There’s a dearth of decent Egyptian restaurants in Abu Dhabi and that’s a crying shame. Cairean cuisine provides a refreshing alternative to the MENA fare we’re used to in this city – typically Lebanese, occasionally Moroccan, very rarely Emirati.
Your favourites are nearly all here at Gad, of course, but they come with a twist. Egyptian houmous is a far more liquid affair – heavy on the tahini and garlic, and far less likely to stick to your flatbread – while the falafel (ta’amiya, in the local brogue) is made from fava beans and subsequently has a greenish hue not present in the Lebanese, chickpea variety. All of this is mopped up with what are, quite literally, bubbles of khubbs – flatbreads so fresh that the hot air inside has puffed them up into fist-sized balls. Great stuff.
Gad dispatched each of these wonderfully, though the real treat was the foul medammes; a bowl of mashed-up beans, liberal with the garlic and garnished with quarter slices of freshly boiled egg. We polished this off in reverential silence, barely a word uttered between us; a late-night treat, straight from the streets of Cairo. We were disappointed, however, to find that koushari, the macaroni and lentil- based Egyptian staple common to every Cairean restaurant, was finished for the day. In its absence, we took the opportunity to try something called Viagra (our incredulous waiter: ‘What do you mean, “what is Viagra?” It’s Viagra!’) It wasn’t, of course. It was essentially a variety of fish and crustaceans deep fried in a batter heavy enough to make a Scotsman blush. Greasy and somewhat anticlimactic, this was the only disappointment among an otherwise fine selection of mezze dishes and fresh salads.
The venue itself was fairly nondescript, decked out in the kind of grey marble interior you might find at the passport office, but the waiters were continuously friendly, trying extra hard to accommodate us despite their limited English. We arrived late and it was still bustling. For families, private booths were available, and there was an overall sense that this was a buoyant little business, popular with its regulars, happily oblivious to the modernisation going on around it. If you’re in the area, it’s well worth getting acquainted.
The bill (for two)
Foul medammes Dhs13
Houmous Dhs4
Viagra Dhs50
Coca Cola Dhs2
Water Dhs3
Total Dhs72
