Restaurant review: Good hunting Hanan Radwan finds a restaurant offering all the meat you can eat Imagine yourself in Kenya, back from a hunting trip when wild game was free and plentiful. Too squeamish to kill an animal, you spot the beast of your choice, point your finger, and let your assistant hunters do the job. Then you relax by one of Kenya's rivers while butlers serve you the meat chargrilled on skewers. Good hunting, you might say to yourself complacently. At Carnivore restaurant, you can live out this fantasy. Without soiling your hands or staining your shirt, you can enjoy "all the meat you can eat," while listening to Kenyan music and chatting with Kenyan waiters, all in the heart of Cairo. True to its name, Carnivore offers game galore at a fixed price on the banks of the Nile. First established in Kenya, the restaurant has since branched out to Johannesburg. Its newly opened offshoot in Cairo is the first in the Middle East. My friend only stayed with me for five minutes before she left for an appointment. Staring at the statues of African deities squatting in each corner, the warrior shields and pirogues hanging from the wall, the zebra hide draping the lanterns and upholstery, and the African couple talking animatedly at the table next to mine, I entertained a fleeting fantasy. Had my friend dropped me off in Mombassa before rushing back to Cairo? But no: there was the sound of Egyptian pop music blaring from a passing boat and the waiter asking me in Arabic what I wanted to order. The show began. The waiter placed a small wooden pyramid with a flag perched at its apex on which the restaurant's name was printed on my table. He explained the rules of the game. As long as the flag was up, the waiters would keep on serving skewer after skewer of meat until I couldn't eat any more. When that point came, I would need to push the pyramid onto its side to make them stop. When I felt ready for dessert, I could set the pyramid upright, this time removing the flag. I hoisted my flag, rubbed my palms in the wet towel served by Frances, an amiable waiter from southern Kenya, and waited in anticipation. First came a wooden slab on which a loaf of crusty homemade bread rested alongside a small clay cup of butter. Next, I was served soup of the day, a fennel-cucumber grainy broth that was rather bland, but satisfying. Then Frances arrived carrying "Lazy Suzie", a double- deck revolving tray laced with six small salad bowls on the bottom and six cups of sauce for the meat on the top. I took my time rotating Lazy Suzie and nibbling at the contents of the salad bowls: creamy coleslaw, sweet fried eggplant, garden mixed salad, crunchy corn kernels bathed in a sweet curry paste, spicy tomato cubes doused with lemon and sprinkled with coriander, and a bowl of Egyptian fried rice. Suddenly, the music stopped. A group of waiters stood around a table chanting "Hakuna Matata" to an embarrassed young lady who was out celebrating her birthday. However, all this was only the beginning of the show. No sooner had the waiter placed a hot iron plate in front of me than I was besieged by a succession of skewers, each wrapped with a different kind of barbequed meat. As the waiter stood the skewer on my plate and eased slices of meat off it, he gave me valuable advice: the garlic sauce on Lazy Suzie is best eaten with lemon chicken, chicken livers and chicken tikka; the mint sauce teams up well with the lamb chops, the Malawi sauce (tomato puree blended with vinegar and spices) goes with the ostrich meat balls; the pineapple salsa with the turkey; the barbeque sauce with the beef; and the sweet chili sauce can be slathered on everything. To be brief, each kind of meat was moist, well-spiced and grilled to perfection. When I could not take any more, I surrendered my flag and enjoyed a muddy chocolate mousse slice with homemade vanilla ice-cream. Not a bad day's hunting, I mused. Carnivore 23 Nile Street, Giza Telephone: 016 669 4040 Dinner for one: LE169
