Review of El Borg Restaurant in Cairo, Egypt

When it comes to seafood, restaurants face a difficult challenge. You need to obtain and prepare fresh fish, and then cook it so that it tastes just right. El Borg Restaurant and café achieves this and more. This fish restaurant is now very popular in Egypt, and its status can be said to be legendary.

El Borg has multiple locations around Egypt, but the one I visited was in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo that is east of the Nile. This restaurant looks gigantic from the outside, a four-story building with at least 7,000 square feet of area inside. The first two floors are the ones that are mainly used.

Inside, you are greeted by a colorful display of lights and artwork, along with a section displaying the fish you can choose from. The interior is bright and very clean. We went upstairs to dine, where there are many tables for groups both large and small.

After finding a table, a waiter quickly showed us the menu. The pricing is very reasonable, and the array of fish and seafood on the menu is impressive. You choose from either a one-person serving or a kilogram of fish(2.2 pounds). I tried the Egyptian favorite, or boori (a type of mullet). We also ordered a shrimp and rice bowl along with two salads as appetizers. They have many different fish options, however, such as salmon and even mackerel. Salmon is the priciest option, being around 120 L.E.(Egyptian pounds) or about 24 U.S. dollars per kilogram.

First the waiter brought the appetizers. They were very generous and brought a special type of bread that they make in-house, a sort of mini pita-bread that comes with sesame seeds on top. They also brought the salad and many small plates of appetizers or dips, such as hummus, coleslaw, baba ghanoug(eggplant dip), and a special sardine-flavored dip.

The most surprising part of the experience was the extra generosity we experienced. For example, a waiter came to our table with samples of a shrimp burger patty. And after you are finished the main course they bring you an Egyptian dessert called mahalabiya, which is a vanilla pudding that you must try.

Overall, I highly recommend El Borg Restaurant. The atmosphere is bright and entertaining, with custom marine decor. The restaurant has many waiters that are friendly and work with alacrity. You should come here with a group, however, as the generosity here may leave a single diner with a lot of leftovers.