Oldish ( Restaurant & Cafe ) — Restaurant in Cairo

I am writing to share my recent experience at Oldish, which occurred today between 1:15 PM and 1:30 PM. I visited with a friend, and while we were seated, a staff member kindly provided us with menus and mentioned that no orders would be taken until after the prayer. When I inquired about the expected prayer end time, he mentioned that it could be anytime between 2 PM and 3 PM but was unsure of the exact time.

A bit later, my friend approached a staff member inside to ask if it would be possible to place an order, as we noticed other customers being served. The response we received was, "We are all Muslims and we pray, and no one will be able to take orders," which came across as dismissive. We accepted the situation and waited patiently, though we felt the tone was inappropriate for a service setting.

To our surprise, the same staff member who initially told us no orders would be taken was seen walking with a cup of tea. When I inquired how he was serving before the prayer, he explained it was prepared earlier, and he was only taking it in. During this conversation, I expressed that the earlier comment, "We are all Muslims and we pray," was unprofessional. He clarified that it wasn't his statement and suggested I speak with management.

Overall, I left feeling that the situation was handled poorly, and the response made us feel unwelcome. We felt disrespected, and the handling of the situation reflected a lack of professionalism and, frankly, a degree of intolerance.

I trust that this feedback will be taken into consideration to ensure a more respectful and welcoming experience for all customers...

One of the best places around, we really enjoyed it. We came here looking for traditional Egyptian food.

The menu has a lot to offer, and everything that we tried was delicious. They have appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, main dishes (with a diverse cuisine including Egyptian), a good variety of cold and hot drinks and desserts.

We went for dinner and we liked it a lot.

The staff was friendly and welcoming, service was coming good, but got a bit chaotic for a moment, specially when we asked for the dessert and check, one waiter was just going around telling us to wait, we asked for tea and they brought one cup only, and we also had to wait a lot for the dessert, the check and tea.

Cash, debit and credit card payments are accepted.

They have tables inside and outside (we sat outside), we were there early (18hs for dinner) and the place was packed, so probably we were lucky to get a table outside. During the whole sitting not too many tables were free, just one or two, so you get the point.

Really...

The food and atmosphere are great, but the waiters pressure you for tips every single time, even though service tax is already included and (most importantly) service is terrible. Every time I’ve been there, service has been slow, they forget to give you the menu/take your order or forget what you ordered… every single time. But there’s one thing they never forget, and that is to beg for tips, and pretend they didn’t understand if you say you don’t want to give one, to guilt-trip you and make you feel awkward about it. Then the waiters give you a bad look, ask each others if they got a tip after each client leaves and complain about the client if they didn’t.

If you want tips, provide a service that’s worth tipping! Why should I pay more for bringing myself the menu to my table, reminding you of my order you forgot, etc etc.? I give money and tips to people who actually need it or deserve it – that does not include this restaurant’s staff. This place could be great but the staff makes it not worth the hassle and I...