Thread: Lunch ... the second course

Originally Posted by malmomike77

you have a reason to live

Always a bonus.

No introduction needed...

^ If it wasn't for the beer I wouldn't have known it was upside down mate. It looked like one of your usuals!

Still looks good though!

Originally Posted by Joe 90

No introduction needed...

Excellent photography skils

Originally Posted by Joe 90

No introduction needed...

You need a bigger camera

^^ If he hadn't have given it away with the bottle of root beer, we could have played 'Guess which way up the meal should be'!

Although delicious, it does look like something cleaned up from a hospital floor.

That American root beer tasted like disinfectant.

Poured it down the sink.

Steak and kidney pudding was LUSH though

Originally Posted by Edmond

Although delicious, it does look like something cleaned up from a hospital floor.

I was wondering if he had played football with the food parcel before unwrapping it?

Seafoooooooooooooooooooooooood with a view today.

10/10 for the view. 6.5/10 for the food.

^It's Egypt, if there's some way to fuck anything up (including cooking good ingredients) they not only know it, they probably invented it. Good God the food there is dire, had some nice seafood at Sharm though.

Originally Posted by Headworx

^It's Egypt, if there's some way to fuck anything up (including cooking good ingredients) they not only know it, they probably invented it. Good God the food there is dire, had some nice seafood at Sharm though.

I enjoy the food. Not the best in the region but still enjoyable.

That place in the pic was a tourist trap, so I wasn't expecting great things. It was alright though and not too expensive.

Well there's a reason Egyptian and Filipino restaurants pretty much don't exist outside their own countries. You can get decent local and imported ingredients in Egypt but simply cannot let an Egyptian cook them, food preparation is just another thing beyond their intelligence unless we're talking about a kebab stand or the totally bland shit the locals eat. There's some decent places to eat in Maadi where I spent all my time when in Cairo, but they all had Expat owners/chefs in charge of the kitchens.

Originally Posted by Headworx

Well there's a reason Egyptian and Filipino restaurants pretty much don't exist outside their own countries. You can get decent local and imported ingredients in Egypt but simply cannot let an Egyptian cook them, food preparation is just another thing beyond their intelligence unless we're talking about a kebab stand or the totally bland shit the locals eat. There's some decent places to eat in Maadi where I spent all my time when in Cairo, but they all had Expat owners/chefs in charge of the kitchens.

Probably the most popular restaurant on soi 3 Sukhumvit used to be Egyptian (may well still be), and judging Egyptian food based on your time in Maadi is a bit like viewing Thailand having spent all your time in Pattaya eating, say, cooked English breakfasts and sausage rolls. Now who could that be?

While it might not be as good as Lebanese (or even Syrian), I don't think I've ever eaten anything bland in Egypt. Did you even try, for example, koshary? It's anything but bland.

^I worked there off an on since the 80's till as recently as a few years ago, probably 6 to 8 years in total, so I've got a rough idea about what they eat

At work we have no budget when it comes to food (within reason) and that goes for the Egyptian workforce diner as well where I've eaten countless times to try their local cuisines, just as I'd do in the locals diner in jobs anywhere else in the world and typically really enjoy it to the point of eating almost as often in their diners instead of the Western diners on site. It's shit, chicken and rice being the staple with little or no seasoning and spices to make things interesting and the uncountable thousands of local workers we've had over the years all loved it. Next thing is being taken dozens of times to the best places to eat by our Egyptian contractors and their bosses trying to impress me, been to their idea of the very best Egyptian food joints from Alex to Aswan to Hurghada to Sharm and everywhere in between and they'd always order up the highlight list of local cuisine. Still shit. Expat colleagues of the companies I worked for who were permanently based in Cairo, often for 10+ years, would take me to the best restaurants they knew and we'd always end up in a steak house or Thai or Italian sort of place in Maadi, never any Egyptian joint. I trust their judgement, they knew the best places for everything in that fucking madhouse of city regardless of cost.

To be fair the seafood is good out of the Red Sea with an incredible range of reef fish and their dates are probably the best in the MEA (including Syria where I've also worked) but if you're enjoying the local food on the whole there, that explains a lot. Nobody ever comes out of Egypt saying "I'm going to miss the food there". Nobody.

And the chicken will always be dry as fuck. Chicken is one of my favourite proteins and I cook it typically twice a week at home but it's never dry and stringy the way they manage to do it. You're obviously new there on your first gig and on a budget, of course everything is new and exciting or so you've convinced yourself. Give it a few years of having eaten everything they can serve up, regardless of price, and get back to me then about how great Egyptian food is. Assuming you don't twist-off and quit before then of course for which nobody could blame you, I can't imagine the hardships of being a teacher there..

Originally Posted by Headworx

And the chicken will always be dry as fuck. Chicken is one of my favourite proteins and I cook it typically twice a week at home but it's never dry and stringy the way they manage to do it. You're obviously new there on your first gig and on a budget, of course everything is new and exciting or so you've convinced yourself. Give it a few years of having eaten everything they can serve up, regardless of price, and get back to me then about how great Egyptian food is. Assuming you don't twist-off and quit before then of course for which nobody could blame you, I can't imagine the hardships of being a teacher there..

What a pile of tosh.
I've lived here before and clearly have even more experience of the food here than you do of English breakfasts and fish and chips in Pattaya.

You're utterly clueless as usual.

Yeah ok, a Cairo newb teacher eating what's surely the worst food in the entire MEA region (besides Yemen possibly) has got to make the best of it I suppose. You just keep convincing yourself of that, if it helps.

Originally Posted by Headworx

Yeah ok, a Cairo newb teacher eating what's surely the worst food in the entire MEA region (besides Yemen possibly) has got to make the best of it I suppose. You just keep convincing yourself of that, if it helps.

I see that reading and comprehension is something else you are deficient in.

Originally Posted by Headworx

Yeah ok, a Cairo newb teacher eating what's surely the worst food in the entire MEA region (besides Yemen possibly) has got to make the best of it I suppose. You just keep convincing yourself of that, if it helps.

I enjoyed the food in Yemen when I was there. And the Yemeni made tea and coffee was the best I have tasted anywhere in the world. Some Yemenis taught me how to make it like they do and I used to be able to make a decent version of it. I haven't made it for years, though.

Originally Posted by Neverna

I enjoyed the food in Yemen when I was there. And the Yemeni made tea and coffee was the best I have tasted anywhere in the world. Some Yemenis taught me how to make it like they do and I used to be able to make a decent version of it. I haven't made it for years, though.

headworx is a Pattaya expat who almost exclusively exists on English breakfasts and fish and chips in a farang ghetto.

Asking him for a balanced opinion on local food is akin to asking ISIS to for a travel guide to the US. Ain't gonna happen because he has absolutely no idea at all. Excruciatingly so at times.

Rabbit pie!

Never had it, what was it like And did you make it yourself??

Nice view Hal!
I've heard its 30oC today, jammy git.