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

Featured image via donkeybakery.com

Pretzels are basically a type of baked snack food made from dough. Salted or unsalted, crunchy or soft, there is one common characteristic that all pretzels share; their distinctive knotted shape. They’re quite popular in Germany, but we can’t say the same about Cairo; it’s rare to find a good pretzel here, or actually find one at all. Therefore, we took the liberty of finding a few places that make those yummy pastries; either as a bun, stuffed or just as it is.

1. Ralph’s German Bakery:

Anyone who’s been to Dahab has probably had breakfast at Ralph’s German Bakery, but the good news is that the venue has a branch open in Maadi. Ralph’s German Bakery offers a wide selection of quiches, salads, sandwiches, and pastries. But most importantly, the place offers the Wholegrain Pretzel, with sourdough and grains for only 12LE – quite the bargain. They also have Laugen rolls, which are the same as a pretzel, just with a different shape. There is the Hawaii Laugen with turkey and pineapple for 32LE, the Sausage and Cheese Laugen for 30LE, and the Stick Laugen for 12LE.

2. Auntie Anne’s:

You can tell from the name that their whole menu will be filled with pretzels that come in every shape and flavour; from savoury to sweet, their menu has something for everyone’s taste buds. The place offers the original pretzel, or with jalapeno and garlic for between 11-15LE, they also have the sweet ones with cinnamon and sugar, or a bit glammed up with Twix or Mars for 17-35LE. Lastly, they have Meat Pretzels, which are stuffed pretzel dough rolls; either with jalapenos, cheese, hot dogs, or even pepperoni, ranging between 25 and 39LE. The venue has branches almost everywhere around our capital: New Cairo, Heliopolis, Downtown, Sheikh Zayed, El-Rehab City and Maadi.

3. Flamenco Postres Bakery & Pastry:

Offering a wide selection of pastries, such as cakes, tarts, in addition to a range of different breads, Flamenco Postres Bakery& Pastry also offers pretzel for 10LE. The venue has only one branch, which is in the Flamenco Hotel, Zamalek. Give its freshly-baked pretzels a try by dropping by anytime between 7.00AM and 11.00PM!

4. Olivo:

Yes, we know Olivo is a pizzeria but hang on, the place does serve something that has pretzels involved. Olivo has just added to its menu the Pretzel Bun Burger; a normal burger that comes in a pretzel bun – quite creative. The venue offers the pretzel-bun burger in two burger flavours; the Emily for 140LE, or the Truffled for 150LE, both served with 300gms of fries. Find them in Sheikh Zayed, Katameya, or Zamalek anytime you feel like a pretzel burger!

5. Brioche Dorée:

via chicagoculturalalliance.com

Speaking of pretzel burgers, Brioche Doree also offers them but in miniature size. The French bakery and restaurant serves this German pastry in the form of a mini pretzel sandwich; either with grilled beef or chicken for 59.95LE. Find its branches everywhere; from New Cairo, Heliopolis, and Maadi, to Zamalek, 6^th of October.

6. The Bread Basket (German bread and sweets):

via thelocalgermany.com

Open from 8.00AM to 7.00PM in Maadi, the place offers its pretzels quite cheaply. The Bread Basket (German bread and sweets) offers a wide variety of German pastries along with the Brezel for 10LE, and the Laugen rolls for 7LE  – can’t get any cheaper than that. This is not Bread Basket that used to be in Zamalek or Dokki