Restaurant review: My guilty pleasure She's no Audrey Hepburn and we weren't paying a visit to Sally Tomato, the Mafia boss in Sing Sing, croons Gamal Nkrumah As my glamorous companion, a convincing Hollywood brunette, and I walk into what appeared to be the Elysian fields, a waiter sporting an apple green shirt and beige trousers springs to his feet, up to a normal height. Next, we are ushered in quietly to the only free table in this paradise. It wasn't Breakfast at Tiffany's, but luncheon at Cilantro. Actually, Cilantro's newly inaugurated garden feels like a slightly whimsical, albeit magical place right in the middle of Road Nine, halfway between Sakanat Maadi Metro Station and Maadi Station proper. Road Nine, Maadi, is peppered with bakeries and restaurants, a few of which are sit-down places where you can linger over gourmet dishes. The majority of the eateries in this particular hub of Cairo's leafiest suburb, though, are small, packed-out joints where you can grab a drink and order something to eat standing up for just a few minutes before moving on. Mooching along from one eatery to another can be a most pleasing pastime. Indeed, the best way to experience Maadi's main thoroughfare is on foot. I suggest a fishy start but it is summarily rejected. She summons the pistachio bedecked waiter with the air of a woman who always gets what she wants. She was ripping the crust off richly buttered garlic bread with her freshly varnished russet fingernails. Our main course arrives, but the brunette by my side barely notices. "You are not too fond of chicken, are you?" she observes, searching my face with intense brown eyes. Her Teutonic style of delivery is such that I cannot truly tell whether she is bantering, needling or flirting. My companion is a historian. "I have always been especially intrigued about history. However, we are not here for history, we are here to eat," she crackles. I glance at my watch and point out that I should get the cheque. "You seem to be in a rush," she chides playfully. "You really need to loosen up a little bit." Last, but not least, the long-awaited coffee arrives to wash it all down. The coffee looked and tasted a little like clotted cream and a bizarre burnished jam, with a lick more chocolate than expected. "Let's end this with double espressos," she quivers with effected ecstasy. How she remains so trim and seductive is a mystery given how much she can eat and drink. "I don't indulge. That's the secret," she quips. Cilantro Garden Road Nine, Maadi
