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Coffeehouse Tales
By Juergen Stryjak
Who believes, nightlife is only about beer, wine and
cocktails, dancing and pop music, should start a tour
through Cairo’s rich teahouse and street café scene,
especially after sunset and especially
during the warmer months of the spring, summer and autumn.
Compared to other Arabic cities, Damascus, Amman and
Tunis for example, it seems that all of the tea- and
coffeehouses, which have disappeared these cities with the
good old says, have moved to Cairo. No neighborhood without
the muffled omnipresent noise of board games, the scraping
sound of little metal tables, incessantly being arranged by
the waiter, like a marching band, into new formations, the
bubbling of the shisha pipes and the tangle of
voices. These places are integrated into every neighborhood
and are part of the essence of Egyptian life, as common as
the butcher shop or grocery around every corner.
Many tourists avoid entering such popular places for
whatever reasons, all of which aren’t worth mentioning.
These places are safe, funny, cozy and interesting, ideal
locations to glide over into the hour after midnight or
later, chatting with friends or strangers and watching
people.
Egyptian women usually don’t enter teahouses and street
cafés, at least not in lower class areas. This doesn’t
mean that these places are not safe. To sit in neighborhood
cafés would give Egyptian women, housewives, without a
doubt a bad social image, due to the conservative nature of
the Egyptian society. But the society is changing, more
cafés, especially those popular among young people in
neighborhoods like Mohandessin, Zamalek, Maadi, Heliopolis
or Nasr City, are visited by Egyptian women, too. Female
foreigners, in fact, foreigners in general, are welcome
everywhere.
The prices are reasonable, if not surprisingly cheap.
Tea, Turkish coffee ("ahwa"), soft drinks, juice,
karkadee, a water pipe and much more – all this comes for
50 Piaster (12 cent) up to 3 Egyptian Pound (75 cent). If a
foreigner orders a tea, he most probably will get a brewed
teabag, Lipton for example, which is, of course, less tasty
and less romantic than what the Egyptians drink. For getting
served the latter one, simply ask for "shai ala bosta",
the so-called "tea for postmen", quickly brewed
tea leafs, two spoons of sugar per (small) glass already
added.
The mouthpieces of waterpipes (»shisha«) are supposed
to transmit diseases occasionally, as for example Hepatitis
A, although nobody is really sure about that. More and more
coffeeshops hand out disposable mouthpieces from plastic.
Just ask for it!
Some nice popular coffeehouses in Cairo:
El Fishawi. Right in the heart of the Khan Al-Khalili,
near to the Mosque El-Hussein, some meters next to the
entrance of the El-Hussein Hotel. A legend among Cairo’s
coffeehouses, Ottoman style, claims to be the oldest
continuously working café in town and has witnessed lots of
famous guests, as for example Jean-Paul Sartre or Naguib
Mahfouz. Suitable for Egyptian women, too. Plenty of similar
coffeehouses are nearby.
Sahret Soliman. Al-Bustan Al-Sa’id St., Downtown. A
simple open air café located in a narrow alley, entrance
left to the Café Riche, Talaat Harb St. 17, near Talaat
Harb Square. This café is popular among self-styled
intellectuals, writers and writer wanna-be’s, students,
journalists from the nearby Middle East News Agency MENA and
is also suitable for Egyptian women. The café changes its
name frequently from Sahret Soliman (Flower of Soliman) to
Sahret Al-Bustan (Flower of the Garden) and back.
Ahwet El-Horriya. Al-Falaki Square, Downtown, located at
the northern end of the pedestrian bridge. A little hidden
place with great atmosphere where Egyptian beer is served.
Ahwet el-Shams. Taufiqiyya, Downtown, This café is
located in a small narrow alley between 26th July St. and
Souq Al-Taufiqiyya. Enter Souq Al-Taufiqiyya from Orabi
Street, turn to the left after some meters. There are
interesting wall paintings up to the ceiling. This spot is
popular among backpackers and tourists from nearby budget
hotels.
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