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

Life in the ever-busy capital definitely, at times, forces all of us to live on the fast lane without enough time to spare on making an event out of every meal. Thus, take away venues and delivery services can often swoop in and save the day, allowing us to munch away our hunger whilst getting things done.

Located on Brazil St, one of Zamalek’s most iconic boulevards, Baraka is hard to miss with its huge banner and catchy orange and maroon colour scheme. The venue offers no seating areas, with its concept based on paying, awaiting your order and picking it up to eat elsewhere.

Baraka’s menu is divided into two main sections—beef sandwiches, including Steak with Cheese (22/26LE), Beef Fajita (18/22LE) and Kofta Balady (14/18LE) as well as chicken sandwiches, including Chicken Tawook (16/20LE), Chicken Mozzarella (18/22LE) and Chicken Liver (12/15LE), with each offered in either medium or large sizes. In order to make a combo out of your sandwichyou add 9 LE to the sandwich’s price.

Sticking to the basics, we opted for a couple of Chicken Shawerma sandwiches (18LE/each) and a couple of Beef Shawerma sandwiches (18LE/each), requesting them all to be wrapped in Syrian bread. Once we paid, we handed our order to the friendly chef and received our steaming sandwiches a mere ten minutes later.

 Well-wrapped, our sandwiches tasted fresh and were out-of-the-oven hot, with the well-toasted Syrian bread having that satisfying crunch to it. Both the chicken and beef shawerma sandwiches were, despite their size leaning more towards medium than large, chockfull of fillings that included diced tomatoes and pickles, alongside the shawerma bits. They both, however, lacked a sufficient amount of sauces or dips, with the chicken shawerma needing a bit more Tomiya and the beef shawerma needing a bit more Tahini.

To wrap up, pun intended, we found Baraka to be quite perfect for grabbing a non-fussy, on-the-go bite. The sandwiches were both delicious, but if you’re absolutely starving, go for two not one, as a single sandwich is not large enough to satisfy your hunger.