Restaurants in Cairo
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Abou Shakra
Abou Shakra is where to come for a skewer or two. It's been serving up its kebab-and-kofta plates and shwarma sandwiches at this main branch since 1947 and locals love it to bits. There's a takeaway at the front and a dining room behind it. Believe it or not, on Fridays an Imam reading from the Quran is posted next to the toilets. No alcohol is served.
reviewed
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Abou El Sid
Cairo’s first hipster Egyptian restaurant, Abou El Sid is as popular with tourists as it is with upper-class natives looking for a taste of their roots – Omar Sharif has been known to savour the chicken with molokhiyya (stewed leaf soup), but you can also enjoy a sugar-cane-and-tequila cocktail at the big bar, or a postprandial sheesha. It’s all served amid hanging lamps, kitschy gilt ‘Louis Farouk’ furniture and fat pillows. The entrance is on the west side of the Baehler’s Mansions complex; look for the tall wooden doors. There’s another branch in Mohandiseen, on Midan Amman ( [tel] 3749 7326). Reservations are a must.
reviewed
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Greek Club
About the only thing that's still Greek about this private club is the bazouki music playing on its outdoor terrace, where cats clamber on a shady pergola. But it's a nice place to have a beer and a light meal; the menu is standard Egyptian, with a few Greek items, such as tzatziki, thrown in. If you can convince the door staff of your Hellenic heritage, you can skip the E£5 cover charge.
reviewed
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Dar El Amar
The challenge at this popular Lebanese floating restaurant is to draw your eyes away from the Nile views long enough to make a choice from the 53 mezze on offer. Unlike many other eateries on the river, prices are reasonable and you don't have to be wearing designer glad rags to score a table. A Stella costs E£24.
reviewed
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Maison Thomas
A little slice of Europe, with loads of brass and mirrors, and waiters in long white aprons serving crusty baguette sandwiches. But this institution is best known for its pizza, with generous toppings. There’s a branch in Heliopolis.
reviewed
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El-Abd Bakery
For pastries head for Cairo’s most famous bakery, easily identified by the crowds of people outside tearing into their sweets and savoury pies. There’s another branch on the corner of Sharia 26th of July and Sharia Sherif.
reviewed
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Andrea
Take a trip to the country at this restaurant 1.5km north of Pyramids Rd on the west side of Maryutia Canal. At the entrance women pat out bread dough and tend the spit-roasted chicken the place is justly famous for. There’s little else on the menu aside from this and salads, but everything is slow-roasted, which gives you ample time to enjoy a few Stellas. Weather permitting, seating is in a large garden with playground equipment and a swimming pool that is great for the kiddies. But with greenery come mosquitoes, so lay on the repellent beforehand. A taxi from central Cairo should cost about E£25, or E£10 from the Pyramids/Mena House area. Make sure your driver doesn’t…
reviewed
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Cilantro
This popular, sparkling-clean cafe – part of a locally owned chain – does excellent Italian-style coffee and coffee drinks alongside exotic teas and fruit blends. Downstairs, order to go and grab a packaged sandwich, cake or salad from the open fridge; for table service head upstairs (smoky but with a couple of outside balcony seats). While some readers justifiably complain about the high prices and fairly indifferent service, Cilantro is beloved by locals as a bastion of peace and calm. There are other branches just about everywhere you turn: Zamalek, Heliopolis and Doqqi, to name a few. All offer free wi-fi, strong air-con and a stash of magazines and newspapers.
reviewed
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El-Mashrabiah
Excellent Egyptian food is served with formality at this intimate eatery. Located a few steps below street level, the dining room is further darkened by ornate carved panelling, deep leather banquettes and waiters dressed in sombre suits. Meat lovers will find themselves in seventh heaven: the kofta and tagen s (stew cooked in a deep clay pot) are good, as is the rabbit with molokhiyya and the duck with starchy taro root. But vegetarians don’t get much to work with. No alcohol is served.
reviewed
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Estoril
Walking into Estoril (from an alley next to the Amex office) can be a little awkward: stroll through clouds of cigarette smoke, past booths crammed with Cairo’s arts-and-letters set, then get the attention of a waiter, which is no mean feat. Once seated, though, you’ll feel like one of the club, scooping up simple mezze and ordering beer after beer. It’s not uncommon to see women alone here, and the bar in the back is a good place to perch for a shorter stay.
reviewed
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El Sakya
Dotted with big white umbrellas and jutting over the water, the terrace restaurant at the Grand Hyatt is a great place to take in a view of the Nile – and perhaps some local movie stars, as this is a popular place to schmooze. The menu draws from all the hotel’s restaurants, so you can take your pick of Indian, Italian, American and more. Note that following a partial ban by the hotel’s Saudi owner, alcohol is not available on the terrace.
reviewed
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La Bodega
Make a reservation well in advance – or show up early and take your chances at the door – if you want to score a much coveted table at this trendsetting culinary kingpin. A combination bar, restaurant and lounge, La Bodega sprawls across several rooms, incorporating both handsome colonial dining halls and edgier modern interiors. The menu is equally eclectic, drawing heavily from European and regional traditions, and served up with a dollop of Latin flare.
