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

Frozen yoghurt has taken the Cairo cafe scene by storm and is becoming more fashionable by the day. The Country’s Best Yoghurt – TCBY for short – has opened up in Zamalek’s Club 33, joining the ever-expanding list of frozen yoghurt joints. Although not particularly unique, their bright pink banner and gleaming glass-front grabbed our attention, coaxing us in to test out their claims of being the best of the best.

TCBY is an international chain, boasting healthy, real dairy, pro-biotic products. There are no tables inside, only a couple outside, to encourage take-away snacking.

The soft serve yoghurt comes in a multitude of flavours; chocolate, golden vanilla, strawberry and kiwi, white chocolate mousse, classic tart and cookies and cream. A large, glass counter shows off a vast array of fruit and sweet toppings, whilst another refrigerates colourful cartons of thick, hand-scoop frozen yoghurt. Before choosing, the staff offered us small shots of each ‘fro-yo’ flavour to try. Each one was as creamy, natural and fresh as the next, tasting precisely as their names suggest, making it almost impossible to decide.

Unfortunately, there were no paper menus at the time of our visit, but flavours were obvious and the menu fixed to the back wall outlined prices. The tubs were all generously sized and come in small (20LE), medium (30LE), large (40LE), a pint (55LE) and a giant quart size (105LE). There’s also the choice of three, four or five toppings (30LE-50LE). The hand-scooped yoghurt is priced per big scoop (18LE) and is served with the same range of toppings.

We stuck to basics and went for one small, golden vanilla soft-serve yoghurt with three toppings (30LE). We mulled over the wide selection of fresh fruit which including strawberries, kiwis, pineapple chunks, blackberries and raspberries. There was also an abundance of sweet treats such as milk chocolate chips, M&Ms, gummy bears, Oreos, cereal hoops, walnuts and granola. We went for Oreo pieces and chocolate chips, to be topped with strawberry slices. The Oreo pieces were satisfyingly crispy, the choc-chip pieces were chilled and chocolaty, whilst the strawberries were perfectly ripe and juicy, which complemented the light and creamy vanilla yoghurt brilliantly.

We also tried each and every, hand-scooped yoghurt with tiny spoons; we would highly recommend the flavourful mint-chocolate and the rich and creamy butter-pecan. The bright, blue, yellow and red swirled option looks cool but tastes just like vanilla ice-cream.

With friendly staff, an interactive, make-your-own experience, and fresh, quality ingredients – producing delicious frozen yoghurts as promised – TCBY sits firmly in the running to becoming one of the more popular, frozen snack destinations in Cairo.