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

KFC has been the king of fried chicken for as long as we can remember. There have been a few challengers over the years, but no one has quite managed to knock this particular king off of his throne – yet.

Despite only having two branches in Cairo, Kansas Fried Chicken has been slowly gaining something of a following and we visited the Masaken Sheraton branch. Hidden away in the Saqr Qureish Buildings, the restaurant offers a multitude of fried chicken options, in addition to appetizer items, wraps and sandwiches.

The venue itself wasn’t that special, looking mostly like typical fast food place, while issues between the kitchen and the waiters took their toll on serving times.

After taking our seats we began with the Jalapeno Bomberz (20LE) and Cheesy Jalapeno Waffles (25LE), while also ordering the Big Boss (60 LE) Combo (extra 15LE) and the 321 Mix Combo (65LE).

Arriving all-together in trays, the Jalapeno Bomberz cam as three cigar-shaped cheese fingers filled with gooey, jalapeno-infused cheddar cheese. They were fantastic with a flavourful taste that has a spice that builds up in your mouth.

Moving onto the cheesy waffles, they were waffle cut fries topped with melted cheddar cheese and jalapeno slices. The fries were clearly freshly made, well-seasoned and mixed well with the melted cheddar cheese that contrasted the tangy spicy taste of the cold jalapeno slices making it our favourite dish of the night.

The huge and aptly named Big Boss was a sandwich that had two fried chicken breasts, topped with beef bacon, two slices of cheese, lettuce, BBQ sauce and mayonnaise with a side of fries. The fries weren’t particularly special, but definitely better than KFC’s notoriously limp fries.

The sandwich on the other hand was flavourful and juicy with creamy cheese offering a nice aftertaste, the BBQ sauce adding to the smokiness of the bacon giving the sandwich a well-rounded taste.

Finally the 321 mix combo has a little of something of everything, with three pieces of chicken, two pieces of nuggets and a single crispy chicken strip with a side of rice and coleslaw. At the time of our visit however, there were no nuggets so we got an extra chicken strip instead.

The chicken was nicely and thoroughly cooked to golden exterior and had an aromatic spice to them; well-seasoned, the chicken had a nice spice to them with a little more flavour than that you’d find elsewhere.

Having a cinnamon aftertaste to it, the rice was a nice addition to the meal; the coleslaw on the other had more of a tanginess and saltiness rather than the usual sweetness of KFC’s.

And so is Kansas better than Kentucky? It really depends; at the time of our visit, everything pointed to yes. The chicken felt fresher and of better quality, while the prices are all-round cheaper. The trick is consistency and that’s not an easy thing to come by with fast-food in Egypt.