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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 June 2000 Issue No. 487 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 June 2000 Issue No. 487
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Focus Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Coconut dreams forever
By Injy El-KashefEvery time I think of The Place, I remember the miraculous Mushroom Soup at Il Galeone, and the thought fills my heart with a general sense of well-being and love of humanity. Based on that delightful experience a few months earlier, we trotted happily back to The Place, eager to lend ourselves to a new treat.
Shock and horror: this must be Plastic Land. In a nutshell, and in my modest opinion, Belle Vue drives at reproducing an image of Hawaii -- at any cost. A very friendly waiter wearing the typical "Hawaiian fun" printed shirt shows us to our table as he welcomes us to "the island of Hawaii." Cringe. There are big plastic banana leaves tied primitively to short lampposts. There are colourful plastic fruits (tropical and otherwise) dangling from the higher lampposts. There are plastic flower wreaths sitting right on the tables, encircling (real) candles. There are plastic plants inserted amidst the honest-to-God thing. There are many birds in cages hanging over our heads and -- the worst part is coming -- tiny little plastic/plaster/stuffed birds scattered among the real and plastic plants. Welcome to the Norman Bates Motel; do they hire people to dress like their mother and stab you in the shower with a plastic knife as special entertainment? Well, after all the plastic I've seen today, not even bottled water will find its way into my house ever again.
Our only consolation in the middle of so much man-made, simplistic and, quite honestly, really ugly "Hawaiian" reproductions was our waiter. If it weren't for his sweetness we would have probably just left -- if he could only just not wear that awful shirt.
My Koko Head (described as "pineapple juice and coconut cream in the coconut boat that's only the tip of the iceberg" -- what iceberg? in Hawaii?) took some time, and when it finally arrived I almost felt tears welling in my eyes: with the two plastic straws, there was a plastic pear with two plastic leaves stuck on a skewer and sitting in my cocktail. Something akin to resentment began to creep into my heart.
The appetisers (Chix Coco: fried chicken tenderloin coated with coconut and honey mustard and the Island Skewer: grilled fish with rosemary) were actually quite good. We were glad to have picked them among the four available options. As for the main course (and dessert) there are only two listed items (Maui's Delight: grilled chicken breast with ginger, pineapple and Teriyaki sauce and the Big D: grilled drake fish fillet with walnut and mustard sauce) and they sound much, much better than they taste. The appetisers were of significantly higher culinary quality, in fact. As for the two desserts, the Sweet Tooth (walnut and pumpkin pie with ice-cream) was not bad at all -- hard to believe it came out of the same kitchen as the main courses -- while the Let's Go Banana (fried coconut and banana with ice-cream) was neither good nor bad; apart from the ice cream scoop and the mixed fruits at the bottom, the rest was tasteless. And this for two cost LE165.
Two words should be used around me with caution henceforth: plastic and coconut. Otherwise, I'll do the shower stabbing.
Belle Vue, The Place Boat, Montaza Al-Gezira St (next to Gezira Sheraton) .
Tel: 341 1111
