Cairo · Rod El Farag
Sobhy Kaber
Kebab and kofta over charcoal, in a working-class quarter of northern Cairo.
Kebab, kofta, charcoal-grilled meat: that is what Sobhy Kaber does, at a scale with no local equivalent — more than eighty thousand reviews for a neighbourhood restaurant is enormous. Read the 4.3 average alongside that figure: at this volume it speaks of consistency rather than perfection, which is the harder of the two. Rod El Farag is a working-class quarter in the north of Cairo with nothing touristy about it, which is precisely the reason to go. Expect a crowd.
The extra bit
Get there before the neighbourhood sits down to dinner: a room like this fills all at once, not gradually. And have the total said out loud before you order — in houses of this kind the meat is often sold by weight.
Know before you go
The quarter is dense and the streets look alike: aim for Rod El Farag, and check that the place you are dropped at is this one — we do not know whether other addresses in Cairo trade under the same name. Bring cash; cards are not a given. The room is loud when full: this is not an address for a quiet dinner for two.
