Restaurant review: Hone in on Haiku The consensus among Cairo's Japanese community is that Haiku is simply peerless Glasses are clinking where the light is liquid. The indistinct November light plays tricks, or rather theatrics, on diners as they dig in Japanese delicacies so compelling that they seem oblivious to the sleek culinary mise en scéne. I have only a few caveats in the disguise of décor so functional that one disregards the fact that it is a groomed gourmet haunt -- one of the slickest in town. "Haiku," she whispers. The word trips off her lips naturally. She shakes her head sagely. "Simple is best," she sighs. The Japanese chef, Hideo Setomoto, reputed to be among the best in the country, is unassuming. The cream of the Japanese community in Cairo recommends Haiku. Haiku is no small talk, though. Haiku poetry of closing years of the Edo era is composed of metrical units of five, seven and five syllables. Poets such as Basho, Yosa Buson and Kobayashi Issa perfected the 17-syllable verse. Haiku, a dinner-as-theatre spectacle, is elegantly enlivened by a menu featuring willowy cherry blossom and Harajuku girls, and specialises in such characteristically traditional Japanese cuisine as donburi and yakitori. "I think this is a most agreeable restaurant," my pretty companion spurts out with wide eyes shinning. Chef Hideto Setomoto smiles politely but passes no comment. "A lovely atmosphere," my companion adds as she carefully balances thinly sliced gyutan, ox tongue, on stylish chopsticks. "Correct," Setomoto replies curtly, still smiling. He approaches imperceptibly and opens the menu but barely glances at it. The bulk of the entry, however, is a long discourse on the enticements of Yakitori. "Donburi," he explains. "Yakitori," he extrapolates. Our main courses reach their desired destination -- our table -- with eye-catching chimera. The flaky porcelain white fish is served in its old ivory stewing broth, a rich liquid seasoned lavishly with mirin, wild mountain herbs and garlic and the customary condiments. That to the uninitiated, are imaginative variations on the gastronome Japanese theme -- a most discriminating fondness of sensuous pleasure. With hindsight, Hiaku is a reverie, a phantasm of the flustered melodrama of the Japanese diet. The restaurant in question is a fascinating one. It is in the vicinity of Cairo International Airport and it is sky high expensive, some would say excessively, exorbitantly so. Yet, for lovers of especially enticing Japanese edibles, this is a price well worth paying. Take the tebasaki chicken wings, drenched in dashi sauce and flavoured with shoyu and mirin -- a sweetish rice wine similar to the more famous Japanese sake, except that it has a much lower alcohol content -- and at any rate, the alcohol content evaporates. The golden lobes of its flesh glitters in the clear soup. The herbal pungency is all pervading. The reputation of Haiku rests on its quality cuisine. Take the salmon spring rolls, for instance. It was a delectable finger daubed in aromatic sesame sauce. The finger itself was fused with prawns, bruised with mango and peppered with lettuce. However, it was the salmon roe that brought the roll to life. The sashimi salad was another sensation altogether. Again, the salmon roe was one of the main mouthwatering ingredients but with red plum adding a biting taste to the tart salad. That's a lot of seafood. The teriyaki truffle sauce was first class. The green tea ice cream was a sensation. I mean it was heavenly. That's what it was. By the end of the evening, I am in a Haiku haze, haunted by the mysterious and magnificent scents of Japan. I'm hooked on Haiku and on all cultural treats Japanese. Haiku Fairmont Heliopolis and Towers Orouba Street, Cairo Tel: 2267 7730 Dinner for two: LE500
