The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Cafés
Hola Café

Hola Café: Spanish Café & Restaurant in Heliopolis

reviewed by
Basma Mostafa
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Hola Café: Spanish Café & Restaurant in Heliopolis

The Oasis D’Heliopolis officially has the
largest food court in the world – it’s in the Guiness book of records. Of the
twenty-five restaurants and cafés that take
residence there at the moment, Hola Café was visited by this reviewer
for
a friend’s birthday. When we arrived at the venue, another birthday party was
dominating the place. A group of six-year-olds was gathered around a show of
clowns, puppies and birds.

We were seated away from the hollering kids
only to find a sweet sixteen on the neighbouring table. We came to the realisation
that Hola Café is the destination of many birthday celebrations, so we just had
to make do with the continuous birthday songs.  A live performer was also entertaining, at the
expense of our eardrums.

We took plenty of time perusing our menus. After
strenuous thought, we settled on the fried mozzarella, but the waiter apologetically
said that it was not available. So we ordered the onion rings instead (16LE).
Served on a bed of chopped lettuce with a cocktail sauce whose components
remain unknown to this reviewer, the rings were deliciously crispy.

The menu at
Hola Café also features soups including
tomato soup (14LE) and Chicken mushroom soup (17LE). You can also order
from a variety of chicken, beef and fish dishes with sides of your choice,
including sautéed vegetables, French fries, mashed potatoes and Spanish rice.

We ordered the Hola salad (30 LE).  A hollow slice of roasted bread was stuffed
with kidney beans, lettuce, sweet corn, grilled chicken, parmesan and red
cabbage. Light on the stomach and the calories, the Hola salad is definitely a
healthy option for those who like to monitor their weight.

We then had the Sevilla sandwich (28 LE): grilled
chicken pieces with plenty of Spanish spices that gave the chicken a weird
yellow colour and an immensely dislikeable zest.

We also tried the Hola sandwich (30LE): fried chicken, salami and
cheddar cheese. The cheese was so sickeningly fatty that we left the sandwich
after the first bite.

All sandwiches are served with one scoop of coleslaw
salad and a side of French fries; the French fries were terrible. Squishy, oily
and cold, they didn’t remotely resemble our idea of French fries.

We also sampled the pollo fajita (55 LE). The
chicken fajita was served on a fish-shaped platter with chopped green pepper
and onion. The chicken’s presence was so scarce that we felt were only eating
vegetables. Served on another platter was Mexican bread, sour cream, pico de gallo
and cheddar cheese.

As for desserts, there are plenty of options,
including cheese cake (23LE) and chocolate cake (22LE).  Ice cream is also available for 7LE per scoop.
We opted for the birthday cake instead.

360 Tip

Hola Café charges 50LE for cake service and 25 LE for balloons

Best Bit

Hola Café are tailor-made to hold birthdays and events.

Worst Bit

The music was so loud we ended up leaving with a terrible headache.

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