Restaurant review:
Merryland Fish Market
Gamal Nkrumah fishes for information about a seafood restaurant in an amusement
This outlet of the Fish Market bears little resemblance to any of its other namesakes. The restaurant, which has recently changed names and management, is tucked away in a relatively isolated corner of the otherwise boisterous Merryland, an amusement park in the heart of Heliopolis. Ordinarily, the Merryland is jam packed on weekends, and makes for tremendous fun for the kids and a hellish experience for their reluctant adult guardians. The park, however, was eerily quite that Saturday evening, much of its prospective clientele having fled the stifling heat of Cairo in the summer for seaside resorts.
The Merryland is dotted with restaurants, mainly Chinese, Italian and fast food, and the fish restaurant was empty. I do not as a rule frequent restaurants that are not teeming with diners as it is often an indicator that the food there is not up to par. I had second thoughts as we made ourselves comfortable and I looked across the lake at the twinkling lights emanating from the funfair.
You might miss the Corsetti Fish Market, Merryland, if you don't know exactly where to look. There isn't so much as a sign to mark its location, yet. It used to be called Asmak Al- Dawaran, a branch of perhaps the most famous fish place in Cairo, Dawaran Shubra.
Under the new management, it is still not quite clear what kind of eatery Corsetti is. It bears an Italian name, but so far only serves seafood. The service is friendly, efficient and discreet, possibly because we were the only clients.
The restaurants in the Merryland are especially convenient for families. Apart from the amusement park, the Merryland also has a "Dolphin Show". The lovable dolphins naturally are the star attractions, but the other sea creatures such as beluga whales and sea lions also display an impressive array of acrobatic tricks.
The Merryland can be an exhausting endeavour as the whole family ritually makes the rounds. We first took a gander at the black swans, grey geese and pink flamingoes, then went to the heart of the funfair, always starting with the bumper cars, then the merry-go-rounds. Next, a pedal-boat excursion in the lake, and off we go to watch the dolphins. By this time the adults at least are weary enough to steer their offspring off to dinner.
A world away, in the deserted restaurant, we inspected the fish, and it looked fresh. Most entrees are fried or grilled, but are prepared according to order. The only snag, complicating a restaurant review, was that nobody knew for sure what the restaurant was called. The Fish Market, proclaimed one waiter confidently. Asmak Al- Dawaran said another matter-of-factly. Neither said the head waiter, arguing it was Corsetti.
Regardless of the name, a waiter came to take our order: fried squid, grilled prawns and fried seabass steaks. The prawns were succulent, the seabass divine and the squid absolutely scrumptious. The seabass steaks were tender, juicy, and melted in the mouth. The kids loved the accompanying seafood rice, even though I thought it was a touch too greasy. "I'm having the last four prawns," my eldest declared and he promptly grabbed the dish. "Noooooo," yelled my youngest, pulling a pitiable face, imploring me to intervene with pleading eyes.
In the end, it really didn't matter what the restaurant was called as long as the kids so loved the seafood. The bill came to LE130, feeding an adult and two children, a typical cost for quality Cairo fish restaurants.
Merryland, Hegaz Street, Heliopolis
Tel 4512313 / 14 / 15 / 16
