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

The outside of the restaurant is a vibrant orange and grey, glowing from the bright lights of the ‘Kiwi’ sign above the door. Through the double glass doors, the interior is funky, fresh and contemporary, fashioning some unusual wall art. The wall decorations create an organic and natural feel; one wall is made up of rough, wooden tiles whilst the others are wallpapered with a continuous grass like pattern – there’s even a gap in one place, filled with plastic grass and cute, little metal kiwi birds.

We were greeted by a very friendly, polite and professional waiter. In fact, throughout our entire experience, the service we received was impeccable, making it one of the best aspects of Kiwi; the manager should be proud.

The restaurant is split into two; the smoking and shisha area near the door, and the non-smoking area round the corner at the back, near the large, wooden bar. We sat in the smoking area and ordered a perfectly smooth peach shisha (17.98LE). Although there was a chill from the door, customers can request for an industrial sized heater to be shone on the table.

To mull over our food choices, we ordered one ‘Butterfly Kiss’ (22.99LE) – cantaloupe, lemon and fresh root ginger – and their speciality, a ‘Karma Cooler’ (20.99LE) – a blend of lemon, orange, pineapple and kiwi juice. Both were satisfyingly refreshing with just the right amount of ginger in the former and a strong, sweet taste of orange juice taking over the latter.  

The chicken buffalo (55.99LE) comes stuffed with mozzarella, parmesan and cheddar cheese, covered in a creamy, cheesy sauce with sun-dried tomatoes. With an equally creamy, and generous, portion of spaghetti on the side, this dish was extremely rich and considerably heavy.

With charming staff and good, affordable food, not to mention the great shisha, what more could one want?