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Coffee Roastery
Its fast-food menu, blaring music videos and young staff make this Hard Rock café-style eatery an extremely popular meeting place for groups of young locals. The coffee, which is served in 30 different ways, is surprisingly good. Don't bother with the food.
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Deals
A small cellar bar that gets too smoky and packed for comfort late in the evening and at weekends, Deals is pleasant enough at quieter times. There are other branches in Mohandiseen and Heliopolis.
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El Genaina Theatre
The park's 300-seat open-air theatre hosts touring Western artists, stars from the Middle East and locals; shows are often free (though you must pay the park entrance fee).
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El Morocco
Cairo's gilded 20- and 30-somethings love this Moroccan restaurant/nightclub to bits and if you can air kiss and pout you'll feel right at home. There's a different DJ every night of the week except Sunday.
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Exit
It's a different crowd every night at Exit, where the music ranges from African to rap to pop, but Friday is the night, when it doesn't matter what's playing as the place is jumping anyway.
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Fishawi's Coffeehouse
One of the oldest ahwa s in the city, and certainly the most famous, Fishawi's (signed El Fishawy) is still a great place to watch the world go by. Despite being swamped by foreign tourists and equally wide-eyed out-of-town Egyptians, it is a regular ahwa , serving up shai and sheesha to stallholders and shoppers alike. It's especially alluring in the early hours of the morning. Note that it closes from till about during Ramadan.
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Good News Grand Hyatt
Good News Grand Hyatt ( M069B; 365 1234, 365 4448; Grand Hyatt Annex, Nile Corniche, Garden City) Three screens. Sessions at , , , , and .
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Groppi Garden
Groppi Garden offers the same uninteresting pastries as the other Groppi, but the garden terrace here is a pleasant and relatively peaceful place for a pricey cup of tea.
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Groppi's
This was once the place to take tea and cake, but that was a long time ago. Now the offerings are poor and overpriced (there's a minimum charge of Earound £E19 per person, which gives you a tea or coffee and two slices of plastic-looking gateau), and the tearoom reeks of cheap tobacco. For nostalgia buffs only.
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Hard Rock Café
The Hard Rock Café differs from the other venues mentioned here in that burgers are more evident than Botox. There's a DJ, live music and the dreaded karaoke.
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Haroun al-Rashid
For belly dancing. The neat old-fashioned-looking five-star club - all red curtains and white marquee lights - is where the famous Dina undulates (though often not on Wednesdays - call to check).
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Jazz Up
The ground-floor bar in the Nile Hilton is an odd mix of wood panelling and white vinyl, as well as salsa nights (Sunday and Friday) and the occasional live band (Thursday).
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Kaab Aaly
Formerly named High Heels (Kaab Aaly is the Arabic translation), this place is where local fashion victims come to strut their stuff. Occupying one of the hotel's Nileside outdoor terraces, it's a great place to enjoy a few drinks before heading out for the night. Its popular dining area has a decent Lebanese menu and juice bar.
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Kawkab ash-Sharq
Dedicated to the 'Star of the Orient', the Egyptian singer Umm Kolthum, this café is popular with couples and families who come to listen to her music and admire her portraits.
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L'Aubergine
Wear your tightest black T-shirt and your sharpest eyewear to this minimalist bar that's just a little hipper than other fab nightspots, catering to jazz cats, expats and moodier AUC students.
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La Bodega
This vast, amber-lit lounge doubles as a restaurant, but the food (mains around £E29 to around £E50 ) is inconsistent, so better to stick with cocktails at the long brass-top bar. The place draws most of Cairo's celebrity scenesters, who look gorgeous against the Belle Epoque backdrop. One wing is sectioned off and dubbed Barten, where the crowd skews younger and the music louder. Reservations are recommended.
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Latex
The grande dame of Cairo's club scene (formerly known as Jackie's), the Nile Hilton's basement party zone still keeps up with the times. The music is always some variation on house, with the occasional Arabic pop hit thrown in, and the crowd is largely 20-somethings. around £E100 minimum Tuesday through Friday, except for ladies on Wednesdays.
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Le Grillon
Nominally a restaurant, this bizarre faux-patio is all about beer, sheesha and gossip about politics and the arts scene. The illusion of outdoors is created with wicker furniture, fake vines and lots of ceiling fans. The entrance is in the back of a courtyard between two buildings.
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Le Tabasco
Perennially chic, Le Tabasco is a basement grotto with good electronica and moody lighting - most of the well-dressed, slightly older patrons are here to air-kiss and nibble on assorted international snacks. Reservations are a help.
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Makan
The Egyptian Center for Culture & Art runs this intimate space dedicated to traditional music. Don't miss the Mazaher ensemble, performing the traditional women's zar, a sort of musical trance and healing ritual (usually Wednesday, ; around £E20 ).
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Marriott Garden Café
The Marriott's garden terrace is one of the most comfortable spots in town to relax over a drink. Big cane chairs, a lack of the thick cigarette smoke so ubiquitous in the city's other drinking dens, and good-quality wine and beer make it deservedly popular. You can eat here, too. The only downside is that it's pricey.
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Nile Maxim
The best of the Nile-cruise boats, run by the Marriott, is a relatively economical way to see a big-name belly-dancing star such as Randa or Asmahan, along with an à la carte menu. Go for the later sailing, as the show is less rushed.
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Odeon Palace Hotel
Its green carpet singed from sheesha coals, this rooftop bar is favoured by Cairo's heavy-drinking theatre and cinema clique, and is a great place to watch the sun go down (or come up). A Stella costs around £E8 , and bar snacks start at E£5.
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Palmyra
A cavernous, dilapidated 1950s dancehall in an alley off Sharia 26th of July. It has a full Arab musical contingent, belly dancers who get better the more money is thrown at them, and an occasional singer or acrobat. In addition to the entrance fee, there's a minimum charge of around £E30 , which basically covers a beer and a sheesha .
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Revolving Restaurant Lounge
Cheesy, yes, but there's a lot to be said for comfortable seats and knock-out views from the tallest structure for miles around. There's a pianist and you'll need to frock up. (The adjacent restaurant doesn't merit the money.)
