Stuffed Pidgeon - There is a First Time For Everything...

Twice I have eaten here now; both times were excellent experiences. There is a big black solid wood door that opens up to a small flight of stairs that raises you up to a dining establishment that you may not be expecting. Abu el-Sid is pretty famous for expats and tourists passing through, and its staged authentic atmosphere doesn't really seem all that staged, especially after two Stellas—not the Artois variety but rather the authentic Egyptian beer variety. I asked my colleagues what I should order, and they recommended the best Egyptian delicacy they knew—stuffed pigeon. When it came to the table, I started thinking okay, just like oversize Cornish hens. Not just hen, hens. Plural because on the plate were not one but two stuffed pigeons.

Well. In Canada, we shew pigeons away from us because they eat everything in sight. "Rat with Wings," they have been dubbed in Canada. And so all this is going through my mind, of course, as there in front of me was this delicacy, delicately roasted to golden brown perfection and stuffed with spiced Biyriani-type rice—a couple of pigeons. Pigeon is mostly dark meat, and as with many species of meat around the world, when I took that first bite, it tasted like eating a drumstick from a chicken. Then I knew I would have no trouble eating both of the birds that had so elegantly been presented before me for my expectantly decadent devouring. Let me just say that the pairing of authentic Egyptian hops with stuffed pigeon is, well, nothing short of Egyptian/Ancient Levantine culinary genius.

The chairs and tables are of solid wood, as is the bar area, and the ambiance is conducive to both post-business day chat between colleagues as well as more intimate conversation between the many friends and couples that also were partaking of the post-revolution urban Egyptian air that night.

Shisha is available as well to complete the staged, yet not noticeably so, since they have it down to perfection by now, authenticity of the overall experience.
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