Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 Nov. - 6 Dec. 2000 Issue No.510

Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters

Lamb land blues

By Injy El-Kashef

Everytime we go to the Merryland, we discover a new restaurant has opened. The new additions these days are Al-Dawaran (which will surely be the subject of a review as soon as we can afford it -- they have shrimps the size of barracudas) and Al-Khulkhal.

A sha'bi restaurant made chic under the circumstances, Al-Khulkhal (literally, anklet) houses both regular tables and tabliyas, which are, however, rather impractical since the cold and dirty floor is far from inviting to sit on. Taking our seats next to the now dry duck pound, I found, to my three o'clock, a high wooden box bearing the words "Wanted dead or life" along with the description of a reward. After the hysterics were over we began to wonder what such a far-Western construct was doing in Al-Khulkhal, of all the Merryland restaurants, the most Egyptian in style.

The menus arrived and with them a feeling that I had been cornered in lamb land. True, there was also a section for fetir, and one for fuul and falafil, but I wanted a grilled meaty bite first. I was left with no choice but the pigeon, since the only other option for me would have been boring chicken. My dining partner, on the other hand, had a multitude of choices to pick from, as he luckily does not suffer from my chronic lamb aversions.

The waiter suggested that along with our order he should serve us a side plate of halawiyat meshakella (selected sweets). I was going to point out that dessert can wait till later but refrained, realising that this may possibly be lamb-eaters jargon. True enough, a plate full of all body parts one usually thinks have been nicely discarded landed on our table: spleen, testicles, tongue, and the like (I'd really rather skip it).

That was the sweets. My partner also had a quarter kilo of kebab and kofta and a dish of kawari' (the portions are rather small and, except for the stuffed vine-leaves with the latter, are not accompanied by any carbohydrates). Salads were alright -- except for the tehina, which was too watery. What was a lot of fun was the small plastic cup of salad water they provide with your main course. It reminded me of when we were much younger and my sister and I used to fight over the salad water, only to get the killer looks from my parents.

My pigeons were quite good, although on the smaller side, but clearly not as good as the meat situation on the table which was devoured with gusto.

For dessert we had fetir (there was no other option on the menu anyway). The funny waiter brought the first saying "ishta and honey" and the second "sugar and mikassarat." Quite honestly, they were not so good. Not sweet enough, or nutty enough, or creamy enough. The shisha made up for it, however, as it was light and smooth (one shisha a year does not keep the doctor near, so it's okay). Good dinner, good music, good value at LE140 including tips, two birell, one tea and a shisha.

Al-Khulkhal, Merryland, Heliopolis.
Tel 451 2313

© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved

weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg