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

There are few countries in the Middle East that embrace the festivities of Ramadan as much as Egypt – we just love to make a great, big show out of any occasion. Ramadan in particular sees Cairo transform into some sort of out-of-control, colourful beast of a city, as kheimas (tents) pop-up across the capital bringing together food, entertainment and much more.

If like yours truly, however, it’s all bit too much, there are more subtle and understated ways of wistfully spending late-nights, with Wahawi Ramadan Lounge standing out as a welcome alternative to the usual Ramadan extravagancies.

You see, there’s nothing particularly elaborate or theatrical about Wahawi. Now in its fourth consecutive year, the independent kheima enjoys a pleasantly hushed existence atop Le Pacha 1901 in Zamalek and, despite the boat’s other in-house venues as well as its floating neighbours, it does a good job of shutting you off to a certain degree from the hustle and bustle – and this is what defines Wahawi.

The simple Ramadan touches adorn what is a lstraightforward rooftop space that offers larger lounges as well as smaller, more intimate seating set-ups. The lighting is hushed, which dictates an overall relaxed atmosphere that does away with the flash and bang of other tents.

Though it offers group-fetar, Wahawi is best set-up as an ideal place for sohour, offering some good, simple bites to nibble on while enjoying mosalsalat screenings alongside some shisha and even a board game or two.

Said nibbles include heartily unfussy foul (29.90LE) and taameya (28.90LE), some very satisfying spinach-stuffed Lebanese safayeh (39.90LE) and well-made, soft vine leave mahshi (39.90LE). While these and other mezze dishes are much more sohour-appropriate, if you do dare to dip into the main dishes, you can’t go wrong with the chicken sharkaseya (94.90LE) thanks to a rather delightful and balanced walnut sauce, or even the shawerma (69.90LE) – which is far from the authenticity of what you’d find at local restaurants, but a satisfying eat nonetheless.

Few sohours go by without the element of shisha and our simple apple-flavoured shisha (41.90LE, plus 9.90LE for lay) was thick, flavourful and overall worth the slightly bloated price. Throw in some classic Ramadan drinks – karkade, tamr hindy and even hummus el sham (18.90LE) – and you have a menu that has plenty of variety.

And so while you won’t find a middle-aged shaabi singer wearing a shiny suit awkwardly serenading your table as you try to look away for fear of making eye-contact while everyone else claps over-enthusiastically, what you will find at Wahawi is an unpretentious sohour experience that will embrace your yearning for post-fetar ‘antakha’ and not judge you for it.