Just after Christmas I received a message that I had won a competition that I entered in an expat magazine. My prize being dinner for two at the restaurant, Peking. Peking has branches over Cairo and in Sharm and Alex and we do actually eat their food a fair amount - but we have take away, rather than ever eating at the restaurant itself.
Because of the post being what it is in Egypt the voucher was delivered by hand to our door. Great!
Not sure what to do for dinner last night, and with only a one-day weekend, I wanted to treat ourselves, so suggested we go and use the voucher as the restaurant in Maadi is near-by on Nasr Street. The instructions on the letter that came with the voucher said that I should call a "Dr Nabil" to arrange my booking. At 7.15pm I give him a call. He sounds a little unsure as to why I might be calling him, but I explain and he turns on the charm to find out where and when I'd like to book. I say that I'd like to book for this evening in Maadi. He is a little surprised, but is accommodating and asks what time I'd like the table; in 30-45 minutes, if that's possible, please? He laughs nervously and says this should be OK and he will call the restaurant and they will be waiting for me.
We've never been inside the restaurant, but know it's location well as we ride by it twice a day on the school bus. It's on a rather busy road with not much else going on around it, so we're just hoping for a free meal instead of paying for delivery! When the door opens though we're wowed by how nice it is inside! Also it looks packed with couples and families, including some Chinese, here for a nice evening dinner. I now feel a little bad about only giving them 30 minutes notice! The head waiter approaches us and I pull out the voucher as a means of explanation. He exclaims "Ms Alice! We are waiting for you. We are very honored you chose our restaurant and congratulations on your win!" and we are shown to one of the tables by the main window.
The food is pretty much as we have eaten by take-away before, but the starter of spring rolls and dumplings are much better, obviously as they are fresher. They serve alcohol which is a bonus and we have a Saqarra (we're back onto drinking Saqarra now sometimes as Stella is giving us heartburn).
At the end of the evening we conclude that the restaurant is very nice indeed, but the food is nothing too exciting. I think I prefer Gaya for Asian food (it's Korean rather than a Chinese restaurant). It does remind us though of when we lived in Raynes Park and spent two years collecting take-away from Mann's Chinese restaurant, but then finally treated ourselves to dinner there. That was a real treat and we loved it! Good food, nice wine and lovely setting.
As we leave they thank us for visiting again and say "hopefully you will win again!" "insha'llah" we reply :)
Because of the post being what it is in Egypt the voucher was delivered by hand to our door. Great!
Not sure what to do for dinner last night, and with only a one-day weekend, I wanted to treat ourselves, so suggested we go and use the voucher as the restaurant in Maadi is near-by on Nasr Street. The instructions on the letter that came with the voucher said that I should call a "Dr Nabil" to arrange my booking. At 7.15pm I give him a call. He sounds a little unsure as to why I might be calling him, but I explain and he turns on the charm to find out where and when I'd like to book. I say that I'd like to book for this evening in Maadi. He is a little surprised, but is accommodating and asks what time I'd like the table; in 30-45 minutes, if that's possible, please? He laughs nervously and says this should be OK and he will call the restaurant and they will be waiting for me.
We've never been inside the restaurant, but know it's location well as we ride by it twice a day on the school bus. It's on a rather busy road with not much else going on around it, so we're just hoping for a free meal instead of paying for delivery! When the door opens though we're wowed by how nice it is inside! Also it looks packed with couples and families, including some Chinese, here for a nice evening dinner. I now feel a little bad about only giving them 30 minutes notice! The head waiter approaches us and I pull out the voucher as a means of explanation. He exclaims "Ms Alice! We are waiting for you. We are very honored you chose our restaurant and congratulations on your win!" and we are shown to one of the tables by the main window.
The food is pretty much as we have eaten by take-away before, but the starter of spring rolls and dumplings are much better, obviously as they are fresher. They serve alcohol which is a bonus and we have a Saqarra (we're back onto drinking Saqarra now sometimes as Stella is giving us heartburn).
At the end of the evening we conclude that the restaurant is very nice indeed, but the food is nothing too exciting. I think I prefer Gaya for Asian food (it's Korean rather than a Chinese restaurant). It does remind us though of when we lived in Raynes Park and spent two years collecting take-away from Mann's Chinese restaurant, but then finally treated ourselves to dinner there. That was a real treat and we loved it! Good food, nice wine and lovely setting.
As we leave they thank us for visiting again and say "hopefully you will win again!" "insha'llah" we reply :)
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