Restaurant review: Love is...
...Never having to say you're sorry, insists Injy El-Kashef
There are some incidents in life which are major in their own right as well as in the domino effect that they produce, uncovering truths one could never have suspected: like the evil that lurks in all of us. Some are evil by second nature (and they are the worst), others are forced to do things that may be seen as evil, others still react in an evil way without realising it. But such is life.
I made a mistake -- many mistakes, in fact -- and the punishment I got for my mistakes was worse than anyone ever imagined. But, for some, seeing me plead for forgiveness, my face drowned by regretful tears was not enough.
And thus, when I went for breakfast at Coffee Berry, I went alone. Where is everyone all of a sudden? Why doesn't the phone ring at all? I guess I am being punished further, I am being ostracised. And no, this is not wallowing in self-pity, this is looking at the facts -- all of them.
Luckily, I was offered a wonderful book on my last birthday (Passing Time in the Loo, which others might read on the toilet seat, but I am too anxious to get to the back cover), and we all know that a book is one's best friend -- a book will still be there for you when fingers point "bad" in your direction, forgetting the wonderful saying of "al-rahma fawq al-adl" (mercy is above fairness). So off we drove, my book and I, to Coffee Berry.
I loved this new café. It is spacious and luminous. It is decorated in shades of brown and beige, like the Illy coffee with which hot and iced beverages are prepared. It is a very welcome addition to this particular spot in Heliopolis which has hitherto suffered from a quasi-total absence of decent hang-outs. And you know what? Every single customer who walked in there looked really friendly. Cool mothers with their kids; relaxed couples; low-key yet interesting-looking chaps sipping a coffee while reading the papers -- Coffee Berry is like a piece of sugar drawing all the nice ants of the neighbourhood out. (And, honestly, zi men over zere behind zi counter are quite nice.)
I started with a Spanish Omelette colourfully filled with capsicum and surrounded by slices of olives and warm toast. Ok, it was not mind-blowing and lacked parsley, but it was good enough for my shrunken appetite. I waited for my Caramel Crêpe to start on my double espresso. Little did I know what was to arrive. Not only were there two crêpes rolled like cannelloni in my plate, but they were also bathing in a huge amount of rich, warm caramel sauce of the most delicious type, with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream sitting between the two. A sip of coffee, a sip of water, a forkful of crêpe, and life suddenly seemed kinder. I wished my book had not been the only friend to share this lovely breakfast (for LE25) with me.
Beware, compassion makes the world go round. We are allowing evil to win.
Coffee Berry, 7 Mokhtar Hussein St, off Nadi Al-Shams, Heliopolis
Tel 620 0607
