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

For the last few years, Cairo’s restaurant scene has been welcoming new, exotic cuisines like never before. When it comes to Chinese food, there are a decent amount of restaurants in Egypt’s capital that offer it, but quality and authenticity are hard to come by – something we had in mind when visiting to Manchow Wok at Westown Hub.

The restaurant stands out in the dining complex at Beverly Hills with its simple but effective interior – Chinese portraits, Mandarin inscriptions, dragon illustrations are just a few of the features that give it the right look without going over-the-top. 

After going over the menu, we decided to start with seafood soup (27LE) along with steamed beef dumplings (18LE) as our appetisers and for our main dish, we chose some sizzling prawns (68LE).

Served in a simple bowl with a Chinese soup spoon – also known as a Chinese duck spoon – and covered with cabbage and carrots, with a layer of prawns underneath, the seafood soup was rich with Asian spices and a great, layered taste.   

The beef dumplings, meanwhile, were shaped like small pyramids with soft and tender dough and were full of steamed beef that was just as tender, although it was rather colder in the centre than it should have been and the meat was a little bland and under-seasoned; that’s when we used the sweet and sour, soy and spicy sauces served on the table, to enhance the overall taste.

On the other hand, the sizzling prawns were much better. Covered with a layer of vegetables, the prawns themselves had a soft and tender texture which sizzles in your mouth with a garlic kick and a pinch of oyster and fish sauce that added the overall taste and brought it to a new level; it was our favourite dish for the day.    

Manchow Wok is a great place for those looking for tasty and affordable Chinese dishes. It may not be the most authentic or sophisticated Chinese place in Cairo but we would have no problems in returning to satisfy our Chinese cravings.

*With the help of the Cairo 360 editorial team, this review was written by 11 year-old Abdel Rahim Amr – aka Boody – who reached out to Cairo 360 as an aspiring foodie and writer.