Restaurant review: Shrimpotherapy Suffer the little children? Less than the older ones, methinks When Viagra hit the Egyptian market a few years ago, Cook Door -- one of the nation's more successful answers to fast food -- immediately created their own version of the little magic blue pill. It was a sandwich, lo and behold, stuffed with baby shrimps and crabmeat (processed, of course -- ain't no fast food chain gonna shell them real crabs for ya hunny bunny), topped with melted mozzarella and bathing in a rich variation on Thousand Island dressing. Viagra sold like hot cakes and soon enough, naturally, climbed up the list of small-talk topics. Now I was never a big fan of Cook Door, despite my personal pride in new branches sprouting. Today, 16 doors are open in Cairo, two in Alexandria, one in each of Al-Mansoura and Port Said and one as far south as Assiut. A few weeks ago Muqattam residents cheered yet another fast food door on which to knock up on the hills -- Cook Door on a snazzy black and red façade. Spacious and well-lit, the Muqattam branch takes the regular standard up a notch, with a little terrace for open-air seating and a children's playground, a fleet of motorcycles like a dazzling metal fence along the sidewalk and enough personnel for good treatment. Though no prude, I must confess to being slightly embarrassed when asked if I wanted my Viagra sandwich grilled or fried. It lasted a flash, but something inside me indignantly wished it could protest that this was no way to treat a lady -- using the V- word in broad daylight and such. Just as I mumbled my answer, a schoolgirl ordered Viagras right, left and centre for the entire family -- with such ease a generation gap was evident enough to make me feel like a stooped granny trying to speak without losing the denture as her jaw drops in surprise. The next time we Cook Door, my little one is placing the order -- and that's final. This time he had a small Big Brooklyn pizza with ground beef, pepperoni and sausages (I know, so much meat -- but we were practicing for the big Eid), mushrooms, red onions, olives, tomatoes, green peppers and mozzarella. The dough is thick but fresh, greased enough to make the edges slightly crispy, and generous with its ingredients. It did not work well for me though -- Viagra was preferable by a long shot, especially accompanied by the Shrimp Ceasar Salad. Free association works: the word salad reminded me of why I was no Cook Door fan in the past; it was too healthy, and my reasoning dictated that if I was going to fast-food, I might as well sin my way through it. Solid logic, no? The salad greens were clean and crunchy, the shrimps rather on the scarce side but still flavoursome enough for a strong presence, and the dressing abundant though lacking in vinegar and garlic. Viagra won again. Dessert time and profiteroles are in order as the only item for sweet endings. Good profiteroles, a bit like molokheya, are extremely hard to come by, but a little risk taking never hurt anyone. I plunge the spoon in the chocolate; it is met with soft resistance; I press hard and a bit of severed choux reveals custard filling. The little one is watching me, waiting for my face; he sees delight -- and that was the last I saw of the profiteroles. Cook Door Road 9, Muqattam Tel: 5052421 - 5079391 11am-3am; Ramadan hours noon-3.30am Reviewed order: LE62 By Injy El-Kashef
