Cairo · Heliopolis
Al Khal
Everyday Egyptian cooking, in a residential corner of Heliopolis.
A neighbourhood dining room among the blocks of Masaken Al Mohandesin, serving Egyptian food with nothing staged about it. People come as families, the regulars are from the neighbourhood, and nobody will treat you as a visitor to be steered. It is less an address you travel to than a table the surrounding streets have got used to. Heliopolis is a long way from the centre — factor the journey in.
The extra bit
Ring ahead rather than turning up on the off chance, and ask whether there will be room at the time you mean to come. From Downtown, allow thirty to forty minutes by car, more at rush hour.
Know before you go
Masaken Al Mohandesin is a district of apartment blocks: Omar Ibn El-Khattab street is easy enough to find, but we do not have the building number — give the driver the restaurant's name. Parking is on the street and settled with the sayes who watches it, so keep small notes on you, and enough to cover the meal in cash should the card be refused. Don't count on alcohol.
