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

Even amongst the many, many cafes and coffee houses in Cairo, FIKA – which literally means ‘to have coffee’ in Swedish – managed to find its place among the best coffee places in town when it opened in Sheikh Zayed’s Curve Mall. Recently opened in Zamalek, we decided to track FIKA down and see how the new branch fares. 

As a venue, FIKA has an effortlessly cute interior; it has five lightwood tables around which are a scatter of simple chairs, whose colour resonates with the Swedish skyline painted in white on the black walls which carry a number of colourful plant holders. It’s not a spacious venue by any means; however, the all-glass facade and the high ceiling make it seem bigger.

Wasting no time, we ordered Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs (59LE) and Eggs ‘n’ Sausages Omelette (56LE) for our breakfast. Despite the staff being friendly and polite, the service was really slow; taking more than 40 minutes to melt the cheese on the omelette in the oven, and, finally, to serve it to our table along with the other dish.

The Salmon Scramble, which was laying on two pieces of toasted bread, had a very light and fluffy texture and was in great bite-size pieces. We loved how the amount of dill complimented without overpowering other flavours in the dish, which, for 59LE, had a pretty good amount of smoked salmon.

On the other hand, the Eggs ‘n’ Sausages Omelette was a letdown; the scant filling of bell peppers, onions and sausages barely added any flavour to the already dense and bland Omelette. Still not making it worth the wait, the melted cheese, somehow, saved what could have been a tasty omelette, with its nice, sharp flavour.

But what really saved the day were the sides, whose on-point simplicity stole the show; from the perfectly roasted potato wedges and its delicious spices, to the sautéed fresh mushrooms and its perfect seasoning.

When it comes to desserts, the Apple Cinnamon French Toast caught our attention on the menu, but sadly it wasn’t available, so we just opted for the Swedish Almond Cheesecake (45LE) and the Blueberry Pancakes (39LE). The cheesecake had a great crust and a perfect texture for a baked cheesecake and the almond on top gave it a nice crunch. However, there was a very weird aftertaste to it, which ruined what could’ve been a really good cheesecake. We’re really not sure where this strong artificial flavour came from, but it marked another huge letdown.

As for the pancakes, we had mixed feelings about them. Thick as they were, the pancakes were super soft and fluffy with a spongy texture and the blueberry cream on top had a great sweetness that worked really well with the pancakes. But the ice cream scoop didn’t make any sense; it made them soggy, while the drizzle of blueberry syrup just made the whole dessert way too sweet, which ruined two delish pieces of pancakes.

We’re not really sure what to feel about our visit to FIKA. Three out of four dishes had a lot of unforgivable flaws – simple, maybe, but they’re the kind of flaws that ruin potentially excellent dishes. If these points can be improved, FIKA has the potential to be a great go-to breakfast spot for Zamalek residents.