ZILL NIAZI

It was one of the worst dining out experiences!

There was a dead fly on a table, and despite pointing out, no one cleaned the table. There were more flies bothering flying throughout the episode. This was notified to the Assistant Manager, who appeared more of a bouncer in attitude and countenance than a hospitality restaurant manager.

The soups were terrible in taste, texture, and ingredients. The spring rolls were soggy. The main course two dishes were awful. One with chicken and the other with fish contained less than 50 grams of proteins.

There was no air-conditioning. The staff was inattentive and inhospitable.

All of this was explained to the Assistant Manager, who was specifically called to notify about these issues. He simply handed us over a feedback card with no serial number, and it would have been discarded, but the photo of its inscription can be seen below.

Another observation was that a lady ordered something for takeaway. She was with her daughter. They both waited for about 30 minutes, and whatever happened, there was a parley with the Assistant Manager, after which the lady left saying it aloud, "And you made me wait all this time for this?"

There was not a single thing about this restaurant that was hospitable in any semantic.

It's a very good and spacious mall but the air-conditioning could be better. And there should be benches and lounging areas to sit and relax, offering a respite after or during a long walk when your friends or family want to shop but you want to sit outside and catch a breath.

Also, the unnecessary checking of vehicles upon entrance and then frisking again physically is downright harassment. It is not a practice at any of the other big malls in and around Cairo, so why here?

The civic plan of Cairo Festival City is good, but instead of making it better, they made it worse by installing traffic lights on roundabouts! Traffic lights are installed on intersection and not on roundabouts. Whoever planned and executed this idea has resulted in choked traffic and unnecessary jams and accidents. Not to mention the speed bumps that are erected upon the entry of any roundabout there, now act as a deterrent together with the traffic lights. Actually, it's the traffic lights that have created a mess and turned this place into a traffic nightmare.

It's just a parking lot and they charge a lot. Nothing too exceptional about it. It's a good place to park if you're planning to visit Khan el-Khalili Bazaar. The parking bays are somewhat congested. I have mixed feelings about this parking spot.

While their food tasted good, the place was a horror to dine in. Unclean tables. The restaurant wasn't open at its opening hour. Flies and mosquitos were flying by. Tables were dirty. The floor was unclean. The service was poor and they didn't have certain dishes because the chefs had not arrived yet at 6:30 p.m.!

The ice cream is good. It's creamy. So are the other deserts. But the spoons are so cheap that they have sharp edges and they can cut through lips. They don't use tissue papers, just regular paper! If this doesn't make sense, visit them, and you'll know. The cleanliness could be better, so could the atmosphere.