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

It’s
those final few hours before sunrise when the venturing out for sohour starts.
Though Cairo is full of restaurants, cafés, street kiosks and lavish tents offering
sohour, not all of them offer the same quality of food. Located in Dokki,
Safo is a basic restaurant that provides good food and extremely fast service.
This place understands that your sohour must be filling enough to take you
through the next day until fetar.

As soon
as you take your seat, the staff will rush over to take your order.
If not, just shout out for Abu Nasser; if he doesn’t come himself, someone else
absolutely will. There is a menu available but it is not handed out. You are
here for foul and nothing else, and it is of course is available in all varieties.
There is standard foul, Alexandrian foul with olive oil, spicy foul, foul with
boiled or fried eggs, and so on and so forth. Prices start at 1.25LE for a sandwich and
2.75LE for a bowl of the mashed beans. You can also order basterma with sogo’
for 2.50LE and Alexandrian liver for 3.75LE.

The foul
is as good as it gets: creamy, tasty and filling. In case you have any personal preferences for
your foul, the staff are more than happy to prepare it as you wish. The basterma omelettes in
particular are really good. They are not excessively greasy as usual and just
one omelette is not enough; you will absolutely be craving another one. The tehina and baba ghanough are just so-so.
Both lacked taste, and the baba ghanough was a bit too sour
for our liking. The solution here is to mix it with the foul, the combination
makes it a bit more interesting.

In this
reviewer’s opinion, the only downside to having sohour at Safo is the constant
stream of cars driving right by the terrace, which often causes quarrels
between the drivers and the restaurant’s patrons. Also, kindly note that as
soon as you are finished with your meal, you are expected to leave immediately,
as other people will be eager to take over your spot.

When in
the Dokki neighbourhood and starving for sohour; absolutely go to Safo. You
will not be disappointed.