Felfela Restaurant, Cairo

I got used eating Egypt's national food - the Koshary and one day I passed by Felfela Restaurant and ordered one for takeout, the one in Talat Harb Street near Tahrir. Aside from koshary, this restaurant has a wide variety of meals to choose from. Cheap, delicious and popular also among locals and tourists. A bowl of koshary (medium) costs only about EGP7.

It's a chain resto, they have several branches.

Although the interior and staff are crafted to give a foreign visitor the impression of safe cleanliness and refined manners, the bilingual waiters AND management are well practiced thieves.

On a recent three week tour of Egypt to see the pyramids and visit friends who work at the embassy I visited Felfela twice with Egyptian friends. The first time the Capitan Waiter (per nametag) asked for 35 Egyptian Pounds for a beer that the menu listed for EP 19 + 10% tax and 12% service fee (apex 23.50) or 15 for coffee/tea/soda which should be EP7.50. When I disputed it he admitted his mistake, charged me correctly and refunded what he had already overcharged others in my group.

The second time we went my wife paid while I was in the bathroom and when I discovered she had been overcharged EP75 instead of EP42 for beer, coffee and sodas the waiter denied the overcharging and showed me a single typed page which said the price was EP23.50 including tax and service but said "including" was a typo and crossed it out on the price list. When I pointed out that EP23.50 plus tax and service still did not total EP35 or turn EP7.50 to EP15 he called the manager over. To my utter amazement the manager agreed with the waiter and refused to return the EP33 extra I had been charged for all the drinks my wife had overpaid for. Later, when I explained I would report it to the tourist police and write to all the blogs and guide books, he offered to refund my money and give me free dessert. Then they charged the rest of my friends the correct prices and promised to do anything to make me happy. Of course my 2 Egyptian Phd companions helped with the translation when the winter and manager suddenly couldn't understand english after earlier having displayed almost absolute fluency.

This restaurant gets hundreds of tourist with tour groups every day and clearly does it all of them with the knowing complicity of the manager. I don't see why, since even 24 or 7.50 pounds is triple the normal prices. I find it hard to imagine that a restaurant owner shrewd enough to build such a successful business is not complicit when it is her honor and livelihood at stake. I can only believe that they are convinced that the benefit of getting away with it most of the time outweighs a few irate customers and they don't believe stealing from tourists can have a permanent impact since we leave after the trip.

It doesn't matter to me if the employees are screwing the owner, or the owner is screwing the tax man and the church by underreporting income and paying less tax and tithe, but it is not a practice I think foreign tourists should encourage. If there is a posted price that you order from, that is what you should pay. If a restaurant with an otherwise decent reputation will conspire to screw its customer on the price of beverages, it doesn't take much imagination to wonder if they are recycling left over hummus, rice, soup, etc from the customer in the chair before you. If you read this consider discouraging this practice by not going to the restaurant.

Although the interior and staff are crafted to give a foreign visitor the impression of safe cleanliness and refined manners, the bilingual waiters AND management are well practiced thieves. On a recent three week tour I visited Felfela twice with Egyptian friends. The first time the Capitan Waiter (per nametag) asked for 35 Egyptian Pounds for a beer that the menu salisted for EP 19 + 10% tax and 12% service fee (apex 23.50). When I disputed it he admitted his mistake, charged me correctly and refunded what he had already overcharged others in my group. The second time we went the waiter denied the overcharging and showed me a single typed page which said the price was 23.50 including tax and service but said" including" was a typo. When I pointed out that 23.50 plus tax and service still did not total 35 he called the manager over. To my utter amazement the manager agreed with the waiter and refused to return the 30 extra I had been charged for all the drinks I paid for. Later when I explained I would report it to the tourists police and write to all the blobs and guide books he offered to refund only 10 and give me free dessert. Then they charged the rest of my friends the correct prices. This restaurant gets hundreds of tourist with tour groups every day and clearly does it all of them with the knowing complicity of the manager. I don't see why, since even 24 pounds is triple the normal price for a beer. I find it hard to imagine that a restaurant owner shrewd enough to build such a successful business in egypt where questionable business practices are seen regulaly is not complicit with the waiter and manager for a kickback. It doesn't matter to me if they are screwing the owner, or the owner is screwing the tax man and the church by underreporting income and paying less tax and tithe, but it is not a practice I thing foreign tourists should encourage. If there is a posted price that you order from, that is what you should pay. If a restaurant with an otherwise decent reputation will conspire to screw its customer on the posted price of beverages, it doesn't take much imagination to wonder if they are recycling left over hummus etc from the last customer in the chair before you. If you read this consider discouraging this practice by not going to the restaurant.

