Injy El-Kashef will not take no for an answer It bewilders me how many people are just not aware of the restaurants in Downtown Cairo. When going to dinner the majority would not even think of Downtown as an option, like they would not think of it when on a shopping spree for example, choosing instead to head to Mohandessin, Zamalek or Heliopolis. Month after month I must ask them what exactly they think is wrong with Downtown restaurants and shoes and I never get a convincing answer, which leads me to conclude that it is simply a classist illogical stereotypical dislike of the first order. To prove my point I always try to take one of them with me, perfectly aware that they would rather be anywhere else but among the crowds, in the real city streets, window shopping for what they would not be caught dead in. I share their feelings about the majority of the fashions, yet there are always little hidden jewels that one finds when one looks and none that would be seen on anyone else since no other has been Downtown. The same applies to restaurants. Among the incredible amount of small businesses on every Downtown street corner, lacking in identity and in quality, there are the jewels -- and Arabesque is one of them. Although it is located on Qasr Al-Nil Street, it is easy to miss it as the doorway opens onto a corridor with the restaurant at its end, and is thus hidden from street view. Attached to the dining area is a respectable art gallery with changing exhibitions, attracting established as well as budding artists. The restaurant itself is very pleasant, decorated in the Islamic style with stained glass lamps, arches, mashrabiya and a white/blue colour scheme. It is fresh and cool even on the hottest summer day, often occupied by a number of quiet tables waited upon by dignified waiters who will not speak one word less or more than is required for a friendly, efficient service. The first thing my friend and I ordered were two Stellas, the coolest and fizziest we had in weeks, until we settled on our order. Arabesque will not offer you nouvelle cuisine, will not offer fusion dishes; it will offer classics of the Egyptian and international kitchen, with an obvious penchant for French plates. And that is exactly what we ordered: Egyptian mezze and a French main course. The vines leaves were the only detail I found objectionable, as they were too thick and rather greasy, but it did not diminish our appreciation of the good things that lay before us. Delicious chicken livers in garlic sauce, perfect Dawoud Pasha kofta in its spicy tomato sauce, wonderful baba ghannoug with distinct bits of aubergine, tangy and fresh tabboula with the perfect seasoning. Our main course was a Chateaubriand for two which the waiter elegantly brought on a tray, sliced up and delivered in our plates with the accompanying sauce. All quietly done, relaxed, pleasant. The meat was incredibly tender, the knife passing through it as though it were butter, cooked just as we ordered it: a real medium rare, for once. The portion reasonable and filling, the experience we had that day at Arabesque was one of the simplest and most down-to-earth daintiness. A varied and fresh fruit salad for me, a mehellabiya for him, and we were paying our LE147 bill with the biggest smile on our faces, ready again for the madness of Tahrir Square. Arabesque, 6 Qasr Al-Aini St, Downtown Tel 574 8677
