Restaurant review: Leap of faith We climbed the sidewalk and scanned the horizon A great nation is being born, a great nation with solid financial indices and a great bone structure. Economic growth will pick up to six per cent before you say QIZ, I am told. Real estate and construction growth runs at 15 per cent, with a prospect of 25 per cent around the next demolished villa. And sidewalk elevation, the only true yardstick of a nation's greatness, rises by one or two inches per year. The day will come when we will walk on sidewalks and look down upon rooftops of adjacent buildings. The day will come when a new, literally higher, culture will emerge, complete with a new social structure, ethics, and art on the sidewalk. A new breed of humans with superb knees and slightly stooped gait will rise above the rest of humanity. And who will that be? Just look at our sidewalks and you'll know. We may have lost the latitude (north-south) duel, but when the altitude conflict emerges, we will be ready. So, stand on the sidewalk and look into the horizons. The future is ours. I am with three friends and a child who can climb objects that are as high as his ear by just putting one foot up and hopping slightly with the other. The child only started walking a few months ago, but most of his walking was done on appropriately high sidewalks, hence the advantage. We're proud of him and want to boost his genetic development. So, we all go for a meal high on phosphorus and calcium. Port Said, where we are dining, is a city in transition. It may have lost its free trade zone privileges, but not its quest for urban ambiance. Half the sidewalks are up to Cairo's 20-inch standard. The other half, soon to be remodelled, are still at a measly, emasculated five-inch high. The restaurant we're going to is a sidewalk prefab, one-level establishment. And yet, in anticipation of things to come, it calls itself Al-Borg (the tower). It is a Mediterranean affair, simple, rustic, nothing ostentatious. It can seat perhaps 200 people, and feed them within an hour or two. We start out with fish soup that came spicy and full of miniature crabs. I hold one in my hand and wonder if I should eat the shell for extra calcium. Then, I am distracted by the grilled calamari, which comes shredded, like potato wedges, spiced, fibrous but not chewy. A molokhiya with shrimps arrives next, delicious and soon forgotten as the prawns on skewers arrive. I am not sure if the concept of pacing the appetisers is quite understood here. This is the second fish place I go to this month where the appetisers are splendid, but arrive in haste, the meal moments later, which turns the experience of dining into a race, not the intended promenade. An arous fish comes next, part grilled and part fried, each side in a separate plate. A friend who has asked for a separate grilled lute fish abandons his perfectly tasty plate to dig into the arous. Then he gets confused and continues to eat from two plates, then three, then four. The carbon of the arous grill has infiltrated the meat, impregnating it with a flavour that is dark and musty. We over-order as usual, but an hour later there is little left on the table, and we can hardly move. But we have to move, to the next table, where desserts are served, compliment of the chef -- rice pudding, not too sweet, and fruit salad. My three companions are seafood lovers who often dine in Alexandria on weekends. "I rank this with the best. No, wait. I think this is the best," one says. Al-Borg Restaurant, (066) 332 3442, Tarh Al-Bahr Street, Port Said, open 11am to 1am, offers delightful seafood in easy-going, prefab ambiance. Very fast but friendly service. Alcohol not available. Dinner for four, LE450. By Nabil Shawkat
