Restaurant review Stocking on pigeon Injy El-Kashef eats little helpless birds I knew about the Farahat branch a long time ago, when it first opened opposite the Merryland; what I had never heard of was the original, though for that I have no one to blame but myself. I am not crazy about pigeons, so I never followed the trail. Truth also be told, I hardly ever heard it being mentioned in conversation; its opening did not seem to come with a great bang at all, not even among pigeon-lovers. That night, however, I had ample chance to test whether or not my ignorance had been bliss. A dear friend seemed adamant that our party should sample Farahat's goods, and if we were not into pigeon, there was always kofta, kebab, tarb, moza, nifa, and most other juicy animal body parts -- basically, a vegetarian's nightmare. Although Farahat opened its new branch in a relatively decent part of Heliopolis, especially considering what the renovated Merryland has created of hype around the Roxy area, the restaurant itself retained its rather baladi original ambiance. Yes of course, the place is clean, but there is an unmistakable air about the behaviour of a waiter, like the way he carries the tray or places the order on the table, that instantly takes one to the heart of Al-Hussein. Unless of course it was our friend Mamdouh's approach that generated the initial feeling: he called them by their names, he joked, he threatened to tell the big hagg about the order being late (and very late it was) -- he played all the games, Mamdouh. The first and only thing to materialise in a flash was the pigeon stock, which came with lemon, as well as a selection of excellent mezze, that I don't recall anyone ordering, but that went down in a flash nonetheless. The baba ghannoug is not to be missed. I had only once tried pigeon stock, and I remember it being on a visit to a sick family member following an important surgery. Back then I couldn't understand the connection. Why pigeon stock for the ill, out of all stocks? Age does a lot -- yes, of good as well, but I am talking of the bad here -- and so I found myself understanding perfectly well why a sick person might benefit from pigeon stock this time around. Every sip fills you with energy, it regenerates, recharges the batteries, and that regardless of its wonderfully rich taste as well, at least at Farahat's. The stuffed pigeon, strangely enough, long preceded the order of grilled pigeons, both of which were devoured almost an hour before the kilo of kofta and kebab ever saw light of day. We ate as slowly as we could, waiting for our friend's food to arrive, but it never seemed to come. The pigeons were absolutely delicious, though not as fat as one may have hoped a pigeon to be. The skin is so thin that one would have to be annoyingly health conscious to discard it -- half the fun, and the taste, is in the skin after all. As for the kofta and kebab, although an hour late, it did not last five minutes on the table. Grilled to that exact brown, tender, nicely seasoned and totally lean, the meat was almost worth the incredibly unjustified delay (their excuse: our food is all fresh. Whatever.) This wholesome, nutritious, succulent and simple meal for a ridiculously low bill. Farahat, Al-Hegaz St, opposite the Merryland, Heliopolis.
