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

Sheikh Zayed is an area best known for its wide variety of plazas, malls, and business parks. This concept has led to an astounding increase in new restaurants and food joints. Majarrah, a newly opened business park, boasts a lot of famous restaurant names, but we wanted to give coming joints like Stove a chance to wow us, and so we went.

At first glance, Stove looks like an ordinary restaurant; nothing particularly grabbed our attention. Their indoor area is relatively small, with quite a charming outdoor area that’s perfect for a beautiful afternoon; slightly breezy, and has the right amount of shade to keep us cool. We decided to order a mocktail before leaping thoroughly into the menu, Lyon (40LE) caught our taste buds: red grapes, blueberry, cherries, and basil. Reasonably refreshing, Lyon was a bit on the sweet side, however, the fresh basil taste cut right through that with a lovely kick.

As we took a look at the menu, we realised that it didn’t follow a particular theme; it had some international dishes here and there, yet somewhat leaned towards the American-style cuisine. We opted for the least familiar option for our appetiser; the Ricotta & Pastrami Fried Rolls (50LE). Safe to say, we chose right; the Ricotta was fresh and oozing with flavour, the Pastrami was cut into tiny bits, so its taste didn’t overpower the cheese, and the honey mustard sauce that came with it was on-point, it went well with the overall taste.

As for our main dishes, we decided to ride the American-style wave; the first choice was the Fried Fish (150LE): a fried piece of fish coated with non-alcoholic-beer-based tempura. Served with two sides, so we picked Pesto mashed potatoes and Honey-glazed carrots.

The fish was quite light and perfectly cooked. Meanwhile, the glaze on the carrots was simply herb-ilicious and had just the right amount of sweetness to it. Even though the consistency of the glaze was a little on the oily side, the taste itself highly complimented the fresh pesto flavour of the deliciously creamy mashed potatoes.

Our second choice was the Hickory Fillet (180LE): marinated grilled fillet, topped with smoked beef, melted cheese, and BBQ sauce. Picky as we are, we ordered the cook on our steak to be “Medium-well juicy, but leaning towards well-done”- it came exactly as we wanted it; simply a beautifully-cooked piece of steak. The distinctive taste of melted cheese, the shredded smoked beef bits, and the tang of the BBQ formed a perfect, smooth symphony of flavours.                                                                                    

We opted for Mexican basmati rice and grilled vegetables as sides, which both complemented the main; the spicy tomato flavour of the rice worked well with the fragrant, accurately-grilled vegetables, making the whole dish a vibrantly flavourful success.

For the grand finale, we decided on their Chocolate Lava (50LE): a chocolate cake with a molten chocolate centre, and a side of vanilla ice-cream. As soon as it arrived, we dived in; the molten chocolate was luxuriously velvety, while the cake itself was moist, and with the subtle sweetness of the ice-cream, each bite was quite balanced.

Quite frankly, Stove is undoubtedly a star on the rise, offering an array of well-executed dishes with astonishing prices -given the quality served- which makes it all the way more tempting.