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

Despite their international clientele, Cairo’s hotels embrace Ramadan as much as everywhere else, offering up wholesome menus for both fetar and sohour. Famous for its array of restaurants, we headed to the Fairmont Heliopolis’ pool-side Pizza Bar for sohour.

Other than the brightly coloured khayameya print table tops, the decoration around the clear blue pool was non-existent. The dim lighting created a tranquil atmosphere, but we found ourselves squinting in the darkness to read the menu. We were given the choice of the set sohour menu or à la carte.

True to hotel restaurant form, the sohour menus were packed with an assortment of Oriental dishes. For 150LE, hot and cold mezzas, salads, cheeses and dessert were all included; but for 210LE, you can also get main dishes and grills included. Officially, both menus are to be shared between two people, although the latter was so large, it would have been more suitable to share with three or four.  

To begin, we sampled some traditional karkade juice, which was sweeter than usual but delectable nonetheless. Next, the food began to flow all at once, until we had barely any space left on the table; bowls of salads, dips, pickles, cheeses, omelettes, foul and meats all looked and smelt incredibly tempting.

The baladi bread was warm, soft, fluffy and perfect for dipping. The pickles were both fresh and crunchy, but they were a little too bitter and potent for our taste, and although the fattoush salad was fresh, the subtle vinaigrette was barely noticeable, leaving it somewhat dry.  Our selection of hard and soft cheese was a welcome, varied addition with the creamy labna dip stealing the show, whilst the smooth hommos and bitter-sweet baba ganough provided velvety alternatives.

The hot dishes included a well-seasoned tagine of sogok, perfectly fried taameya with soft centres, sweetened kobeiba, meat-filled sambousak, which were sadly on the soft side, and some authentic tasting, half-blended foul. Despite being a little greasy, the chicken shawerma was the most delicious, with a twang of a sweet aftertaste. Our mixed grill was also a delectable combination of thick, succulent chunks of chicken and beef alongside a mound of flavourful, al dente rice.

We realised, after dessert, that both Oriental sweets and fresh fruit were advertised, however, the platter of sweets failed to materialise. Whether the waiter forgot or took it upon himself to choose the fruit for us, we may never know, but we were satisfied with the small plate of fresh watermelon, cantaloupe and plum, although they all could have been marginally riper.

The Fairmont also boast a large list of unique shisha flavours, however, on the night we went many were unavailable. We’d recommend both the grape and the guava flavours (35LE each).

Keeping up its reputation for good food, Fairmont’s Pizza bar provides a full, tasty sohour menu served in a peaceful, pool-side setting.