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

While everyone enjoys sitting down to large scrumptious meal, the end of the month and the countdown to pay-day don’t always allow it. In Maadi, there’s a shortage of affordable, medium-tier restaurants, and with the rise in prices that Egypt is experiencing, that is the exact kind of restaurant is the area needs.

Located on the busy Road 306 just off El Nasr St., B Fresco – a modest little restaurant with wood plank floors and orange walls with counters accompanied by bar stools at either side – goes some way to filling that void.

B Fresco serves a variety of sandwiches ranging between meat, chicken and seafood, in addition to a few meals with rice and salads as wells as a selection of appetisers.

Upon inspecting the menu behind the counter,  we opted for an interesting looking Wrap Star Sandwich (15LE), a Roast Beef sandwich (19LE), 3-piece portion of Chicken Strips (10LE) and Cheese Fries (7LE).

While waiting, you can see the staff manoeuvring through the kitchen to prepare your food. Served only about 15-20 minutes later, our food certainly looked impressive.

The Wrap Star contains fried chicken strips topped with cheese, lettuce and garlic mayo, which is all then wrapped with tortilla bread into a pentagon shape. The chicken was crisp and cooked well, and the irregular shape was actually easy to eat and didn’t cause a mess.

The Roast Beef sandwich looked equally as impressive, but the beef itself was bland and the sandwich toppings – which included lettuce, pickles and a ‘special sauce’ – couldn’t salvage it.

The Chicken Strips, the same kind used in the Wrap Star, actually got a better chance to shine when you eat them on their own. The chicken itself is quite tasty and the breading has a decent crunch.

The Cheese Fries were a horrible disappointment; the soggy fries were covered in a mixture of cheddar and white cheese which lumped together and created something that looked like eggs. No, thank you.

All in all, while some of its items fare much better than others, the prices at B Fresco negate at least some of the disappointment and provides a cheap option amongst the usual suspects of fast-food in Cairo.