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

The more Cairo’s restaurant scene expands, the more exotic our food choices seem to become. Said exotic choices are bringing recipes from all corners of the earth; Mutiara in Nasr City serves up authentic Malaysian cuisine, and boasts an army of all-Malaysian staff.

Located on a quiet residential street in Nasr City, the cafeteria-styled establishment is both unpretentious and unimpressive. With just one table outside, and three more inside, the venue is somewhat uninspiring at first glance. However, looking past the tiled walls, steel tables and grubby plastic chairs, our reservations were set aside for the aromatic, spicy fragrances circulating the eatery.   

We were immediately tended to by a very polite, Malaysian waiter who spoke in clear, but broken Arabic; although communicating was easy, making last minute changes proved a little more difficult.

The menu is a straightforward selection of soups (6LE) and a wide selection of meat and vegetarian main dishes; all for under 15LE. Every order is served with a side of white, yellow or red rice. Fresh cocktail juice (6LE); a refreshing blend of orange, banana, strawberry, and mango is available, as are the usual range of sodas (6LE).

We opted for one Mutiara mixed chicken and meat dish (13LE) without the optional additions of seafood or squid, and tomyom meat soup (6LE). Because of a slight mis-understanding during ordering, we ended up with an extra side-order of a mysterious, self-named soup. Our food was delivered in next to no time; proving the kitchen service to be incredibly efficient.

The Tomyom soup transpired to be a citrus broth, complete with tender meat cubes, chopped tomatoes, leafy greans and a mild, spicy kick. Our extra soup order was similar in taste, but had the consistency of a stew and lacked the meat and vegetable pieces. The Mutiara special was a generous platter of yellow rice topped with flavourful, Malaysian-style, curried meat and chicken served with a tasty fried egg on the side. The curry was deliciously unusual and brought together a range of unique flavours, spices and textures.

Although its appearance might be a little off-putting, Mutiara serves up unique, Malaysian dishes at insanely low prices. Excellent food, coupled with royal service from the staff certainly doesn’t leave much room for complaints.