Restaurant review: A touch topsy-turvy At this café, the pairing of old and young proliferates with a whiff of smoke, sniffs Gamal Nkrumah In most Cairene bar-restaurants, the service tends to be flaky and inattentive. Not so in Deals, where, although busy especially on Thursday evenings, customers never see to have to wait to get served. I am at any rate not au fait with how one should address waiters. As far as the food, though, is concerned, think fuel, and not fine dining. It has a typical bar menu, burgers, pastas and fish and chips. It is definitely not Cairo's culinary tour de force. Still, it is great value for money. The large a la carte menu contains a varied selection of scrumptious edibles. The portions are colossal, Americans call this sort of size generous, and for Europeans the portions are oversized. The sauces are invariably very rich and buttery. A big and beefy American balances precariously on his seat and orders a burger and a Heineken draft beer. With his long dishevelled beard and garage mechanic cap he doesn't look like a man of metropolitan Cairo, but rather of the American Mid-West or maybe the Deep South. He's too drunk for me to make out the accent. But he speaks Arabic pretty smoothly, too. You can tell that in his youth he tried every drug that was going, but never got hooked on them too deep. Yet Deals is no bohemian hangout. The thoroughly informal ambiance appeals to people of all ages. Deals draws a delightful jumble of mismatched customers -- young Egyptians with gelled hairstyles and expatriate old-timers tapping their feet to hip-hop. Everyone socialises with abandon. This is a homely pub. Antique furnishings and extra tall swivel barstools add plenty of character to this cosy watering hole. Deals is perfect for those who crave café- hopping in Cairo, and particularly in Zamalek. I often drop by alone. I enjoy sitting there and watching people talking and occasionally joining in. It is a quirky corner with its own eccentric character. The place, after all, does attract an eclectic clientele. The dishes were well executed and the service friendly. I couldn't resist the Chicken Kiev. Whiling away the time, nibbling has become a favourite pastime of my friends and me. It is a great spot for people-watching, for taking the pulse of this most paradoxical of Cairo's corners. Stuffed into a casing of succulent chicken breasts, the bird came almost by accident. On the evening I was there, an American friend craved it. It oozed herb-infused butter. We skipped the appetisers. Haute cuisine and serious cooking are not to be had at Deals. The food, though, was very good. The sea bass was flawless. The menu didn't specify if the fish was served on the bone. Three slices of fish were accompanied by a selection of sautéed seasonal vegetables. A coterie of young waiters hovered around to make sure everything was in perfect order. You only have to go a couple of times and they remember you and greet you even more warmly as if they are old friends, and in a sense they are for me personally. That is why Deals has such an enormous number of devotees. And, it has a peculiar sense of its own gastronomic heritage. The portions are generous, often generous to a fault. The beer is reasonably priced. I tucked in with relish, but my appetite soon palled. When the maitre d' noticed that I had barely touched my vegetables, he offered to replace them but I politely declined. The size or lack of it of this L-shaped establishment that opened in 1995 is a drawback. It can get unbearably stuffy and smoky at times. Deals was one of the first bar restaurant chains in Egypt. It is easy to understand why it has such a loyal body of customers. It is relatively inexpensive, the waiters are by and large amiable and friendly. Deals brings a concentration of pleasure in the dull time of the year, and retains a fervent clientele, not only from the vicinity of its immediate surroundings in the island suburb of Zamalek, but also from all over Cairo and Giza. The food is not bad, especially when the Stellas are flowing. Deals, any of its three branches -- Mohandessin, Heliopolis or Zamalek -- is nearly always a special treat. I focus on the Zamalek café. Deals 2 Al-Sayed Al-Bakry Street (off 26 July Street), Zamalek, Cairo Tel: 2736 0502 Dinner for two: LE250
