Tourist Guide, part one

One of things that people ask me when they come for ziarat is where to eat. Here is my list of recommended eateries:

1. Safir Hotel (The Hotel and the Fresh Delights 'tent' next door to it. The pizza and shawerma are both highly recommended, as it the fresh juice. (I recommend the fruit cocktail with ginger, but beware, its an acquired taste!)

2. Meraj Hotel serves the best Indian food in town. The chef has been trained to feed khojas, so the food always has added spice! (n.b. The chef here used to work at Safir, so standards are high!) Although some things need to be ordered in advance, the chicken karai is always available. The chicken fajitas are not too bad either.

3. Paninos restaurant is near Noorudeen/Dar al Taqwa/ Al Hussain Hotels and near the Iranian Bazar. The mexican chicken is good, as is the pizza. The bill usually comes to half the price of the Safir restaurants. Fresh juices are good too. The owner speaks English, so most of the time you can get your order how you want it. My tip is to tell them to skip the salads and add extra fries!

4. Mahabba Pizza is located near the Iraqi street roundabout. The mini cheese and tomato pizzas are good (and cheap). The shawerma here is good too.

5. KFC: There are about 7 in the city centre. Jumping in a taxi and telling the driver to take you to KFC usually works!

6. Cham City Centre Mall (Yes, they spell is Cham here!). There is a basement full of restaurants. Taxi fare from Sayyidda Zainab area will cost you about 200 liras. Supermarket in the basement is good to buying olive soaps and shampoos. United Colours of Benetton and other clothing stores in the upper levels.

7. Damascino Mall (right behind the Cham City Centre Mall) has a Costa, Subway, KFC, Italian Pizza place. The supermarket here is worth seeing.

Dessert Places

A. Ice cream place near Meraj hotel has a range of ice creams, baklava, cakes and desserts. The hot baklava is particularly recommended! The shop has seating outside and also sells baklava to take home and biscuits.

B. Fresh Delights, next to Safir Hotel serves a nutella fruit salad - chunks of nutella and biscuit, with some of the 5 a day thrown in. Death by Nutella! (Too rich to eat alone!)

My tips:
A. Don't eat shawerma off the streets (apart from Safir and Mahabba). If you saw how they are delivered (and we have!) its not worth it.
B. Stay away from coleslaw (and salads from unreputable places)