1 - 7 February 2001
Issue No.519
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 1 - 7 February 2001 Issue No.519 |
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Resturant review
After hours
The problem with this restaurant reviewer is the crazy hours -- a real night owl. And for some obscure reason this city seems to have become a lot more sensible with its opening hours, so that when one is all dressed up with nowhere to go, there really seems to be nowhere to go. That's how we end up having dinner at places like Green Village: the product of sheer necessity.
Then again, Green Village is not at all unpleasant. On a warm summer night, with a large group of friends in the mood for some silliness and shisha, it might even be the logical preference; but at 1.00am, with one's dear spouse for company, in such freezing weather that one might contemplate removing one's hands from one's pockets only for self-defence in the face of overwhelming physical aggression, Green Village is not exactly a first choice.
It looks like a terribly reduced version of the Merryland (before the face-lift), pond and all, with the added effort of a cavern-type look. The waiters are sweet and quick, ready to go back to the kitchen as many times as it takes to provide any needed details of which they may not be aware -- like how big is the kebab portion.
Again, lamb was prevalent, as appears to be the case with every "Oriental grill" restaurant, and again I resorted to poultry. Specifically, I opted for grilled (semi)boneless chicken, which arrived sizzling hot, was quite good, and without the amount of skin that normally results in a pool of grease.
I had also ordered a mazalika (chicken livers in garlic sauce) sandwich to share with the hubby, which I had to abstain from because Green Village's idea of the ingredients was radically opposed to mine: instead of livers, they cook giblets and convince themselves it's normal. His order consisted of a quarter kilo of kofta and kebab which, to his dismay, cost as much as a whole kilo does most everywhere we've been.
Quite honestly, the food didn't blow our minds away; it was a meal, basically, and one that did not particularly encourage us to order dessert, especially when the available options were mahallabiya, fruit salad, jelly, and similar dull choices. What we ended up doing, however, was sharing a plain tobacco (mi'assel) shisha to send the food away, to where we couldn't feel it anymore. The shisha was not bad, and produced lots and lots of smoke, but it also helped us notice the music playing with every puff. Shock and horror: in the air was Hani Shaker. When I think of hell, I think of being locked in a room with arms tied to a chair and Hani Shaker wallowing in his misery at full blast. We paid our relatively hefty bill (LE89.15) and bid them farewell.
Green Village, Al-Nasr Road, Satellite area, Maadi.
Tel: 0101408202
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