Felfela

Felfela is a gem of a restaurant in downtown Cairo, with the plus of English menu and English-speaking staff (my waiter Khaled was as welcoming and attentive as Egyptians are known to be). In honor of Coptic Christmas I had the traditional fattah--this with a nicely prepared lamb shank on top of the usual Egyptian rice and a layer of crispy bread at the bottom. I had a locally produced Heineken beer, tahina sauce, a nice bread basket, and a traditional bruléed chilled milk pudding for dessert (mahalabia). The restaurant is in a wonderful location and has a unique brick and colored glass interior. For history buffs, former President Jimmy Carter dined here in 1990 during a visit to Cairo that kicked off a Middle East tour to revive stalled peace efforts.

I had a great experience at this restaurant. It has that authentic, traditional charm that instantly makes you feel connected to the local culture. The staff was extremely attentive, and the food was genuinely delicious. I left very happy, and I definitely recommend this place!

A taamia, as we know it, falafel. I found your Cairo falafel spot for you. They stuff falafel with everything: eggs, spices, maybe even your hopes and dreams. The restaurant looks cool, the food is incredible, and I want to say great things about the service but it is not in a hurry. Order confidently, embrace the wait, and be prepared for a little tipping intensity when you walk out. We had the calamari, shrimp, and stuffed taamia #stlouispescatarianapproved

Felfela is an amazing place for the best Egyptian Falafel 🥙 & Egyptian Fool and others, in an elegant way. It’s a historical place serving since 1959. The food quality is amazing. The service is done in elegance, especially if you have guests. You can take them there with you. El Bahtimy & Latif were awesome service. 👍

Awful food and service, an obvious tourist trap. The Foul (fava beans with egg) had with absolutely no salt and felt like it was made im 10 mins, as opposed to the "8 hour cooking" promised on the menu. Most of the menu was unavailable by the time we reached (9:00pm) and the kebabs were mediocre. Bread was hard and not fresh. The only decent thing was the grilled sea bass. The service was no better. The waiters were super slow despite the empty restaurant. They were however quick in pandering for tips at the end of the meal. 20 Dec 2025, 9:00pm

Serve good food with mixture of egyptian starter, main and desert. Also some fusion food amd vegetarian option. The food taste good and reasonable price. The staff was friendly with good service. The price shown in the menu include vat amd service charge, no tipping require.

What a fabulous place in Cairo Downtown! We had the lamb shank and pigeon stuffed with rice and Chicken kabab and it was all super tasty. Lovely host Mo. place is 80 years young and well kept interesting decor and clean.

Felfela is considered an upscale restaurant, and even the basic dishes here are of excellent quality. We all agreed that their flatbread was the best we had ever eaten, and it was here that we truly fell in love with falafel, the classic Middle Eastern delight. We ordered: • Foul Eskandaryany – In Egypt, foul refers to stewed fava beans, seasoned with cumin, lemon juice, and olive oil. • Mixed Grilled Platter – A perfect combination of beef, lamb, and chicken, grilled to perfection: tender, juicy, and full of flavor. • Grilled Pigeons – Almost every article about Egyptian cuisine recommends trying this dish, so of course we had to give it a shot. But at the end of the day, it’s still pigeon — little meat, lots of bones, somewhat tricky to eat, and the flavor was just average. I doubt even a Michelin-starred chef could make it taste amazing. We wanted to order desserts — Om Ali and homemade yoghurt. The waiter suggested we order them after finishing the main courses. When we finally did, we waited a long time only to be told they were out. That definitely deserved a “frog face” from us. As I mentioned earlier, both the basic dishes and the meat sauces we tried were above standard, and pairing them with the flatbread or white rice was pure enjoyment. In fact, even eating just Felfela’s flatbread or rice on their own would not disappoint. Egyptian restaurants seem to have an unspoken rule: everything ordered at a table is served at the same time. Even if the first dish is ready, they won’t bring it out until everything is done, which means every meal involves a long wait. Another quirk is that each table must be served by a single waiter, probably because of how tips are handled. This can be quite inconvenient — if you ask another waiter for something, they will say “one moment” and then disappear, while your original waiter also mysteriously vanishes. -27/12/24