East Side, West Side

We spent two consecutive days over on the East side of Greater Cairo.  On Saturday we were taken out to lunch by a friend and ended up at the Cairo Festival City Mall.  It is only about a fifteen mile drive from our area to the mall, but it is like entering a different century.  There are no donkeys on the street pulling carts of bottled gas, no ducks and chickens munching garbage, etc., etc.


The neighborhood looks like a suburb in the southwest United States.  The mall itself hosts the IKEA store that we visited last year.  This year we were headed for the food court that surrounds the dancing fountain.  It was a bit too cold for the Cold Stone Creamery cart to be operating, but several restaurants near the water were serving at their outside seating areas.  We chose Paul - since 1889 in France, more recently in the U.S. and Egypt.  Many of the venues had familiar names and looked plausible if not familiar, although Kryptonite didn't sound like a winner to us.


Linda had the eggplant and I ordered a pasta dish.  The prosciutto, of course, like the bacon and pepperoni here, being a beef  variety.




On Sunday we made one of our periodic outings to Carrefour in Maadi.  As usual we started with lunch at Chili's.  I can't resist having the mashed potatoes and corn on the cob from time to time here.


I regret to report that the anniversary sale at Carrefour with television specials has passed and the weekend special only featured Neoflam brand cookware.  And it didn't seem to be inspiring many purchases.  The colors appear to be influenced by some1950s bathroom tile and fixtures.  The price was 1000 Egyptian pounds (about $133) after a paltry 9% markdown.  Something tells me a buyer in Paris is going to be looking for a new job soon.


I couldn't help but reflect on the income gap between that side of town and here on the west side where we live when I popped into the local Koshary outlet down the block for a working-man's lunch.


Here's the ordering scheme.  You pay 3 Egyptian pounds (42 cents) up front at the cashier's stand on the left and then get a ticket.  Hand the ticket to the cook/bagger/server on the right side and he gives you all you need, as described back at this post. While I'm no longer a working man, I do love my koshary!