Open at Platform, the restaurant complex of the Nile, Serena is a "Lebanese Street Eatery" serving a large selection of Lebanese and Egyptian specialities in one. I'm not sure why it's called "Street Eatery" since neither the concept nor the food have anything to do with the street. An untrained waitress takes the order while we wait to be served.
The Platform is a restaurant complex hosting a selection of Lebanese concepts, a burger shop, Leila from Lebanon, Italian restaurants and a coffee place. It's a close -trying to- copy of Beirut's Zaitunay bay without the boats.
The first impression is not of the finest but you'll change your mind as soon as you open the menu. One of the most beautiful menus I've seen has inspirational photos and quotes, not the same photos seen in all restaurants, not the same frame and not be same background but a different approach to simplicity and class.
Serena is about a Lebanese lady who learned cooking skills in Byblos before moving to Cairo to open her first restaurant.
The waitress this morning knows nothing about the menu. Can't suggest, doesn't have an answer to questions and doesn't know what a “Perrier sparkling water” is. She finished, walked couple meters and called someone to inquire about the order.
On the menu:
Breakfast, 15 choices of hummus, salads, Maza cold and hot, mousjanat, arayes, oven baked manakish, wraps, Fatta, grills and desserts.
Ordered Perrier with lime and waited to be served. The place is small and simple. A bar, a white brick wall painted in white with a lady painted on it which is the restaurant's identity and a terrace facing the Nile.
Waited and waited… One hour after, I left angry without even being served… SAD!
