It Tastes Zo Good!

God only knows how many Asian restaurants in Egypt I have been to. Unfortunately, most of the ones in Cairo were either not so good or not so Asian. Due to the lack of advertising, I could only have heard this two-letter-word for the first time, from a chatting friend, as he recommended; Zo.

Zo, is an Asian restaurant in 26th of July Street, Zamalek. Apparently it is owned/managed by Divine Worx holding company, who brought to us the all-so-popular Makani. As soon as you walk through the deep purple, gold-laced entrance of the restaurant, you immediately separate your consciousness from the loudly crowded 26th of July Corridor. Three chefs - dressed in Kimono-like attire - greet you from an open kitchen, as you make your first step upwards to the dining area. I like open kitchens. It is often a courageous display of cleanliness and hygiene standards.

Despite the small size of the dining area, it feels quite rich. Dark wooden beams and Asian antiquities decorate the walls and the furniture as well as the unique purple identity of Zo, which acts as a prominent signature all over the place.. even on the menu!

Starters!

The menu was obviously put together with care. The photos of the dishes will certainly start getting those juices running in your mouth (and stomach). I went for a Beef Salad (30.00) to start with and an all-time classic favorite of mine for my main; Sweet & Sour Chicken (48.00) with Steamed Rice (12.50) on the side. A hungry friend, who was kind enough to join me, ordered a Coconut Chicken Soup (22.00), some Dim Sum (22.50), Crispy Peanut Chicken (42.00) and a Vegetable Chow Mein (38.00).

The prompt arrival of our appetizers was quite impressive. The Beef Salad was extremely crisp and fragrant. The scent of fresh Coriander and the tangy dressing told a story of greens, herbs and zests on my taste buds.

My Sweet & Sour delight.

My highly anticipated Sweet & Sour beauty was served piping hot and accompanied by freshly steamed rice. I knew that the chef was knowledgeable in Asian cuisine, because I found cucumber slices mixed in with the vegetables in the sauce - very Chinese. I had never seen green peas in a Sweet & Sour Chicken dish before, but they certainly added a pleasant texture to the totality of the dish. The only trouble with the peas was, that they are much smaller than the rest of the sliced vegetables and are therefore harder to fish out with chopsticks. That sauce was really spot on - not too sweet and not too sour, very red and very addictive.

Crispy Peanut Bomb!

I also managed to try some Crispy Peanut Chicken off my friend's plate, and boy was that one hell of a caramelized explosion. The taste was sweet, nutty and incredibly unique!
Last but not least I decided to try something different for dessert, so I went for Sweet Potato with Coconut Cream (22.00). This was indeed something I had never tasted before. The Sweet Potato was quite tender and the soft coconut cream with a delicate sprinkle of cinnamon, was all it needed to accentuate the natural sugars in the root vegetable.
Considering the modest total price on the bill, I would say it was all Zo, Zo good!