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

If there’s
one thing that Cairo is not short of; it’s cafés. And people of course. The
Mohandiseen area is especially packed with cafés, and Tornado is located
on Aswan Square, which is easily reachable from Gameat El Dowal Street, The
building looks like a an Alpine Red Cross hut and you half expect a Beethoven-style dog to run out of it any second.

The
Alpine theme continues inside with big posters showing snowy mountaintops and
luscious flower fields. It doesn’t look it from the outside, but the venue is pretty
big. The rest of the décor is very sombre, with dark wooden seats and tables,
and several televisions are dotted around which were broadcasting Arabic
music channels at the time of our visit. The interior is pretty peculiar
because one side is a glass window closet filled with fake flowers and one
lonely disco ball hangs from the ceiling looking pretty dusty, and not one bit
shiny.

The menu
is quite extensive but doesn’t differ a lot from most cafés. Notable appetizers include calamari and chicken
quesadilla and start from 21LE. There are several salads; starting from 14LE for
a Caesar salad, ranging up to 30LE for a salmon salad. There are various pasta
dishes on offer starting from 25LE and pizzas from 20LE. Main courses such as
grilled chicken will set you back 40LE, whereas the Tornado seafood combo is
80LE.

We
visited in the morning, so opted for a cheese omelette (13LE) and a cappuccino
(12LE). The omelette was served with pieces of white toast and a cup of olives.
On top of the omelette we found grated cheese which we were grateful for
because there wasn’t much cheese in the omelette itself. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t knock our socks off, and was no better than
any amateurish attempts this reviewer had made at home. The cappuccino was
surprisingly good; firm foam on top and strong coffee underneath.

The staff
stayed pretty much away from us and were friendly when we did speak to them.
The toilet was a bit of a miss, though. The person cleaning it obviously works with the
motto ‘if it’s wet, then it’s clean’. Not only did the floor resemble an Alpine
stream, but the toilet and the sink were also wet which was very uncomfortable
to say the least.

Overall
Tornado lacks ambience and looks like it was hit with an actual tornado. However, for a cheap
breakfast or cup of coffee it’s ok if you happen to live or be passing nearby.