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

Ever fancied a good homemade Egyptian meal
without the fuss of actually making it? Well, Aklbeety is the answer to your
prayers. This delivery-only kitchen is based in Maadi, and you can browse their
extensive menu on their website.

The first time you call to order will take
a little while as they take your details down to make any future orders
quicker.

Delivery to Maadi is free, while other
Cairo neighbourhoods have a separate delivery charge and minimum charge,
depending on their proximity to the kitchen. So, residents of
Zamalek will have a minimum charge of 250LE and a delivery charge of 22.50LE,
whereas residents of Obour City will have to shell out a 600LE minimum charge and an
additional delivery charge of 50LE.

As a large group, we had no problem
reaching our minimum charge of 200LE for our delivery to Agouza. It took around
three hours to deliver, which sounds like a long time; but it was understandable given the massive amount
of dishes ordered.

The website states that new customers get
a free surprise dish. Unfortunately, it didn’t arrive, but in all honesty we
didn’t need any more food. 

The meals arrived wrapped and hot. The
oriental rice with nuts (7LE) was excellent; a heavy dose of cinnamon gave it
great taste, and the nuts and raisins tasted fresh.

The meatballs (22LE) came with potato, and
although it had that great homely taste, the portion was pretty small. Keshk
Almaz (8LE) – an Egyptian dish made of rice, milk, chicken broth and fried
caramelised onions – was decent, but the chicken broth’s flavour was noticeably
lacking. The courgettes with béchamel (10LE) was an outstanding dish; it was packed with minced
meat and arrived piping hot, while the rice kofta (20LE) was average and tasted
like tofu.

We also tried the cream of pea soup (7LE),
which tasted strangely more like chicken soup with no trace of peas.
Nonetheless, the soup was perfectly hot, and combined with the fresh bread that
arrived with our order, made a hearty meal on its own. We also had gripes with
the vegetable soup (5LE), which was a bit stingy on the vegetables. However,
it’s worth mentioning that the soups tasted homemade, as did the molokheya
(7LE), which wasn’t as thick in consistency as we’d prefer it.

The Topkapi chicken (29LE) is half a
boneless chicken stuffed with a mixture of rice, peas and carrots. The rice was
fantastic, and it was perfectly cooked, as was the chicken. It was missing
something, though; maybe some kind of dressing sauce. We also tried the liver
pané with fries (20LE). The liver was well-done in Egyptian tradition, while
the fries were soft and limp. The large hawawshi (12LE) was bursting with meat,
and big enough to fill you up on its own.

The bread that comes free with your order
is fresh and soft, and perfect for our side orders of garlic dip (5LE) and
tehina (4LE). The garlic dip was nice and thick but a little salty, while the
tehina was fresh and delicious, even though there was way too much olive oil
splashed across it. The coleslaw (6LE) was decent, while the mixed pickles
(3LE) were very ordinary.

For dessert, we tried the om ali, which
tasted delectably homemade, although very sweet.

Aklbeety’s menu is huge, and the delivery staff
was courteous and helpful. Almost all of
the dishes came in very big portions, and the prices are cheap and you really
get your money’s worth. Unfortunately, the minimum charges mean that the
service is only really useful to large groups if you’re outside of Maadi.