Issue No. 484
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Wish upon a fish
By Injy El-KashefIt's not easy operating a seafood restaurant. The first tough decision to take is whether you're going to do it the good old baladi way or prefer to go afrangi. The first can simply be described as straightforward and down-to-earth, with the emphasis on taste, freshness and quantity. The second, on the other hand, may find presentation and elegance more worthy of attention.
The subject of this review is clearly more inclined toward going straight, and that is why it's called Samakmak, not La Crevette or Neptune. This, the Madinet Nasr branch, only opened a few months ago, after a 10-year silence following the inauguration of the Mohandessin branch -- itself a young sibling of the Alexandria original. This latest offspring is not a very large affair, housing only a few indoor tables besides the outdoor seating arrangement.
If you are one of those people who, during the day, are only exposed to the light coming from their refrigerator, a trip to Samakmak for lunch may be just what you need, even if you feel you should wear sunblock. It would be a nice venture out of the ordinary course of your life. You get to choose your fish raw and see what a calamari looks like before it's sliced up and covered in a crisp batter. It has many tentacles and big black eyes. You get to choose the price that you are comfortable with from a range of LE80 to LE150 a kilo.
We started with seafood soup, which included clams, shrimps, calamari (not good in soup -- too chewy!) and pieces of crab (legs and all) with some meat in them. Very good soup, without obtrusive fishy smells. A quarter kilo of grilled shrimp followed, although it should be mentioned that they had clearly been grilled inside an oven, not atop a live fire.
A quarter of fried calamari was so succulent that it was followed by another quarter. Frying calamari is an art, and the Samakmak chefs obviously have a flair for it.
We saved the seafood rice for the meatier part of our order: a Mediterranean fish going by the Arabic name of miyas and another by that of waqqar. The first was cooked sengari style, meaning that it is sliced flat open to resemble a sole and then seasoned with spices, onions and fresh tomatoes before going into the oven. The second was cooked with lemon, garlic and oil. Both were very good, although I wouldn't call them mind-blowing, and certainly quite fresh. Baladi-style isn't always better, but it certainly has a way of imposing itself. It is important to note that at Samakmak, they wish for the fish to speak for itself, without much assistance from other ingredients. Definitely worth a try.
This dinner came to LE160, but will be more costly if you wish to wash it down with some wine.
Samakmak, 19 Abul-Atahiya Street, opposite Wonderland Mall, Madinet Nasr.
Tel: 2753513/2739670
