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A pierced lantern, a teapot and a glass of mint tea on a brass tray, among wooden café chairs.

Cairo · Downtown

Zahret el-Bustan

The ahwa of students, poets and insomniacs, in an alley behind Talaat Harb.

€ BudgetOur favourite

Iron tables out in the alley, mint tea, shishas and a conversation that never stops. One of Downtown's liveliest cafés, filled with regulars rather than visitors, and the place where you understand that an ahwa is not somewhere you drink but somewhere you stay.

The extra bit

Order a chai kushari — tea boiled with milk — rather than coffee: it is what the next tables are drinking.

Know before you go

Cash only, and you settle with the waiter, not at a till. The alley stays busy until late.

Directions

El-Bustan street, behind Talaat Harb square, Downtown, Cairo

Directions

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