Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Pinoy: The Philippines Land in Maadi

We've had Chinese, Thai, Japanese and everything in between. Now, Cairo gets a taste of the Philippines. We speak to Wilma Prudente and Aileen Caretativo to find out more.

Staff Writer

Pinoy: The Philippines Land in Maadi

There's no shortage of Asian restaurants in the city. We have Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean and Indian eateries EVERYWHERE! But what about Filipino? Well, the day for Filipino food to be mentioned in the same breath as the other ethnic culinary favourites has come thanks to Pinoy, Cairo's newest and first Filipino restaurant. We meet up with Wilma Prudente and Aileen Caretativo, the owners of Pinoy and ask them what inspired them to start their new business. "We are two Filipino women that thought our Asian sisters - namely, Thai, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, India, and on and on and on - have seen some culinary love while our food has remained in the shadows of our kitchen cupboards. We're here to change all that," Prudente tell us with a smile on her face.

For those who are not familiar with the cuisine, the dishes range from the very simple, like a meal of fried salted fish and rice and pancit (which are Filipino noodles), to the elaborate paellas and cocidos created for fiestas of Spanish origin, and spaghetti and lasagna of Italian origin, and of course Adobo. "Adobo is one of the most popular Filipino dishes and is considered unofficially by many as the national dish in the Philippines. It usually consists of pork, chicken or squid," Caretativo says. Sadly, it only delivers at the moment, but Pinoy plans on having its own dine-in place by December. Prudente tells us, "we made Pinoy a delivery-only place in Maadi because we wanted to test the waters with Filipino food, and if Egyptians will like it." We've just had our first Adobo experience from there and let's just say Egyptians will LOVE it.

Pinoy is up and running and only delivers in Maadi area. For more info check out their Facebook page here or Instagram on @pinoyegypt.