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

Korba is one of the most vibrant Cairene districts and a favourite to many – including yours truly. Be it a stroll, have coffee or dine amidst some beautifully designed old apartment buildings, there's always a little something for everyone. Digging for all that is new in the neighborhood, we paid a visit to El Korba Lounge, a new comer to Cairo's restaurant scene which was a hit and miss experience.      

Previously known as El Veranda Café, El Korba Lounge is a two-storey villa with a simple spacious outdoorsy area and an entire colorful kids playground indoor, surrounded by colorful farmhouse chairs.

Aside from typical restaurant classics like Fettuccine Alfredo (44.95 L.E), Beef Fajita (74.95 L.E) and Cordon Bleu (79.95 L.E), El Korba Lounge's menu boasts other unique dishes such as Shrimps Quesadilla (59.95 L.E) and Korba Shrimp Steak (119.95 L.E).

We started our meal with the Potato Skin (34.95 L.E) for our entrée and as for our mains, we went for Korba Chicken Cordon Bleu (79.95), Scallop Bocatchini (79.95) and Chicken BBQ pizza (54.95).

Comprised of small four unpeeled potato halves baked to crisp, the potatoes were stuffed to the fullest with hot melting cheese, topped with four small pieces of beef bacon and served with sweet chili sauce – not sour cream as promised in the menu – an incredibly tasty start to our meal.

The Chicken Cordon Bleu, on the other hand, was served with a weird orange sauce around the chicken which had a bland unrecognizable taste, but the two large pieces of deep fried, well-seasoned chicken breasts wrapped around melted cheese and fused with a small piece of beef bacon completely made up for the sauce. Opting for spiced French fries and well-done sautéed vegetables as sides, the entire ensemble was delicious.

The Scallop Bocatchini was equally tasty, with the two large pieces of delicate and fine-textured stewed steaks – not grilled as the menu says— the steaks were soaked in a thick creamy and flavourful black pepper mushroom sauce and stuffed with an appetizing melted mozzarella cheese and salami. The dish was served with perfectly fried French fries and well-seasoned Basmati rice.  

Hoping that the pizza would be just as good as the previous dishes, the chicken BBQ pizza, had a disappointing and unappetizing pizza crust with excessive serving of BBQ sauce and fried onions which resulted in a sharp unpleasant aftertaste. The only perk to this dish was the well-seasoned chicken chunks, which we ended up eating off the pizza crust.

Since the menu didn’t include a dessert section, we headed to the dessert bar which had simple desserts including brownies with ice cream, cheesecake and chocolate molten cake.

Going for Strawberry Cheesecake (34.95 L.E), the dessert had a silky and tasty cream cheese filling topped with delicious strawberry sauce, and the crust had a flaky texture crust only that didn’t jeopardise the taste.

We washed away our meal with Turkish coffee (17.95 L.E) which had a powerful cardamom flavour, followed by perfectly made grapes and blueberry-flavoured shishas (37.95 L.E each) which were not tended to properly to preserve the taste for the rest of the evening.

Although the service was incredibly slow –perhaps due to staff shortage – and the fact that some items were not properly executed, we still think that Korba Lounge with its spacious and pleasant atmosphere –and some attention to quality of flavours— can become of the popular go-to venues in Heliopolis area.