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

There are many Lebanese restaurants on Cairo’s food scene, but only a have stood out over the years. Despite Enab Beirut’s menu lacking a wide variety, it could very well be one of the best in terms of quality and flavours.

Located at Tivoli Dome, Heliopolis, Enab Beirut is a huge restaurant that boasts a cosy ambiance and cheerful vibes thanks to its random patterning on the wall and furniture, as well as the colourful lamps on the ceiling, the 90’s music playlist and the overall randomness of the seating. There’s an outdoor area which is great for breakfast, a ground floor with a living room-like design, and you can take the stairs or the elevator to head to the more colourful first floor which has four terrace-like spaces overlooking the food court.

We kicked things off with Makanek Lebanese Sausage Pomegranate (49LE) and Basterma Cheese Rolls (41LE) for appetisers and their signature Lemon Basil Smoothie (26LE). While sipping on the tangy and wonderfully refreshing drink, which had an amazing aroma from the basil, we started with the Makanek. The sausage was cooked perfectly and had a terrific texture, while the pine nuts added a great occasional crunch and the sweet and tangy pomegranate sauce had a glaze-like consistency that coated the sausage perfectly.

The pastrami cheese rolls, meanwhile, could be best described as Lebanese-style spring rolls filled with a generous amount of perfectly melted cheese and pastrami bits that added a uniquely intense flavour.

Moving to the mains, we opted for the Spicy Shish Taouk (82LE) and the Kebbeh Labnieh (67LE). Served with perfectly cooked potato wedges, basic grilled vegetables and a garlic dip that had a spot-on consistency, the perfectly marinated, but not-so-spicy, chicken brochettes were very tender and had a pleasant zesty flavour. Despite the average sides, the shish taouk itself was flawless.

As for the Kebbeh dish, it came in form of three fried kebbeh pieces stuffed with a minced beef and pine nut mixture that was bursting with spices, all swimming in yogurt sauce that had a delicate garlic flavour and a great thick consistency. Served with white rice, the dish was great, especially the kebbeh, but we were just hoping for a stronger mint flavour from the yogurt sauce as mentioned in the menu.

We finished the delicious meal with a Halawet El Jebn (39LE) dessert, which came as four semolina and cheese dough rolls that were pleasantly cheesy and had an amazing chewy texture. Filled with cream, sprinkled with good quality pistachios and served with a jar of subtly-sweet rosewater-infused syrup, we couldn’t think of a better way to end our Lebanese lunch.

All in all, there was little to complain about at the time of our visit to Enab Beirut. Despite the limited choices on the menu, we loved the flavourful and well-executed dishes and the random and unique interior, while the great service was the cherry on top of an amazing Lebanese dining experience.