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

Fine dining in Egypt is out of reach for most and attempts to bring it to a more accessible, casual setting often just don’t work. But one new restaurant might have cracked it.

Located at Aswan square, Mo Bistro is divided into two floors. The fancy looking ground floor has a beautiful greyscale interior and tables on different levels for more privacy, all dedicated to dining only. Meanwhile, there’s an unnoticeable door that will take you to the top floor, which is less as colourful and feels like more of a cafe – we later found out that this is where you can smoke shisha, so it all made sense.

While checking the menu, the waiter surprised us with a deconstructed bruschetta; a bowl of garlicky tomato and another bowl of mini cubes of perfectly marinated eggplants, alongside a to-die-for loaf of bread. The authentic flavours made us feel like we were eating at home.

We kicked things off with Shrimp & Bacon (80LE) as an appetiser. Laying on some kind of a sweet reduction, four pieces of shrimps are stuffed with a spot-on amount of gorgonzola –Italian blue cheese – and raisins, then wrapped in beef bacon. Each one is then topped with sour cream and thin slices of red chilli pepper to add a spicy kick, giving the starter a perfect and delicate balance of flavours that deserved a standing ovation.

Moving to the mains, we opted for the Spaghetti Hollandaise with Bacon (75LE). The perfectly cooked spaghetti was topped with small bites of crispy bacon, caviar, peppercorns, and tossed in hollandaise sauce. This dish would’ve been flawless, but the sauce let it down; it lacked the creaminess that the spaghetti needed.

We also tried the Flank Steak (310LE serves 2 persons) with a side of mashed potato and sautéed spinach. To achieve what we found to be a beautiful pink colour, the honey glazed flank steak was slow-cooked for 8 hours on low heat, and then thinly sliced into tender and sweet pieces, before being drizzled with teriyaki sauce for extra flavours. It’s rare that we’ve come by a dish that is so well-thought out and if there’s one dish that personifies Mo Bistro, it’s this; it dish shows a skill and passion. Touché to the kitchen

Sadly when we asked for the dessert menu, they said they didn’t launch it yet but they teased us with some info that the menu is developed by Le Cordon Bleu graduates and Four Seasons-trained pastry chefs, leaving us counting down the days till the dessert are ready.

Unfortunately, with this being some sort of soft-opening phase, the dessert menu has yet to be launched, but the staff did tease us with what’s to come; we were told that the menu is developed by Le Cordon Bleu graduates and Four Seasons-trained pastry chefs, leaving us counting down the days till the dessert are ready.

From the cosy ambiance and the great service, to the outstanding flavours and unique menu, Mo Bistro has done the near-impossible: they’ve presented fine dining in a casual setting to suit the Egyptian taste.