The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Twists and trends on the simple and beloved concept of ice cream are becoming more and more common in Cairo, but possibly the first came in the form of mixing ice creams with toppings across a ‘cold stone’ surface – which was introduced by Marble slab Creamery.

The recently-opened branch at Mirage Mall in New Cairo is a small, functional space that consists of a linear work-station that shows the ice cream fridge display and the toppings in front of the frozen marble slab. There are four tables placed outdoor for dining in.

The variety of the ice cream was a bit limited with just 10 flavours, but mixing and matching the ice cream with the toppings is where you can explore variety. There are four sizes of serving cups; Kids (22LE), Value (30LE), Original (40LE) and Big Dipper (50LE), or you can go with a plain waffle (5LE).

We ordered a cup of strawberry mixed with Maltesers (5LE per topping), and another cup of chocolate mixed with marshmallow. 

Starting with the strawberry-Maltesers mix, a giant scoop of ice cream was placed on the marble slab and then topped it with a fair amount of Malteseres. The ice cream itself tasted more like a vanilla ice cream with a little hint of strawberry rather than straight strawberry, while the mixing and distribution of the Maltesers was uneven. 

The same goes for the chocolate marshmallow mix, only it had several more flaws. The ice cream didn’t have a noticeable chocolate flavour to it and the marshmallow froze due to the cold stone slab method which made it very chewy.

After two fails from the marble slab method, we decided to go classic with a simple plain cone topped with a scoop of wild berries and a scoop of peanut butter. Sadly that didn’t work either, as the waffle cone wasn’t fresh at all; in addition the berries were bland in taste the ice rock hard –enough to break a plastic spoon, twice. However, the peanut butter ice cream was the only thing flavour that didn’t taste bland – it actually tasted like peanut butter.

As one of the first ice cream parlours of its kind in Egypt, you can’t help but expect more from Marble Slab; but there was limited availability of different flavours and those flavours, of both ice cream and toppings, which were available were largely bland. Add to that the fact that it’s a bit pricier than other ice creams shops and you have a pretty poor experience.