We came to Egypt to eat mangos in the 104°F, 40°C heat and we found so much more to delight us! Dimitri thought he knew Egypt and that he knew mangoes but in the last 28 years some things have changed for the better.
First Visit: Cairo at Nile Plaza
One of the amazing discoveries was a man we had lost, Khaled Schuman, the son of our dear friend Abdul Moneim.
The second great discovery was the fabulous varieties of delicious mangoes.
All of the mango varieties were great but the tiny fas were exceptional
Executive Chef Beñat Alonso gave us a "master class" in Egyptian mangoes (he is a cognoscenti too). The tastes of the mangos and mango juice have exceeded our expectations. We discovered fas mangoes and they were exceptionally delicious.
The third fabulous discovery was the new-ish National Egyptian Museum of Civilization. It was a great size, the displays were beautifully presented, the descriptions in Arabic and English were informative and everything was real! (not reproductions). There were many real mummies there too. We spent much more time in this museum than we typically do.
The fourth outstanding discovery was the superb Grand Egyptian Museum. Dimitri had found a way to buy a ticket and book a tour during the trial opening period. Not everything was open but we thought that it was outstanding. The building by the architectural firm of Heneghan Peng Architects was awesome and complemented the exhibits; the first display upon entering was the colossal statue of Rameses II; it was dramatic and authentic! The entire experience was spectacularly good; it was a world-class museum experience. Our tour was in a group with around 15 people. Our guide, Robert Raouf, was an Egyptian with red hair and freckles, who spoke excellent English. The tour was the right length for us and the correct amount of detail. Dimitri had a wheelchair so he missed some of the explanations on the stair exhibits. When we got to the top of the stair exhibits (and the end of the guided tour) we were treated to an excellent view of the Giza pyramids. (There was an elevator for Dimitri). We walked the museum to the other huge statue of Rameses II and found lunch and great mango ice cream at the Dolato Gelateria shop. It was a great experience. We then got an Uber back to our hotel without a problem.
The Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza was a great Four Seasons stay. Our Executive Suite was a complimentary upgrade from the premier room and the price per day for us was US$496. We took the Four Seasons car (US$100 each way) from the airport (and the driver stopped to buy us delicious mango juice).
We were met at the door by Till Klauss, the Hotel Manager, and Clarisse, the Director of Guest Experience, as well as Amir from Guest Experience and Christeen George from the executive office. After chatting, we were whisked to our Nile view executive suite. We really liked it. There was a large entry hall with a powder room and a second closet, as well as a minibar and coffee station. Then the living room with a desk large enough for the two of us and an expansive view of the Nile River (and the water show in the middle of the Nile at night). The next room was the bedroom with a large chest of drawers. With the addition of an easy chair to sit on when dressing, it was very good for us. Then came a hallway with a built-in luggage rack with drawers across from the large closet. Lastly, there was a large bathroom with two sinks and all the necessary amenities. It was large enough to have another table brought for our stuff. Our balcony was the entire length of the bedroom and living room. It had two chaise lounges and two large, easy chairs on it. We did in fact sit outside in the evening and it was pleasant watching the river traffic.
On the coffee table in front of our sofa were special sweets and lots of fruit. Each day we got new fruit: the fas and Owais mangoes were excellent as were the figs (of the varietal that Dimitri prefers). We also got cherries and peaches as well as other fruit.
Breakfast was in the same room as our great melokiyah dinner on our first night. Our Zitouni dinner was warm enough for us; at breakfast, the room was cold and crowded at 10:30 am. George Ramsis was our server and his English was very good. We were brought delicious fresh mango juice, delicious fresh strawberry juice, and lots of fresh mango that were totally delicious. On days when George was off, Zaki was very attentive. Executive Sous Chef Ehab Ezzat spoke good English and would make us anything we wanted. The buffet was large and had local items like clotted cream called hasta (kaymak), light falafel made with fava beans called taameya and labneh. The Egyptian bread was very good.
