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

Frozen yoghurt; the one refreshing, relatively healthy but madly over-priced snack we all have a love-hate relationship with. We’re always up for an icy cup of this delicious treat and so when American franchise, Red Mango, came to town, we rushed to get a taste.

Located in the Mosaique Dining Zone, the shop is somewhat secluded from Citystars’ usual hustle and bustle. The whole design and colour scheme of the place is definitely different from the usual bright, multi-coloured ones other frozen yoghurt stores have. The seating area’s quite adequate, boasting a few tables, and the store was generally not crowded.

Upon finding out that this was our first visit, the staff kindly informed us about all the items on the surprisingly big menu. Red Mango not only offers frozen yoghurt, but also fro-yo smoothies, parfaits, fresh fruit juices, organic coffees, frappes, and sweet and savoury waffles. Most items on the menu are low-fat and low in calories, making it perfect for health-conscious foodies. The staff didn’t stop there; they also offered us samples of all frozen yoghurt flavours.

Disappointingly, though, Red Mango only offers six  flavours in Egypt, despite it offering upwards of twenty different flavours in the US. The original flavour tasted predictably bland, and quite honestly unappealing. The Pomegranate, Strawberry and Green Apple flavours all tasted extremely similar and pretty dull for our taste buds. However, the Mango flavour was delightfully sweet and the strongest of the fruit flavours.

We finally settled on a Vanilla Madagascar with four toppings (32LE); mangoes, cherries, granola and crushed almonds. Other topping choices include everything from cereal, walnuts, crushed Oreos, and M&Ms to refreshing kiwi, cherries, mangoes, watermelon and grapes.

The Vanilla Madagascar flavour was a simple, yet rather luscious, concoction. Made with a mixture of vanilla yoghurt and cinnamon, which complimented each other greatly, it was a refreshing and delicious new flavour that we recommend you try.

As for the toppings, the mangos were fresh and tasty, while the granola was toasted to a lovely crisp. The slivered almonds, however, were tasteless, but the real shocker was the un-pitted cherries, which left us with unwanted seeds in our mouths and aching teeth.

All in all, the Red Mango presents an adequate frozen yoghurt experience – neither wow-ing nor hugely disappointing us. At best, it was average. This is mainly caused by the fact that only one flavour out of the six stood out. There’s also the fact that for just a small cup of frozen dairy, you end up paying a lot.