reviewed
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El Shabrawy
Locals love this place for its makaroneh – big bowls of noodles with a rich meat sauce – but the place also serves dishes such as egg-fried cauliflower and aggah (a cross between an omelette and a giant ta’amiyya ), most of which are vegetarian. It’s signed in Arabic only – look for the red awning. The Shabrawy ta’amiyya stand on the opposite side of the street is also popular.
reviewed
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Kebabgy
The bestselling novel The Yacoubian Building (by Alaa al-Aswany) has a scene set at this Nileside restaurant when loathsome businessman Hagg Azzam and corrupt politician Kamal el-Fouli strike a dodgy deal - a scene close to reality, for the outdoor terrace here is one of the most popular places for Cairo's political and business elite to meet. The kebabs are particularly good. Go for dinner, when you don't have to see how dirty the Nile is.
reviewed
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Justine's
Resembling a discreet gentleman's club, with panoramic views over the lush gardens of the Gezira Club, Justine's is the perfect place for a romantic dinner or important business meeting. Comfortable leather furniture, subdued lighting and pristine napery set a classy tone that the food more than lives up to. This is one of the best places in town to enjoy beef dishes or quality seafood concoctions. There's an impressive and well priced wine list.
reviewed
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Cedars
This chic Lebanese restaurant is a favourite with Mohandiseen’s lunching ladies, then with a younger crowd later in the evening. Rattan chairs dot the spacious terrace, where there’s sheesha along with the better-than-average food: peppery muhammara (red-pepper salad), fresh and salty ayran (yoghurt drink) and big sandwiches stuffed with French fries. You can also get full meals from the grill.
reviewed
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Abu Tarek
Abu Tarek ‘We have no other branches!’ proclaims this veritable temple of kushari – no, the place has just expanded, decade by decade, into the upper storeys of its building, even as it has held onto the unofficial Best Kushari title. The line moves fast; it’s worth eating in to get the proper dose of garlicky vinegar, which isn’t packed with takeout orders.
reviewed
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Hana Korean Restaurant
You'll feel as if you're in Seoul when you eat at this bustling Zamalek restaurant. The kimchi (fermented chilli peppers and vegetables) packs a tremendous punch, the fried dumplings are excellent, the BBQ beef is tender and the Stella is ice cold - we can't ask more than that. Perhaps the best endorsement is provided by Cairo's Korean expats, whose constant presence pays testament to the authenticity of the food.
reviewed
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Sabaya
Lebanese cuisine is Egypt’s most common ‘ethnic’ food, but it’s rarely done as well as it is here, where the diverse and delicate mezze come with fresh-baked pillows of pita, and mains such as fatta are served in individual cast-iron pots. The setting is very sleek, but considering portion sizes are generous and sharing is the norm, the prices are not as high as you would expect.
reviewed
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Samakmak
Shielded from a noisy street by a phalanx of shrubbery, a few tables with blue-checked cloths set a cheery note in a garden at the Cairo branch of the respected Alexandrian fish restaurant. There’s no menu – just pick from mullet, crabs, squid and more (priced per kilo) in the iced-up display, then specify how you want it prepared. It arrives at the table accompanied by salads and rice. No alcohol.
reviewed
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La Piazza
Part of a complex of restaurants under the collective title Four Corners, La Piazza is decorated to resemble a gazebo - think cane furniture, floral-motif stained glass and candy-cane colour scheme. It won't be to everyone's taste, but it's a good place for lunch and casual dinners, offering soups, club sandwiches, chicken Caesar salad and pastas. There are a number of vegetarian dishes. Wine and beer available.
reviewed
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La Mezzaluna
Head down a tiny alley to find this funky bi-level space that’s frequented by Cairo bohemians. The menu is roughly Italian, from conventional combos such as tomato and basil to the ‘Illy pasta’ (beef bacon, cream, radicchio and coffee). Salads are enormous. No alcohol is served, but the little patio out front is a quiet place to take coffee. There’s also an outpost in Mohandiseen.
reviewed
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Groppi Garden
Bland coffee and uninteresting pastries, but the garden terrace here is a relatively peaceful place for a cup of tea and a sheesha. The cafe was a favoured relaxation spot for Allied troops in WWII, and was immortalised in Olivia Manning’s The Levant Trilogy as ‘…a garden of indulgences where the Levantine ladies came to eye the staff officers who treated it as a home away from home.’
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Gad
This fast-food eatery is usually packed to the rafters with a constant stream of young Cairenes sampling its fresh and well-priced food. The fiteer with Greek cheese is scrumptious and the quarter chicken with rice and salad is both tasty and good value. You can sit upstairs or take away from the front counters. It has branches throughout the city, including opposite Khan al-Khalili.
reviewed
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Alfy Bey
In business since 1938, Alfi Bey describes itself as a 'traditional restaurant' and offers a rare Downtown dining experience: old-fashioned décor, age-old waiters and basic, somewhat stodgy food. The plat du jour usually includes dolma, mixed vegetables, rice and some type of roast or grilled meat. Other dishes include kebabs, grilled chicken and stuffed pigeon. No alcohol is served.
reviewed