The attention that the Four Seasons staff showed us was great! The concierge staff was fabulous—very knowledgeable and helpful. Ali was tireless in his search for Khaled Schuman, Abdul Moniem’s son. It was 36 years ago when Audre first met him at his father’s home.
Guiseppe Leddo the Assistant Director of Food & Beverage took a special interest in us and we loved his attention. The Hotel Manager, Till Klauss, spent time chatting with us and the General Manager Yves Giacometti sought us out when he returned from vacation.
Each
afternoon we went to the Jacuzzi, either the outdoor one (with children) or the serene indoor one. Mohammed was a conscientious attendant.
We needed to have laundry done and it would have cost US$106 at the Four Seasons. Dimitri found us a laundry and an Uber to take us there (for about US$1). Mustafa did our laundry for US$12, bought us sugar cane juice, and delivered our laundry to the Four Seasons the next day. Another wonderful experience.
We went to New Cairo and we were under-whelmed. It was not like a planned city. It was a hodgepodge. We did not go to the new capital because it was not finished and seemed like it would be just a real estate development. One night we went to Heliopolis for dinner and thought it looked good (we had stayed there in 1996 near Abdul Moniem's apartment). We found a sweet shop recommended by Ali at the Concierge desk called Mandarine Koueider that had excellent mango ice cream.
One day the bridge pads on Dimitri's eyeglasses broke. Dimitri thought all was lost but Zaki at breakfast encouraged us to go to the Concierge desk where he said they could take them to be fixed. Ali at the Concierge desk sent them out and two hours later they were back fixed for about US$6. In the USA they would be "throw away".
In Istanbul we looked for salep a warm drink that Dimitri loves. Each shop said, "no salep in the summer". In the Spice Market in Istanbul, we bought the real salep powder, unadulterated. But in Cairo, in the lounge of the FS Nile Plaza, there was salep on the menu, in the summer! Dimitri had it for dessert after we came back to the hotel from dinner.
Our first stay in Cairo far exceeded our expectations.
Second Stay: Cairo at First Residence
Our second Cairo stay was only two full days. We didn't have tourist things on the agenda. We wanted to use the gym to work off some of the pounds we had gained with the heavy Egyptian food. We also wanted to sit by the pool at the First Residence. Neither was pleasant. Definitely on the agenda was eating the final mangoes of our Egyptian trip and going to Dolato to eat fas mango ice cream.
The car trip from Alexandria to Cairo was fine. We had made a big issue of the type of car we wanted--the Mercedes Viano. The price was steep at US$590 (which we negotiated down to US$472). It was comfortable but seemed as if it was a cheap version or perhaps a knockoff because things didn't work properly. The Alex Cairo Desert Road was a toll road and fairly empty. The trip was 3 hours or so, and halfway, we stopped at a rest-stop restaurant. It was packed and we couldn't figure out why.
Our reception committee to greet us at the entrance of the Four Seasons Cairo at First Residence was the director of rooms and a guest experience employee. We were immediately whisked off to our Diplomatic Suite (an upgrade from a Deluxe Room at a daily price of US$336). The size and layout of the suite were good and the view of the zoo/botanical garden was nice. Unfortunately it was over a very noisy street and even with double-paned glass windows, the honking was annoying--all night. We should have asked for a suite overlooking the Nile (but there was also a street between the hotel and the Nile).
The décor was Gilded Age, with gold
bordering the chairs and gilded mirrors. The living room was large with heavy
gold-bordered furniture. Dimitri’s desk was there near the dining table (which
was laden with mangoes for us). The sofa had a coffee table laden with sweets
and baklava. There was a big console for the TV and a minibar area that was
good. Audre’s desk was in the large master bedroom which was also large enough
to have a comfortable chair and ottoman. The closet was really big with drawers
and enough space for both of our suitcases to stay open during our 3-day stay.
