Restaurant review: Swiss bliss Cheese for Iftar? Hanan Radwan takes a break from the traditional Ramadan fare There seems to be an unwritten sacred rule that for the first week of Ramadan, home-cooked Middle Eastern food is the only panacea for a famished stomach. But as Ramadan flits by, cravings for stuffed vegetables and konafa can be coaxed easily to give way to other gastronomic varieties. For many Egyptians, that means giving up a day of molokheya and sambousak in favour of pizza and burgers. The more adventurous can be seen milling around the tables of Chinese restaurants. But Swiss food? Apparently yes, as my friend and I discovered to our enormous delight. The reason is simple: a tiny outlet called Little Swiss. Opened a year ago, this charming eatery offers what many others in Cairo are striving in vain to dish up: tasty, unpretentious cuisine with ingredients that are flown in from their country of origin. Take away the high-rise buildings, the sweltering heat and the fleets of parked cars and you could well be in a Swiss chalet huddled on a remote hill on the fringes of Lucerne. Once inside, guests are greeted by a myriad of plump smiling Friesian cows beckoning from cloth paintings, chair upholstery and statuettes on a shelf. Most of the time, one or both of the Swiss proprietors -- Charlotte and Hans-Peter Ginter -- personally greet and chat with their guests, that is, when they are not too busy preparing the food themselves (there are no other chefs) or sorting out the bills. Cosy and homey are the twin themes of Little Swiss, and the Ginters' personal touch is omnipresent, from the miniature Swiss souvenirs on the shelves and the cuckoo clock oscillating quietly in the corner, to the cleanser and lotion in the bathrooms and the hand-picked CDs of Swiss folklore music crooning in the background. Very soon after we ordered, the Ginters put together our appetiser of air-dried beef and salami, a pretty array of chewy, slightly smoky cold cuts decorated with mildly pickled onions and cucumbers. Think Swiss food and the first two things that come to mind are milk chocolate and cheese fondue. Both can be enjoyed at Little Swiss in the freshest quality. Before our order of fondue arrived, Mohamed, the restaurant's sole waiter, placed and lit a small gas burner in the middle of our table and then returned with an earthenware pot brimming with golden melted cheese. The fondue is a mix of four types of cheese which Charlotte buys and personally carries from Switzerland and the names of which she will never disclose. I took my slender fondue fork, jammed it into the bowl of bread cubes and enjoyed rotating it in the sputtering liquid until my bread morsel was drenched with cheese. Warm and creamy, the cheese was tangy but did not leave a harsh after taste. A word of caution: the traditional Swiss fondue recipe requires the addition of white wine but customers like myself who do not consume alcohol can order their version without the merry cherry and the Ginters will happily oblige. And those, also like myself, who simply have to sink their teeth into meat at Iftar will be delighted with the restaurant's other specialty: a do-it-yourself meat table grill. On a small toaster-shaped device with a heated marble top, my friend and I enjoyed grilling strips of prime-cut chicken, beef and chicken sausages, turning them over with tiny wooden spatulas. Another warning: don't lose yourself too liberally in conversation as the tender meat requires only a few minutes on each side to cook to perfection. The meat grill comes with a tiny bowl of basmati rice and mini-glasses filled with four sauces: garlic, curry, a ketchup- mayonnaise blend and a reddish-brown paste with a hint of dried fruit. Feeling ravenous, we also ordered the raclette, a piquant Swiss cheese served in slices that are placed at the base of the grill. The resulting gooey melt is enjoyed with steamed potatoes, tomatoes, onions and slices of fresh pineapple. During a previous visit, a friend and I had shared the Toblerone fondue, a warm pool of luscious caramel-speckled chocolate into which we dipped cubes of fruit and marshmallows. The experience reminded me of my childhood wish to find Paradise filled with nothing but melted chocolate. Since good quality comes at a price, a meal at Little Swiss is expensive. But the good news in Ramadan is a selection of set menus that the restaurant offers at prices that are kinder on the wallet. For a meal that good, who can complain? Little Swiss 21 Road 254 Degla, Maadi Telephone: 2519 7655 Dinner for two: LE500
