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

It was just like any other day, and like a lot of people, we were walking down the beautiful streets of Maadi. Walking around, we were looking for a new place to try, when we suddenly came across a new seafood restaurant. Dokdok serves seafood, as well as liver and brain; the combination, while not unique to the restaurant, was still intriguing.

As soon as we entered, we were greeted with white brick walls and light colours all around. The design strives to be as simple and comfortable as possible. It has all the staples of a seafood restaurant, including of course, a refrigerator full of fresh fish.

We decided to try all their different food items, so we opted for the brains, as well as some seafood dishes. The brains (25 EGP), were not as good as we hoped. While they’ve chosen quality ingredients, it seems they fried it in old oil, or perhaps using the same oil that they used to fry the fish. Whichever it was, it definitely did not taste good, and is definitely not worth the try.

Moving on to the seafood, they had a special dish that we were dying to try: The Seafood Fattah (45 EGP). Just like any Fattah, it had rice, toasted bread, vinegar, and garlic. This Fattah dish, however, was filled with shrimps and calamari. What we loved the most about this dish is the sheer proportions, no ingredient overpowered the other, the garlic and vinegar marinade was expertly prepared, and complemented the seafood perfectly. Plus, it’s pretty reasonably priced considering that it’s a seafood dish.

Next up was the Samak Macarona (95 EGP). It was very well spiced, and they managed to bring out the best flavours from this delicious type of fish. It seems they marinade the fish for a long time.

A crucial part of seafood is the salads, and theirs are exactly as you’d want them. Their green salad (5 EGP) is great. Perhaps the other highlight, in terms of salad, was the Herring Fish Salad (15 EGP), it’s usually a standout at any seafood restaurant, but at Dokdok, it was even more special.

Despite us having a blast with the seafood meal, we found something a bit odd in the bill. They charged us 6 EGP for the bread, which was a bit unreasonable since we didn’t order any extra bread. However, their prices are somewhat reasonable so we’ll let that one slide for now.

Overall, the decoration and ambiance were comfortable and soothing, allowing you to focus on the delicious seafood. Next time we may try their liver and hope it’s not as disappointing as the brains.

Translated by: Sherif Khairy