Traditional Egyptian food gets a modern update at Tut’s Egyptian Eatery, a casual dining restaurant that was founded by Egyptian brothers-in-law Mohamed Zein and Mohamed Tarek Diab as a way to introduce Malaysians to their native cuisine. The dishes here span from time-honoured favourites like the Egyptian kofta meat balls, om ali bread pudding and Molokhia minced leaf stew to contemporary dishes like roast chicken, herbal hot plate chicken with baked rice and crispy fried chicken.
For those new to Egyptian cuisine, they recommend starting with the molokhia minced leaf stew, which is made by mincing molokhia leaves – a vegetable native to the Middle East that looks like mint and tastes similar to spinach – that are then cooked with butter, garlic and spices like coriander, cumin and black pepper to create a rich, unctuous soup that was once served to Egyptian royalty. As for the mains, the roast chicken dish with spicy sauce comes complete with a side dish that you can pick from a selection that includes fries, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables and spiced rice, while the hawaoshi baked meat foldover is an Egyptian favourite comprising seasoned beef or lamb that is stuffed into a baked baladi bread (an Egyptian flatbread made with wheat flour). The dessert selection includes the om ali bread pudding – whose history stretches back to the 12th century – which is given a Malaysian twist with Sangkaya coconut ice cream and gula Melaka.