Our first offer was to go to a "buffet" for about $20.00 each. This is a lot by Egyptian standards and is a cash grab for tourists.

With some pressure from us our guide eventually remembered a local place, which turned out to be a chain called Felfela. This was
wonderful. We had a feast of a fluffy sort of pita, hummus, salad, veggie burgers, and grilled meat all for about $7.00 each.
We'd go again!! This is a great way to sample some local dishes on the cheap!

There are two Felafel operations. The first is a chain of fast-food outlets doing the Egyptian street-food staples ...falafel, fuul, eggs, fries &c. The setup is easy to follow: you pay first , get a ticket which you give to a counterhand, you get your food. It's edible enough (Egyptians eat the stuff) & the prices reasonable: (Egyptians eat the stuff) & the computer ticket system means you know you're not getting ripped off. althoght the prices on the signboard are a bit out of date. (current inflation rate in Egypt is near 8%) It's pretty well spotless and you can get in one hit a combination of things that might involve two or three vendors if bought on the street.

You can sit and eat there (standing up with the TV seemingly always playing Umm Kulthoum) or take your food away.

The restaurant, a few doors up, is a different kettle of fish. I personally disliked it a lot.
I thought the decor cheesy, the food (stuffed pigeon) indifferent and the service dreadful.

Favorite Dish: Takeaway: You can do better, but you can do a lot worse.

Restaurant: The food is no reason to come here. If you don't like the ambiance, AVOID

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Great authentic atmosphere in this restaurant (interesting birdcages & fishtanks around).
Very popular and busy. Get there early, or make a reservation.

Amusing and charismatic staff.

Many dishes to suit vegetarians.

Again, not the cheapest. If I recall we paid 400LE (approx. £30). For a mixed mezze for 2 (around 4 dishes), 2 beers and 2 glasses of wine.

The food was REALLY tasty in here though.... I even preferred it to Abou El Sid's.

Favorite Dish: Again a mix of Mezze dishes for me.
My favourite was the Shakshouka (a dish of baked vegetables, topped with a fried egg, then finished with spicy minced beef and parsley).

A busy restaurant located just off Talaat Harb Street. Greeted by a Maitre D and quickly shown to a clean and pleasant table ready for us. They had a good selection of Egyptian/Middle eastern foods or less exotic if you're not feeling too adventurous. The service was prompt and the waiters very pleasant with sufficient English. There is plenty on the menu for Vegetarians.
We all enjoyed our meal and felt satisfied at the end. I can't remember the bill at the end but it was probably in the order of about GB£6 - 7 each including drinks.

Favorite Dish: The Baba Ganouche ( pureed aubergine) as a starter was very good. We were all very hungry and they kept bringing more unleavened bread to mop up the various mezze dishes. My daughter enjoyed her chips and she liked the chicken as well - no complaints.

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Went for lunch here with our tour group. Nice traditional restaurant with outdoor seating areas too. We ordered the lunch set menu which cost around LE50 per person and included mezze, a choice of three main dishes (local dish, shish kebab, etc) and a traditional rice dessert. Drinks were extra. There is also a Felfela takeaway restaurant near to the restaurant entrance.

Favorite Dish: Shish kebab