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

Cairo’s
newest food court addition in Genena Mall in Nasr City hosts a variety of
restaurants that are more than your average fast food brands. With McDonald’s still
located on the ground floor and the new Cook Door in the fourth floor
representing the fast food options, the new food court consists mostly of
restaurants that are locally popular in the areas of Nasr City and Heliopolis.

While the
limited number of seats in the newly introduced food court , might give the
impression that it’s always crowded, it isn’t in fact so. The area is well
organized with walls that divide the area into small clusters of tables to make
the lined Italian and oriental restaurants reachable.

One Italian
name, however, catches the eye at the entrance of the food court; Pasto. The
restaurant makes its pasta in house and so words ‘Italian pasta’ feel as
authentic as they should, accompanied by a variety of indulging sauces and
sides.

The menu is
packed with pasta choices, from the classic spaghetti bolognaise (20LE) to the artichoke mushroom and olives
pasta (25LE). The menu also has chicken and beef sandwiches and risotto plates
with chicken (19LE), liver (12LE) or mushroom (14LE). Luckily, the waitress
knew her way around the menu and offered some recommendations which made the
ordering process faster and easier.

The beef
mushroom sauce pasta meal (30LE) had a bit of a strange taste to it, probably
because red pasta sauce and the mushroom sauce that drenched the well done beef
strips weren’t in perfect harmony. Each one of the components tasted better on
its own, though the pasta was well-marinated and the beef was chewy yet
delicate. You can get the pasta in white sauce instead with an addition of
(6LE) which is recommended if you fancy trying the delicious meat with mushroom
and green pepper.

No pasta
restaurant would be complete without lasagne, but unfortunately, the Mama Lasagne
(15.50LE) didn’t live up to expectations. The pasta itself was cooked well but
it generally lacked taste. The French fries (5LE) however was full of eastern spices
that gave it a fresh twist.

Pasto
offers fresh pasta with variety of toppings; they even have chocolate pasta in
the desserts section! Their fast service and the comfortable setting in the not-so-popular-yet
food court in Genena Mall make it a convenient shopping break as well.