18 - 24 January 2001
Issue No.517
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 18 - 24 January 2001 Issue No.517 |
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Fishing for compliments
Discoveries are of an ambiguous nature: they beg to be, well, discovered, waiting only for the right circumstances -- including the discoverer; yet once they are discovered they have a way of metamorphosing, for better or worse, into something other than what they were at the moment of discovery. The discovery in question here is no less than a fish restaurant called Asmak Al-Sultan. Why is it a discovery? For the simple reason that I, personally, did not know of its existence until a few days ago.
At around midnight, we began wondering what restaurant we could review -- and that, in itself, is a challenge. The choice fell on Asmak Al-Sultan since it is close to work. Quite honestly, sometimes, not often but sometimes, a nasty snobbism creeps into my character and makes me ask questions like "Is it clean enough? Is it very very sha'bi?" or makes me go somewhere with slightly drawn lips. ‚a arrive. The sight with which I was met at Al-Sultan, however, dissipated all such concerns. A huge display table was the freezing home to many a sea creature lying nonchalantly among the ice. Such exhibitionism!
We've been tricked before in similar setups, however, and this time proceeded with more care, realising that just because the goods are raw does not mean they cost less. We made the man weigh every single order and add it up right there and then, in shock and disbelief. What you don't know can't hurt you, as they say, but we unfortunately learned that night that every single fish restaurant we'd been to our entire lives had been a rip-off.
We began with delicious marinara soup, where chunks of fish swam lazily about. We had instructed the waiter to bring orders one at a time, as Al-Sultan tends to drop everything in one go -- not a very good idea in the winter. Next came half a kilo of deep-fried calamari.
Let's make one thing clear to avoid cumbersome repetition: every single bite of that meal was absolutely succulent. There is not one negative remark I could make about the food -- except for the tehina, which was not exactly right -- although Neptune knows what kind of disposition I was in, leaving the office at that hour.
Back to the calamari: they were tender, not chewy (according to the guys over there, Alexandrian calamari are better because they escape the rubbery fate of their Suez counterparts), fried to a perfect golden crispness. Next came the fried morgan's sweet meat, contrasting beautifully with the slightly-too-salty batter. The inside of the fish included nothing by way of herbs or spices but was not at all repulsively fishy. Another surprise was in the taste and quantity of shrimps: eight whole huge shrimps, grilled and juicy, for what would get you a handful of tiny crustaceans somewhere else. We could not resist having one (imported) Atlantic crab, with its huge claws full of meat; nor could my husband ignore the idea of a fried eel. Last but certainly not least was a medium-sized grey mullet cooked sengari-style with lots of onions, tomatoes and peppers. No rice, no dessert, just one big seafood meal in a modest but clean setting for LE130 -- crossing my fingers for fear of a metamorphosis.
Asmak Al-Sultan, 77, 26 July St,
Bulaq Abul-Ela.
Tel: 5789626/ 5767193/ 5757098
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