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

They say good things come in small packages. If you could apply this
proverb to restaurants as well, then it perfectly describes La Sirena in
Heliopolis. It is perhaps one of the smallest restaurants we have ever been to,
but it was also one of the best restaurants we have ever eaten at in Cairo. La Sirena
is a seafood restaurant located on Othman Ibn Affan Street just off of Triumph
Square. It is next to Peking with a large and eye-catching neon sign
outside. It is perhaps bigger than the restaurant itself.

The entrance to La Sirena is rather obscure; you have to walk down the
alley till you find a small brown door leading into a vestibule. From there
another door opens onto the teeny tiny restaurant. There is a lot to say about
La Sirena’s decor. You could use words like old, outdated, dark and a bit ugly.
However, the decor adds charm and ambiance to the restaurant. Who knew having
all the wrong furniture could turn out to be so cosy?

The staff at La Sirena is extremely friendly and well-versed on the menu.
We love that just for once, someone knows the dishes they serve inside-out
and have prudent suggestions. Although La Sirena is primarily a seafood
restaurant, there are a few meat dishes on the menu for those less inclined to fish.

We started off with the smoked seafood platter (85LE), which came with
smoked salmon, shrimp, crab steak and oriental caviar with cocktail sauce. The
platter was delicious: the smoked salmon was light pink and very tasty, while
the onions on top were noticeably fresh, and the shrimp were delicious with
garlic. Unfortunately, our serving didn’t include the oriental caviar, which
was a shame as we were really excited about it. Instead we got mussels, which
were also very well prepared.

For our main course, we opted for the beau petit fish fillet (58LE) and
the tagine Louisiana shrimp (45LE). The beau petit fish fillet consisted of
shrimp rolled with fish fillet and lemon butter sauce, but the waiter suggested
that we opt for lobster sauce instead. We agreed and he was absolutely right.
The lobster sauce was so delicious; we nearly licked it off our plates. The
fish fillet wrapped around the shrimp was well-flavoured and its meat was
nicely cooked. The dish came with a side of sticky rice that worked very well
with the combination of textures and flavours.

We were also greatly surprised by the tagine Louisiana shrimp. The menu
describes it as a tagine of shrimp with feta, mushrooms and tomato sauce, which
we initially thought would be a weird mixture. However, we were proven wrong.
The tomato sauce was delicious and the melted feta cheese gave the sauce a nice
spicy flavour, which fared very well with the shrimp. The shrimp portion was
very generous and we felt completely stuffed after the meal.

The food is absolutely wonderful and it makes a perfect place for a
date, despite the outdated surroundings. Combined with delicious house wine
(25LE), we had one hell of an evening at La Sirena.