Chinese Lounge

Cairo Restaurants

Cairo 360 Rating

User Rating

11 Mohamed Ebeid St.
Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt.

Address

Chinese

Cuisine

0226906453

Telephone

Open

2pm - midnight

Chinese Lounge: Eat Well & Pay Less in Heliopolis

Published On: 18/06/2012

Offering food at a budget, it seems that the Karvin Hotel in Heliopolis is rapidly becoming a neighbourhood favourite. We were pleasantly surprised to discover Massala, one of the best Indian restaurants in town, and now their latest addition is the Chinese Lounge located on the ground floor.

The décor is nothing to write home about and looks like your average Chinese restaurant with fans on the wall and a lot of red accents. They have a long banquette on one side of the wall with an ample number of tables. We were initially a bit put off by a fried fast food smell coming out of the kitchen, but the aromas of a glass of wine (25LE) and a beer (15LE) helped us move past this.

We started with the hot and sour soup (18.50LE), which was overly spicy to the point where it completely lacked the sour element. By the end of the ordeal, we found ourselves immediately reaching for tissues to blow our nose and wipe the tears away. The fried potato with garlic sauce (14LE) on the other hand was delicious. The potatoes were fried in little balls and the garlic added an enjoyable, aromatic zest. The beef with ginger and garlic sauce (35LE) was also very pleasant, with the ginger and garlic complementing each other well without either overpowering the other. The beef tasted like it came from a good cut and it fried to a perfect outer crisp. The mixed vegetables (10LE) we got on the side were a bit unexciting but contributed to our daily vitamin intake. There are plenty of rice options but we just settled for the fried rice with egg (26LE) to allow the more hearty dishes to shine. Served with plenty of egg, the dish was too oily and it made it difficult for the garlic and ginger sauce from the beef dish to stick to the rice.

As seems to be the norm with the majority of restaurants in Cairo, the dishes at Chinese Lounge come in huge portions, and so you should keep this in mind if you’re planning a full-on three-course meal.

Overall, the food is commendable, the staff are polite and aren’t over attentive. The best thing at Chinese Lounge, however, is the prices. We ended up paying 260LE for a lot of food and drinks between three persons, which for this city is very reasonable.

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Near By

Massala at the Karvin Hotel: Finally, India comes to Heliopolis

The Karvin Hotel, Heliopolis

As a district of Cairo, Heliopolis isn’t known for its wealth of decent dining options. To test out this theory yourself, ask a friend where you can get excellent Indian food in Heliopolis. Puzzled look? Check. Scornful laugh? Check. Recommendations for Indian restaurants not in Heliopolis? Check. Rejoice, Heliopolitans; you now have a reason to be proud. Massala sits tucked away in a far corner of the Karvin Hotel lobby and has the atmosphere of a local restaurant in New Delhi. Salmon pink walls, decorated with tapestries and wood carvings of Indian deities and images contrast with tables topped with a metal sheet into which Indian designs are engraved. After being seated by the attentive wait staff, take a minute to appreciate the diverse menu. Caveat emptor: bring your friends and a healthy appetite. Start off your gustatory journey with the garlic naan (8LE), prepared to order; and the mint sauce, tamarind sauce and mango chutney– the best mango chutney you’ll have here in Cairo. While you’re at it, grab a plate of potato samosas (13LE) too. This may seem like a lot of carbs to load up with for appetisers, but the portions are even-handed; plus you should be sharing anyway. For the main course, continue your education with the chicken tikka, a demonstration on how it’s done right. The murgh makhani (46LE), aka butter chicken and a close relative of Chicken tikka masala, should not be missed. It arrives on the table, resplendent in a copper bowl, expecting your gratitude and thanks for the enjoyment that your taste buds are about to receive. Be forewarned: many menu offerings do not come with rice, but you’ll soon discover that it’s an excuse to try out another exquisite menu option: the biryani. If you’re coupling it with a meat main dish, then opt for the vegetable biryani. And remember to share; these portions tend to be on the larger end. Finally, end with a refreshing mango lassi or the almost sickly sweet gulab jamun (13LE), which swims in a syrupy sugar and coconut milk mixture. If you don’t have room for dessert, then head up to the rooftop for tea and shisha, while you digest the food and marvel at the cost effectiveness of the meal. Massala is not after your money; they're after your taste buds and the menu is priced accordingly. A meal for two will cost approximately 250LE excluding drinks, which are also available on the premises. Recently, they have begun offering home delivery, and are now linked on Otlob.com.

Related Review

Mr Wok: Chinese Street Food in Zamalek

122 26th of July St., Zamalek

From the brains behind Zamalek fast-food ventures Top Dawgs and Ali Baba, comes their latest gastronomy scheme to land on the sandy streets of Cairo. Mr Wok, as you might imagine, specialises in Asian cuisine of a particular kind; stir fry takeaway.

The shop itself is incredibly petite, though the kitchen manages to accommodate what seems like an army of stone-faced, ninja-speed chefs. The remaining space allows no more than three hungry patrons to line up in single-file with queues inevitably spilling out onto the street, where a few tables and chairs are neatly organised.

The process of deciding and ordering your food will at first seem a daunting task, though once you get into the swing of mixing-and-matching, the process becomes part of the charm of Mr Wok. After choosing your base, you’re encouraged to add no more than four extras – though they’re happy to oblige any kind of Frankenstein creation.

Beef, chicken, smoked duck, prawn and tofu cover the meat options, while everything from cashews and crushed peanuts to broccoli, pineapple and bamboo shoots are available for you to lace into your design, which is then polished off with a sauce – free of charge.

Sauce choices are suitably eclectic, with everything from sweet and sour to Szechuan on offer.

This is not strictly Chinese though. A serving made of jasmine rice (26LE), tofu (15LE), peppers (3LE) and pattaya sauce (Thai green curry sauce) made for a spicy curry delight, although it all felt a bit heavy and dry. The fresh peppers remedied that to an extent, but the tofu was cut up in such small segments that it slowly vanished into the rice with every stir. The lack of sauce and the subsequent extensive stirring to utilise said lacking sauce eventually turned the rice into a dry pulp. It’s a shame because it was ringing with flavour.

This wasn’t a problem for the udon noodles (31LE), which when matched up with beef (8LE), broccoli (3LE), fried onion (2LE) and soho sauce (toasted sesame sauce) went down a treat. The disappointment of the absent cashew nuts and the fact that most of the broccoli came in the form of one large stalk were only further compounded by an excessive amount of the otherwise fragrant toasted sesame sauce.

Similar sentiments apply to beef and soho sauce with egg noodles (26LE). The noodles were again cooked perfectly and the addition of shitake mushrooms (7LE) only sweetened the deal.

The cleverly assembled boxes that the food is served in are pretty robust and are designed as to not allow any sort of leakage. Those who aren’t versed in the art of chopsticks are spared the indignity of stain-on-shirt-embarrassment and provided with adequate plastic cutlery.

Mr Wok is by no means revolutionising dining in Cairo; prices are very steep for what, at the end of the day, is a brand of fast food that anywhere else in the world would be dirt cheap – but it does back up its gimmick with some substance.

This is far from being the highest quality Chinese you can find in the city, but maybe it’s not meant to be. It’s quick, easy, filling; the three pillars of fast-food.

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