The bathroom had only one sink so Dimitri used the second full bathroom and
gave Audre the master bathroom. Audre liked the alabaster tissue boxes and
amenity jars.
Each day we would receive new treats from in-room dining although we were eating so much at restaurants we hardly had time to enjoy the offerings. Breakfast was in the Tea Lounge. Petros was attentive and the cooks made us whatever we wanted. Dimitri had foul medames Alexandria-style and Audre tried the vermicelli dish as a substitute for a cereal breakfast. We never did get good mangoes at breakfast at the Tea Lounge. The restaurant manager had in-room dining send some very good mangoes to our room.
We used the gym one day and found it unpleasant. It was hot (after one-half hour working out there, engineering came to work on the problem but our one-hour workout was in a very hot gym). The equipment was old and not well maintained, also there were not enough strength machines to provide a complete workout (too many treadmills, not enough strength machines).
There was no mixed Jacuzzi--only separate ones in the men's and women's locker rooms. We used them one day and it wasn't pleasant.
We had to walk outside by the pool to get to the gym and locker rooms and it was unbelievably hot out there. With no breeze, it would have been totally unpleasant. So, no pool time for us.
For our first dinner, we went across the street to The First Nile Boat by Four Seasons, a Brazilian grill at Xodó. We had a very good dinner with excellent service by Moustafa and Toko in a pleasant space.
The next day we went to a Gad location where we found the Alexandrian falafel/taamaya that was so good in Alexandria. We treated our Uber driver to lunch with us and then made a deal with him to take us to Park Street in Sheikh Zayed City to a Dolato location there. The fas mango ice cream at Dolato was outstanding, as good as we remembered. We also had scoops of Taymour mango and oweis mango. They were pretty damn good too.
On our last day in Cairo, we decided we had to try koshery--the dish that sustains Egyptians. Dimitri didn't remember ever having it. Everyone recommended El Tahrir Koshery on Tahrir Square. We went to the air-conditioned upstairs and for E£50, US$1 --VAT and tax included-we had the traditional koshery with extra onion and water. It is the most popular dish in Egypt and contains spaghetti, vermicelli, macaroni, lentils, rice, chickpeas, garlic sauce, and hot sauce. It was in fact tasty enough and obviously a filling meal.
The koshery shop was near Tahrir Square, an intersection we went through many, many times during our two Cairo stays. Audre found it difficult each time because she could not pass by without thinking of Lara Logan, the 60 Minutes reporter that was brutally gang-raped there on the night Hosni Mubarak's government fell.
After our koshery, we went to Mandarine Koueider, a sweet shop where we had mango ice cream on our last visit to Cairo. We got mango and mastic ice cream and didn't finish our one-scoop cups. Not nearly as good as Dolato. The Uber driver we got to go back to the FS found us a fruit shop to buy fas mangoes and so we had half a kilo of mangoes to take to Istanbul (along with the sweets from Mandarine Koueider). We didn't like the baklava in Egypt or in Turkiye/Turkey for that matter--too muchy.
For our last dinner, we went back to Sheikh Zayed City to Mayrig, an Armenian restaurant that Clarisse Laiguillon, Director of Guest Experience at FS Cairo Nile Plaza recommended. Then we went to Chouchou Éclair Bar, next door in Arkan Plaza. Clarisse and her husband own Chouchou. The Armenian restaurant was enjoyable and good. Clarisse's staff provided us with delicious éclair and lots of other sweets. Being in Arkan Plaza and seeing the people strolling through the upscale mall was a Cairo experience that we needed to have.
Next morning, First Residence provided us with breakfast boxes, including delicious fresh mango juice and fresh sliced, mangoes, for our trip to the airport. At 7 am, it took only 20 minutes to get to the airport. The road to the airport with no traffic actually looked good with its landscaped median strip. We found the Turkish Airline lounge and all was well.
Our experience at the Four Seasons Cairo First Residence reminded us that not all Four Seasons are equally good.
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