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

Despite the influx of foreign cuisines on the ever-growing Cairo restaurant scene, Oriental food is still one of the most sought after in the city and one of the latest to promise that wholesome, authentic taste is Waraa Enab in Mohandiseen.

Located inside Italian restaurant, Gabriel, Waraa Enab boasts a spacious and colourful setting with comfortable chairs and sofas amidst a chilling musical ambiance. Guiding us to our candlelit table, the staff promptly served us with a bottle of water and menus.

Going over said menu, with its diverse Oriental eats from appetisers, soups, grills and tajins, we were already drooling and we could hardly wait to order.  

For our appetisers, we opted for a hummus (12LE) and cheesy mince pasta tajine (44.90 LE), while grilled kofta with a side of mixed rice (59.90 LE) jumped out at us from the mains.

Smooth, creamy and topped with chickpeas, the hummus salad was the ideal starter to our meal. The minced pasta tajine, meanwhile, worked well with its melted cheese layer, which perfectly complemented the pasta, minced meat and the pike of basil and made it all the more filling and tasty. Meanwhile, grilled kofta came with brown rice rather than the mixed one we were promised, but the dish was satisfying nonetheless; served as four large pieces, the kofta was cooked to a perfect tenderness, while the grilled vegetables were particularly well-cooked, too.

When it comes to desserts, there are just two options at Waraa Enab;  Couscous with sugar and nuts (24.90LE) and Om Ali (19.90LE); we opted for the latter, but couldn;t help but feel that an Oriental restaurant could and should have so much more.

Coming warm out of the oven, the Om Ali flattered to deceive. Despite being pleasingly creamy and the pastry retaining a level of flakiness, it was completely unbalanced; the first few layers had a distinctly bitter flavour, though as we dug more into it towards the bottom, it became overly sweet.  

We washed our dinner with a cup of Turkish coffee (13.90LE) and some Grape-flavoured shisha (36 LE) which, without being spectacular, went some way to making up for the dessert. And so despite the mishaps, our visit to Waraa Enab was still satisfying enough – it just needs some kind of x-factor.