Shrimp Afandy, Aswan 06-2021

After the extraordinarily early start to go from Aswan to Abu Simbel, the long hot journey back was exhausting despite the car's relatively weak air conditioning. Finally exiting the car in a random place (not realising we were actually quite close to Aswan) for lunch was a hit of relief, before the hit of 48C heat and humidity brought reality back.

This seafood restaurant had one air conditioned room with a large table, assumably for tourists. The remainder of the seating was outdoor (at least shaded) and the locals didn't seem bothered. The manager took me on a little tour of the kitchen area where lots of men sat around constantly cleaning and cooking fish. The grill chef didn't like me taking photos of that area so I just snuck one in at the end.

The menus is essentially grilled or fried fish. The meals came with soft pita, chunky tahini and some very mild chilli sauce. Finally after a 1h wait from ordering, the fish arrived gloriously with some seasoned rice and salad.

- Fried samos EGP45 - whole deep fried fish, crunchy on the outside but with a perfectly cooked flesh tenderness inside;
- Puri singari EGP70 - a local Egyptian dish of butterflied fish cooked with cumin and other spices with some vegetables. Cooked nicely too although a little bit chewier than the samos.

An excellent meal, although make sure you aren't too hungry or in a rush. Egyptian time.

Kato Dool, Aswan 06-2021

As I had organised my own tour guide and driver, it left me free to pick my own accommodation. Even though the guide recommended a standard tourist hotel in central Aswan, there really wasn't much desire for that or benefit that I could see (since it was closer to Abu Simbel for the 5am start).

Driving from Aswan airport through the Nubian village I could see it really did have a local village vibe and that even other Egyptians may not feel so welcome there. It was a very colourful area but I think obviously hit by the Covid and summer lack of tourism there.

Kato Dool was a very well reputed accommodation online and therefore the prices were much higher than many of the places around it that were much newer. It did have a lovely colourful relaxation area along the Nile (although it was unfortunately packed up because of the heat and low numbers) and the reviews for the food were all glowing (other than you can wait a long long time for it).

I had received the included menu in advance, and having this option was much cheaper than buying a la carte. In order to try and beat the long wait given we were arriving late at night, I tried to pre-order which didn't really work. But since they were so quiet (noone else eating that night at that time) the food didn't take long.

The serves were huge, so much that on the next night we had to tell them to only give us one serve of bread, vegetable choice (molokhia, okra, potato or vegetables), and rice to share.

Nubian meat meal came with tajin kasheed meat, which was beef (I think) in a stew. The Nubian chicken meal which crisp grilled chicken in a savoury tomato sauce. It was outstanding and delicious. The savoury tomato sauce was also what the Nubian okra came in. Molokhia was a weird slimey green vegetable soup actually quite nice and slightly salted. Both of our meals came with vegetable salad, strong garlic tahini, normal and wild rice mixed with cardamom, and a load of soft flat bread to mop up the tahini and the stews. The next night, the grilled chicken by itself (ie. not in the stew sauce) was great too.

Our host was disappointed we didn't get the try their breakfast, as our guide insisted we leave at 5-6am each morning to avoid the heat. Next time. I hope to return.