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

The Cairo restaurant scene is saturated with Lebanese food, and newcomers have to go that little step further to distinguish themselves from the herd. Located in 6th of October’s Mall of Arabia, Leila is an international Lebanese chain with an interesting back story.

Leila was born in a rural Lebanese village in the mountains, and was brought up to be kitchen-savvy from a young age by her grandmother. As an adult, Leila moved to the city and proceeded to open a chain of self-named restaurants around the Middle East.

The story plays a key role in the homely dining experience and there are plenty pictures of Leila herself, along with family photographs hanging on the walls of the restaurant. With both indoor and outdoor seating areas, the ambience of the restaurant is casually chic whilst remaining cosy. Numerous dark wooden tables loiter underneath mellow lighting fixtures, surrounded with comfy padded chairs. The general colour scheme contrasts between dark seating and brighter hues to give a colourful ambience without being flamboyant.

While possessing a pleasant variety, Leila’s menu is conveniently sectioned in to hot and cold mezzes, salads, grill platters, main dishes from the oven, beverages and dessert.

For starters we ordered stuffed vine leaves (25LE) along with a selection of dips; hummus (20LE), baba ghanough (20LE) and muhammara (30LE) – ground pine nuts with oil and spices. We then went on to order our main courses of kafta bel laban (70LE), lemon garlic beef (70LE) and Leila Light Chicken (65LE).

We were first served a selection of warm breads, including a fabulous-tasting thyme bun. Served at generous portions, the chilled dips were scrumptiously smooth and while the baba ghanough and the hummus tasted perfect, it was the muhammara that stood out; garnished with pine nuts, it had a distinctly sour yet smoky flavour that was well complimented by the addition of olive oil. The vine leaves, meanwhile, were another flavourful treat; served cold, the soft leaves had been stuffed with rice before being rolled in olive oil.

Soon, our main courses arrived; the kafta bel laban was a platter of three long tubes of ground beef, covered with a light yoghurt sauce and a side of bread and vegetables. The fresh, juicy beef tasted smoky with a strong presence of herbs and spices that were a great combination with the creamy sauce.

Served with boiled potato slices, the lemon garlic beef was also fresh, however it was much leaner than the kofta which gave it a dryer texture. In compensation, the patties were drenched with a unique lemon garlic sauce.

The Leila Light Chicken transpired to be a fantastically light, low-fat platter consisting of marinated chicken breasts, covered in mustard dressing along with pieces of grilled eggplant, potatoes, onion and arugula leaves.

For dessert, the restaurant serves Osmalliet Leila – vermicelli with sugar syrup and pistachio ice cream – ashta we assal, made of cream and honey served with dates, banana split and other sweets. We ordered a serving of halwet al jeben (40LE), which turned out to be a refreshing twist on the traditional cheesecake; cream-wrapped cheese with a generous tub of sugar syrup sprinkled with ground pistachios.

Though it comes at the behest of a costly cheque, Leila can definitely hang in there with the best of Lebanese restaurants in Cairo; not only because of the high quality cuisine, but also because of its intimate setting and humble back-story.