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

Every time a new Cairo café opens – which is very, very often – the Cairo 360 office is inundated with calls. Everyone wants to prove that they have something special to offer – something to separate them from the pack. One such someone is Fresco; a café and bakery located on Hassan Aflatoun Street in Heliopolis, off of El Nozha Street.

Never ones to look for too many excuses to indulge in baked goods in the name of work, we visited the charming eatery with high expectations and hungry stomachs.

The exterior of the shop is predominantly decorated in beige and cute curtains fill the windows. The interior is spacious; on the right hand side, fitted shelves hold several baskets of fresh breads, shielded by sets of Fresco-branded covers – it’s the little details that make a difference – though some were empty during the time of our visit. The reason for this is that Fresco’s kitchen is located elsewhere; deliveries are made only twice daily – at 12PM and 4PM. Plants are afoot, we were told, to double the amount of deliveries, adding 7AM and 8PM to the schedule.

As with any bakery, Fresco’s menu offers everything from cakes, muffins and cookies, to pastries, sandwiches and even quiches. Unlike so many cafés in Cairo, Fresco believes in the true coffee shop experience; they don’t serve big meals in big plates, choosing to adopt a ‘take it and go’ approach. In fact, plates are forsaken altogether and eat-ins are served in more nicely branded food-vessels.

Of the baked goods, we chose to sample cheese croissant (7.50LE), a turkey and cheese stuffed bun and a cheese pate (7.50LE), as well as chocolate cookie (8LE). Of the ‘meatier’ options on Fresco’s menu, we went for a mincemeat calzone (14LE). From the sweet pie section of the menu, we gave the seasonal fruits pie (12LE) a go.

The best thing about all the baked goods at Fresco is that they aren’t heavy on oil and butter; it gives the shop’s products a taste distinctive of other local competitors.

The chocolate cookie was rich and tasty – we didn’t want it to end. The fruit pie was also brilliantly executed; the fruits chunks and jam-like conserve made it one of the stand-out items on the menu. The calzone and turkey and cheese stuffed bun were equally as agreeable to the pallet.

Still very young, Fresco has some kinks to iron out before fulfilling its own lofty ambitions, but if the quality of the food is maintained at such reasonable prices, this is a Cairo bakery that has the potential to become a go-to for quality baked goods.

Edited and translated from Cairo 360 Arabic.