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

Lebanese food; Cairo just can’t get enough of it. We love their grill, their pastries, their appetisers, and their sweets and the Cairo 360 troops are overwhelmingly pleased at the number of Shami restaurants across the city – a number that continues to grow.

In Maadi, one of our favourite Lebanese restaurants is Tanoureen. Sharing the same venue as its sister restaurant, Cuba Cabana, the outside courtyard is set up perfectly for a disntinctly laidback and relaxing dining experience. The wooden furniture is complimented by comfortable coloured cushions and the lighting is never too much.

Cuba Cabana ticked the boxes when it came to food, so we felt good about our odds at Tanoureen. Luckily, at the time of our visit, the weather was pleasant enough that we were able to sit outside and both menus were promptly laid before us by a pleasant waiter.

We opted for the Makanek in Pomegranate Molasses (44.99LE), Hommus Beiruti (20.99LE) and Kebbeh Labanyeh (37.99LE) from the appetisers and Kofta (69.99LE) and Fatet Dajaj (50.99LE) for our mains.

After a short wait, a fresh bread basket was served with our appetisers. The Hommus Beiruti was the biggest surprise; topped with olive oil, lemon, tehina, parsley and chopped onion, it had several extra dimensions of flavour and is, hands down, one of the best that this reviewer has tasted in Egypt.

The Kebbeh Labanyeh featuring generous sized kobeba drenched in a delicious garlic yoghurt sauce was also a hit; perfectly cooked, served hot and using a noticeably good quality of meat.

The Makanek, better known to us as Sogok in this part of the world, didn’t fare as well; what is usually a sweet and sour overload of a molasses sauce was unfortunately diluted and didn’t pack as much flavour as it should have.

The Kofta meal, which came with our requested French fries, saj bread and 350g of kofta was certainly filling, but we the kofta was a tad dry and found ourselves constantly dipping it either in the molasses, tehina or garlic yoghurt dip. The Fatet Daja, however, had no such problems. The chunks of chicken breast were perfectly cooked and seasoned, and topped with yoghurt, olive oil, crispy bread and white rice; it was a delicious dish that excelled in both flavour and texture.

All in all, Tanoureen offers a great atmosphere, wholesome filling food and provides an all around pleasant experience. The staff is friendly and attentive, and should you have leftovers, the food is packaged into super-convenient microwavable boxes. Excellent.