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

Mokattam isn’t known as a culinary hub, unlike the nearby Maadi or New Cairo; however, the rather desolate area is slowly emerging as a viable option for new restaurants and cafes, one of which is Dabkeh.

The restaurant boasts a venue on Street 9 – Mokattam’s primary road – with only an indoor area furnished primarily with wooden chairs and tables, with Lebanese music playing on the speakers and an bar for drinks.

We opted for the Beef Manqousha (15 LE), the Hummus (18 LE) and the Tabbouleh (18 LE) as our appetisers.

The accompanying shami bread was warm and fresh with a nice doughy taste to it, while the hummus it had a nice chickpea flavour to it with a hint of tahini making it smooth and rich. A bit too zesty was the tabbouleh, which had a strong lemony flavour which was a bit overpowering at times. Finally the man’ousheh was a large piece of baked dough with spiced minced beef cut into three pieces, which was nice but it would’ve been better if it had more beef than what we got.

Moving onto our mains, we ordered the Dabkeh Grilled chicken (125LE) and the nine-piece Arabi Shawerma (35 LE). Coming as five grilled chicken quarters on top of yellow rice and some sautéed vegetables, the Dabkeh chicken was very well spiced and had nice tasty scorch marks giving a nice smoky aftertaste. The rice was also well seasoned and well cooked and the sautéed vegetables followed suit without necessarily wowing.

Essentially a shawerma sandwich cut into nine pieces with the a side of fries, the Arabi Shawerma was nicely seasoned and cooked thoroughly, though maybe too much as it was dry in parts. However, that was easily remedied with the toumeya dip that came alongside it.

Also coming as sides were pickles and tahini, the tahini was very watered down and almost inedible, and the pickles were made in an Egyptian style rather than a Lebanese one which was a little disappointing.

Finally we ordered the Om Ali (17LE) for  dessert which took about fifteen to twenty minutes to prepare; arriving in a clay bowl topped with resins and nuts, it was smooth with a nice warm creamy texture, and a sweet sugary experience overall.

Dabkeh isn’t the restaurant that’s going to turn Mokattam into Cairo’s newest hangout central, but with a warm, inviting atmosphere and decent food at decent prices, you get what you pay for – it’s just unlikely that you’ll encounter anything life-changing here.