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

Featured image via nytimes

Asian cuisine has been pretty popular in Cairo for a while now, with many high-end Asian fusion restaurants popping up all over the capital. However, many will agree that it is those little-known, serendipitously discovered eateries that surprise you with the most memorable eating experiences. This is how we felt when we discovered Samarqan Noodles in Maadi.

Located in Degla, this little noodle restaurant is charming, even if only for its simplicity. The interior is bright, mostly white, and clean, with soy sauce kept in little white teapots on each table. Something about this setup just makes for a calming eating experience. We were initially surprised and overwhelmed by the vastness of the menu, with dozens of pages and an impressive variety, it was extremely hard to choose what to order. However, most of the food on the menu is extremely suitable for sharing, making for a very fun and collaborative dining experience.

We wanted something a little fresh, so we started with the cucumbers in sauce (LE 45). They were tangy and refreshing with just the slightest kick. The sauce was savoury and while the cucumbers tasted almost a little pickled, they still retained their crisp freshness and coolness. For some extra veggies, we ordered the fried eggplant and green beans (LE 60) which were cooked to perfection. Although it was a bit too oily for our taste, the flavour was mind-blowing, and the slight crunchiness of the green beans was just to die for. We also decided to try the shredded tofu with sauce (LE 68), because tofu can be a little tricky to cook just right and can end up being bland in many cases. We were incredibly impressed by the texture and flavour of this tofu.

For our main course, we decided to share some noodles, of course. We settled for classic stir-fried noodles (LE 50), since it seemed pretty standard. We ordered one with chicken (this wasn’t on the menu but was available when we asked), and another without, since a few people at the table don’t eat meat. The staff were very accommodating, and when asked to remove the meat and instead add more vegetables they happily obliged, and were also helpful in answering whatever other questions we had regarding ingredients. The noodles were exactly what you’d expect – savoury, comforting, and satisfying. Our one complaint is that the there wasn’t nearly enough chicken, so if you order this dish you may want to ask for extra. We also ordered the mushroom soup (LE 58) which came in a giant pot with a ladle, perfect for sharing! It was a little bland but the simplicity was somehow very comforting. The blandness was easy to fix, and we were each able to add as much or as little soy sauce as we liked to our individual bowls.  We were way too full for dessert, but the menu had quite a few sweet treats, so definitely look into that if you decide to dine here.

Overall, this hidden gem is bound to become one of your go-to’s whenever you’re in the mood for Asian cuisine.