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

With
over fifty baladi bars in Downtown Cairo we at Cairo 360 are always patrolling the
area to find the best bars for you. Though it may seem like an easy job, bar-hopping
is actually quite difficult at times. Bussy Cat Bar for instance is obscurely
located above a very normal-looking ahwa, and requires help in finding it.

Located
just off of 26th of July Street, Bussy Cat Bar is located in the building
of Hotel Extady just across from Miami cinema. There is a sign outside but it’s
very dark, dusty and almost unreadable. Nothing gives away that a bar is hidden here; certainly not the cute little kitty on the sign.

If you walk into the ahwa,
take the white door halfway down on the right. If someone tries to
ask you where you’re going, just whisper the magical word beera; it’s like saying open sesame to Ali Baba’s cave. Behind the
white doors are stairs leading up to a large room filled with tables and
chairs. The Stella branding is all over the place and even the TV set is
covered in the signature Stella yellow. At the time of our visit, the TV
was showing a football match.

The service is excessively friendly: two somewhat chubby girls
will come up to greet you and will kiss their own hands first before reaching
out for yours. For anyone out there with a bad case of OCD you might want to
stay home; this isn’t the slickest or most sparkling of places, shall we say.The bar has ACs, but at the time of our visit they weren’t on, so we
had to settle for the fans instead.

A bottle
of Stella will set you back 12LE. For just 6LE, you can order a shisha.
Surprisingly enough, besides saloum and apple flavour, you can also order
cherry or cantaloupe. If you are not the beer type, then you can order a bottle
of ID Double Edge for 23LE. A glass of local whisky VAT costs 12LE and shots
of local vodka cost 9LE. All in all, this means you can get very drunk for very
little money.

Bussy Cat Bar also has a small food menu. The cheese platter (22LE)
is highly recommended, as the portions are very generous and tasty. It comes
with two different kinds of cheese, meat and cucumbers on the side.

The
clientele at Bussy Cat Bar are mainly locals and regulars. At the time of this
reviewer’s visit, it wasn’t very busy. Be prepared for when you leave the bar;
the chubby girls and the waiters will line up for tips and they’ll suddenly shed the friendly attitude you’ll get when you arrive. You’d better bring some five-pound notes with
you, hand them out and leave relatively quickly. Make sure, of course, to not fall
down the stairs.