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

Salidas is a cute new
restaurant in Cairo located conveniently next to Diwan bookstore on Maadi’s bustling Road
Nine. This restaurant seems to have struck the magic balance between
innovation, style and service that guarantees longevity. A tiny venue with
just a handful of tables indoors and a few more out on the pavement, Salidas
serves up healthy Lebanese-style snacks in a casual and comfortable atmosphere.

Menu options will
delight healthy eaters and fries lovers alike: a wide selection of
salads, hot and cold sandwiches, signature Belgian fries and mouth-watering
desserts were enough to draw us away from other lunch venues on Road Nine. 

While
chicken-centric, the menu also includes tuna, salmon and shrimp, cold
sandwiches, and several vegetarian options including shami-style falafel (8LE) and
a grilled vegetable baguette (15LE). Beef options include several styles of
shawerma (19LE). All cold sandwiches can be served as salads instead, making
for a clever and diverse menu. Signature hot sandwiches include mitrayet, a
Belgian-style sandwich served on baguette with fries as the main stuffing (12LE). 

Overwhelmed by all
the enticing options, we eventually chose the Brie sandwich on baguette (28LE)
and the chicken mitrayet (19LE) along with an order of Belgian fries
(9LE). Our meal was delivered casually on a fast-food-style tray with plastic
utensils, while the sandwiches and fries were paper-wrapped; making for a charmingly
picnic-like experience. 

The Brie sandwich was
simply served with basil oil, lettuce and tomato. It was a great concept, but slightly
short on Brie for our liking. The baguette was also very tough and difficult to
chew on; we recommend choosing the Lebanese bread for easeier eating. 

We weren’t sure what
to expect with the chicken mitrayet, which ended up being very much like
shawerma with tomatoes, onions and fries thrown into the mix. The baguette was
also a problem with this sandwich, although the flavour and texture of the
chicken filling was excellent. 

The Belgian fries,
which can also be ordered with cheese and/or gravy, were well-cooked and
seasoned; our only complaint was that the large portion seemed more like a
small. 

Tempted to sample the
dessert selection, we chose the Nutella cheesecake (14LE) and the extreme
chocolate cake (16LE). The Nutella cheesecake was smooth with a pleasing
texture, and the sweetness of the Nutella was in good balance with the tangy
cheesecake base. The extreme chocolate cake was our favourite: a delectable concoction
of pastry and white chocolate mousse decadently topped with Snickers, Twix,
cream and Nutella; this is a cake to crave. 

The meal set us back
just over 100LE; a refreshingly moderate price to pay for a gourmet lunch in
a lovely atmosphere.