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

This bright red-coloured cafe and Social House that just opened at Arkan Plaza’s new extension has a pretty lively and colourful vibe to it. Since it opened its doors to customers, Bittersweet has been buzzing day and night with people enjoying their morning coffees, breakfast pizzas, and many more speciality items. Apart from the sweet section of their menu, you can also find a lot of savouries like homemade pasta, salads, and hand-crafted sandwiches! We decided to visit them on one sunny Friday to try their offerings ourselves.

We headed there early afternoon, and as always, the place was packed, so we decided to sit on the bar chairs by the window. The pretty cherry blossom tree in the middle of the indoor area created such a wonderful and unique vibe along with the striking red colour of the café-front.

As we looked through their extensive menu, we ordered one Sweet Beet juice from the House Mixes section (55 LE) – beetroot, pomegranate, strawberry, and orange, as well as one Cappuccino (40 LE). The juice was refreshing and fruity, aligning well with the sunny weather.

We then moved on to The Philly Steak sandwich with soft bread (110 LE) – thinly sliced seared beef tenderloin with caramelised onions and green peppers topped with melted provolone cheese with mayo-dijon spread. The seared beef in the sandwich was perfectly cooked and tender; however, if we had to choose, we would opt for it without peppers and select another bread type other than soft. The soft bread with the cheese, mayo and oils from the seared beef didn’t mesh well in terms of texture. We also ordered the Pappardelle pasta (60 LE) with signature rose smoked salmon sauce (140 LE) with smoked salmon (60 LE) from the Customise Your Own Pasta section. This pasta was everything you wanted in a pasta dish; the homemade pasta was beautifully silky yet springy and was drenched in a phenomenal smokey and buttery salmon sauce. We tried to end our meal with a lemon berry mini cake, but it wasn’t available. There were only three dessert choices left of the seven items, so we decided to give it a go next time.

Our experience was nothing short of lovely, and when the chilly weather hits, it’s time to seek out some extra comfort. Fortunately, Sheikh Zayed offers a diverse array of cosy cafes and restaurants, providing all the repose and artisan food anyone would need – and Bittersweet is definitely one of those cafes. The pasta section might be viewed as a bit pricey, yet, the rest of the dessert, juice, and coffee sections are far more reasonable.