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

With one
of the nicest new takeout venues opening up in their neighbourhood, the people of
Heliopolis should consider themselves lucky. For the rest of us living in other
parts of Cairo, it’s definitely worth braving the commute to Heliopolis and the hour of being stuck on 6th October Bridge for the
delicious food at Adam’s and fresh drinks at Blend.

Adam’s
and Blend are located on the corner of Mamaleek Street just off El Ahram Street
and across from Heliopolis Club. The venues take up the whole corner of a
building and is divided into three different spaces with Adam’s on the left, Blend on
the right, and in between a space with high tables where you can eat. Adam’s doesn’t have seats inside. Instead, you order your
food and take it outside to sit on one of the benches or eat at the pillars
that function as high tables.

Adam’s
is one of the few venues to introduce a Turkish specialty, the doner to the
Egyptian Market. We were told that the owners actually went to Turkey to take
up some cooking classes in order to bring nothing but the best to Cairo. The
menu includes wraps, omelettes and falafel, as well as salads and rice dishes,
and the food is prepared right in front of you.

We sampled the basmati rice that came with
crisped bread, almonds, tomato sauce and yoghurt sauce topped with doner (30LE).
The doner itself was delicious: it was perfectly seasoned, grilled right and
easy to chew on. The rice with the almonds and crisped bread was already good
on its own; but with the Doner topping and the yoghurt sauce, it was even
better. We couldn’t help but dig through the meal as if we hadn’t eaten for
ages. You have to be a garlic lover, though; there is a lot of it in the
yoghurt sauce.

The doner wrap (23LE) was also terrific. The wrap was soft yet firm and noticeably
fresh with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and a delicious lemon-tomato sauce. This
reviewer also tried the specialty of the day, which was a crispy chicken wrap
(24LE). The chicken, though fried, didn’t taste greasy at all and combined with
the lettuce and tomato, it actually tasted healthy.

Sometimes
fries are not just fries; they almost come close to a culinary highlight. Adam’s
has that kind of fries: crispy, firm, fresh and delicious with garlic
mayonnaise.

After you’re
done with Adam’s; stroll over next door to Blend, where you can order delicious fresh juices or frozen yoghurts. We sampled the Blend mix
(20LE) and chose honey topping with walnuts, kiwi and apple. It
was a sweet and refreshing drink after all the garlic that we’d had. We were
delighted that the kiwis were actually ripe instead of sour and hard. Also worth trying are the Pacific (14LE) and Bahamas (14LE) smoothies. You can
also get fresh juices starting at 12.50LE and crêpes for 15LE and above.

Adam’s
and Blend make up a street corner of deliciousness that is well worth the commute. We envy all Heliopolis residents just a little.