Explore Orange County’s Little Arabia By Crawling These 10 Delicious Destinations

"Cairo native Ahmed Rakha (an architect) teamed with Waleed Abdelaziz (a computer engineer) to open this destination Egyptian restaurant in 2014. Photos of Egypt line a small dining room’s walls, but most of the action takes place on a bamboo mat fenced patio where guests can smoke hookah. Their food is pure comfort, including Egypt’s national dish, koshari, a carbtastic plate starring lentils, rice, and macaroni, topped with fried onions and served with tomato sauce, garlic vinegar, and tangy hot sauce. They also excel with sausages, none better than mombar, rice and beef sausage seasoned with a seven-spice blend and made in a natural beef intestine casing featuring a great snap and chew. Cairo Restaurant serves luscious hamam mahshy, rice stuffed and roasted squab served with rice pilaf, salad and molokhia, vivid green soup made with naturally slimy jute leaves. Finally, order the hearty mesakaa — moussaka’s cousin — featuring fried eggplant slabs baked with ground beef in tomato sauce." - Joshua Lurie