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

One of the many excellent
restaurants catering to Cairo’s
lovers of all things fishy, Sea Gull is not to be missed. Situated on the Nile side of the Agouza Corniche,
the seafood restaurant is very large, with row
upon row of long rectangular tables almost right on the Nile. Sea Gull has sections
for both indoor and outdoor dining; the latter is particularly recommended if
the weather is nice or if you want to smoke a shisha. With a place this
large in size; you don’t need to make reservations.

Seafood restaurants in Cairo often have the best
salads and mezzas, and Sea Gull is no exception. Our company ordered a full selection of
salads to keep us busy before the main course, and we were thrilled with the
quality. The baba ghanoush and the tomeya
are beyond excellent, as is the tehina. Everything
else was accompanied by large loaves of piping hot baladi bread and left us
deeply impressed as well.

At Sea Gull, you select your
main course from a display of different fish on ice. The attendant (who appears to be the chef that
prepares the fish as well) is particularly helpful with recommendations to assist
you in selecting from the bewildering array of fresh fish and shellfish.

We ordered a selection of grilled mullet (boory in Arabic) and sea bass (aroos
in Arabic), in addition to a kilogram of fried shrimp, and we waited for the
feast to begin. We were not disappointed;
the fish was obviously very fresh, and the seasoning was just perfect, while the
shrimp was divine. Fried in a crispy
batter, it is definitely not to be missed.

The only drawback to the restaurant
(even though this drawback depends on your perspective), is that Sea Gull is a
very family-oriented place. In Cairo, this means that
children will be running amuck all over the place. This is great if you have kids of your own or
you are with a bunch of friends just out to eat, but it can be a disadvantage if
you’re with more intimate company or having a business meal, for example.  

Nonetheless, Sea Gull is
definitely recommended. A pleasant
surprise occurred when we asked for the check. There were four of us although only three actually ate (the fourth
member of our company had shisha and a beer), and the check came out to around
700 LE, which is not too bad for a high-quality seafood restaurant in Cairo; considering
that our order included a kilo of shrimp.