Economic and Racial profiling for the dine-out crowd

November 8, 2010 2 Comments

Did you know IKEA will be opening in Cairo soon? Yeah, I’m excited about it too. Not just because of the affordable foldable Scandinavian designs, but also because of the Swedish meatballs and lingonberry jam served at the IKEA café (swallow your disdain; the combination of sweet with the tart and savory is a gastronomic experience).

Excited as I may be, it is nonetheless an excitement tempered by trepidation. You see there is a most regrettable practice in Egypt – Cairo in particular – regarding restaurants/cafes: The Minimum Charge. Initially intended as a way to improve the bottom line for the restaurant owner, the “Minimum Charge” now seems to be used as a screening filter for the clientele. The mechanics of the scheme are very simple: demand a high enough “minimum charge” and the lesser fortunate “B and C classes” will not come. This is economic profiling in action – your value as a customer is directly proportional to the fatness of your wallet. Read more of this post

Filed under cairo food, egypt food, No Food, Just Thought, Verbal Diarrhea

Holy Chutney, Batman!

July 8, 2010 2 Comments

Yikes!

The last time I posted was almost 6 weeks ago – and even that was barely a post; more like a compendium of links to stuff I’ve written for the good folks over at Cairo 360. But I haven’t been lazy; just insanely busy. Busy doing what? you ask. Well, my knee jerk answer to that question would be “None of your bidniss”, but then again, I’m making it your business by writing this post, right?

So what have I been doing? Writing more and more articles for cairo 360, eating well, and compiling a list of the recipes I used for the dishes photographed on the facebook page. Soon, you will have all of my secrets; but like a well fed golden goose; I keep on laying great tasting eggs. Err… maybe not the best analogy, but you get it.

More recently, I’ve been lucky enough to work with Ayman Samir, chef/owner of The Cellar Door bistro in Maadi. There are some very exciting developments, and the chance to create a new menu with an experienced professional first hand is something I’ve been dying to do for a few years now. Conflict of interest aside, I’d highly recommend a visit to the restaurant, if only to sample the sublime tuna carpaccio and the duck confit tagliatelle. Otherwise, order something from the specials menu, which brings classical, clean flavors to new heights.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking of starting the fast food fast anew; the only exception to this year’s fast will be the omission of Subway and Doner Mania from the list of culprits to avoid. It’s not like I eat there everyday, anyways.

Keep it tight, and stay tuned.

Cooking Time: 3 minutes

Filed under No Food, Just Thought, Verbal Diarrhea Tagged with

Out there in the World

May 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

Ok, not so much about Cairo food – nor my own food for that matter – but this article caught my eye.

A 26-Page Brownie Recipe? Only At The Pentagon

Now, I’m all for standards while cooking; but I think this is overkill. I would hate to be the person tasked with writing this document. No doubt there were SOPS and templates to follow; but I can;t help but think the creation of this document was the source of some mid-level government employee’s loss of sanity.

Nuked, 30 seconds.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127058298&sc=fb&cc=fp

Filed under Verbal Diarrhea Tagged with ,

Happy Easter Weekend

April 2, 2010 1 Comment

Rejoice, for the long weekend has come! Doubtless half of you will be sat at home, unable to travel. The other half, myself included, will be en route to a sunny, sandy and simple sojourn in Sinai.

Easter is a great time for all; after much celebration, many part-time vegans will be able to return to a feast of flesh. Wear your meat pants, and bring an empty belly.

Happy Easter.

Filed under Verbal Diarrhea Tagged with ,

On Dropping the ball

February 18, 2010 Leave a Comment

Valentine’s day was quite a busy day for NHCIA.com; and I’ve been wondering why. It’s obvious now, but you have to understand that I do not commemorate or dignify valentine’s day valentine’s day if I can get away with it – and thankfully this year I can.

So if I totally missed out on writing up a quick list of restaurants to have that romantic dinner, then please consider it an omission of forgetfulness.

I just hope that no one went to Abu El Seed, Armada or the Zamalek JW Steakhouse.

Nuked, 1 Minute

Filed under Verbal Diarrhea Tagged with

Not Hungry Cuz I ate DOT COM!

November 3, 2009 2 Comments

Just registered the domain name; so now it should be easier than ever to read my sporadic and useless food postings!

Update bookmarks if you need to!

Cooking time 10 seconds

Filed under Verbal Diarrhea

Are you there?

May 19, 2009 Leave a Comment

Why so suprised? I’ve not posted for a while; because I’ve been too busy giving most of my material to CAMPUS magazine. Soon, though, I’ll be hitting the mainstream, contributing reviews for G-Mag as well; so stay tuned.

What’s in the pipeline?

Bone Marrow
Buffalo Burger
Site Redesign
Possible new contributor? Stay tuned.

Cooking Time

Nuked, 1 minute on Hi Power.

Filed under Verbal Diarrhea

Moving to wordpress

March 21, 2009 1 Comment

I’m trying out wordpress for the time being; to see if it’s a better fit than blogger. We’ll see.

Filed under Verbal Diarrhea

So…

October 28, 2008 Leave a Comment

Yeah.

It’s been way too long. I’ve left you cold and without mental sustenence for a few months now. Not that I haven;t been sampling the fare cairo has to offer – I just haven’t written it up yet.

Look forward to reviews/rants on:

Romano’s Macaroni Grill
Justine’s
Ruby Tuesday
Johnny Rocket
Crocodile Grill
The Best Hamburger in Cairo
The Best Koshary in Cairo

All this and more – if you’re lucky before the end of this year!

Till then, stay sweet, stay safe and keep on dancing!

Cooking Time…..2 Minutes

Filed under Verbal Diarrhea

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