Cafe Le Caire

Cafe Le Caire at Al Majlis

The Cairo Cafe at The Sitting/Gathering/Parliament. Literally translated, that's what it means. The afternoon crowd tend to be more tourists and expats while the night crowd tend to draw a certain uncouth populace.

The cafeteria-like outlet is run by local Singaporeans who have given a bad name to Arab hospitality. You will not feel like a guest properly served at this establishment. In essence, there is no other community in the world that can beat Arab hospitality in the way a guest is treated so to allow oneself to dine at this establishment is to allow yourself to be derailed.

Carpets are laid on the five-foot pathways near the garbage bins but that seems fine for many diners and wanna-be sheeshagis.

Don't bother making reservations because if you think that will save you time in ordering in advance, you'll still have to wait a long time before the food is served on your table. That goes too for the drinks too.

After a while, even the regular customers tend to vanish due to frustration concerning the service and that's the key word here, which is really not funny. There is a lazy culture that encapsulates the whole establishment and an attitude of turning a deaf ear or pretending not to see the customer waiving in agony for attention. Staff can be rude and not helpful so you'd be lucky to find someone with good PR skills.

The food, once it arrives on your table, is relatively good but you will find from time to time you'd have to send the food back because its not hot or the wedges comes soggy and cold.

The music is deafeningly loud here and they don't have the best speakers in the house. CDs are often scratchy.

As for sheesha, the standard has dropped over the years as you will find the same carbon-like taste in whatever flavour you order, which is pretty common in most outlets in Arab Street. Hence, apple or grape would have no taste or a faint tang. Now try asking for the bill. Even that comes slow. This is not what the Slow Food Society had in mind when they wrote their credo.