🍴 Where do you go in Cairo when you crave authenticity, to gaze upon a skyline that has, for years, remained unchanged? Maadi, Zamalek, Garden City — all destinations that fit the bill, but what if the experience you’re craving is one that is a little more over the top (quite literally)? We’d urge you to make the trip to the Mazeej Balad Rooftop. The crowning jewel of a newly-minted Michelin Key luxury boutique hotel thrives on the balance between history and modernity.

The rooftop, clad in an amalgamation of trinkets and eccentricities tying several centuries, cultures, and design languages together, is a microcosm of 20th century Cairo, offering a 360-degree view of its heart. With an eccentric spatial design featuring mosaics, intricate water features, gothic-style chandeliers, and myriad other elements drawn from scores of different eras, the rooftop proves the perfect palate cleanser, the first appetizer of many to come.

In the spirit of honoring that balance, Mazeej Balad’s menu presents familiar Egyptian classics, envisioned through a global culinary lens that seeks to accentuate, rather than replace. The rooftop offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as light snacks to be enjoyed by the bar.

We treated ourselves to a day-long experience, starting off with Mazeej’s signature oriental tray, a filling, flavorsome start, comprising customizable eggs, ful, falafel, fried eggplants, a tomato cheese dip, a fresh salad, and halawa. To end the meal on a sweet note, we had the orange blossom and pistachio pancakes, an odd-yet-oddly-complementary explosion of flavor, topped with sweet orange purèe, caramelised pistachio, and Mastika ice cream

We were advised to try the truffle cheese tomato dip, and heeded the call. Incredibly aromatic and unlike any dip of the truffle variety we had tried before, Mazeej’s signature side proved a stroke of genius. Were you to visit soon, this is the one dish we’d insist you try.

For lunch, we ended up ordering the koshari arancini (essentially fried bites of the Egyptian national dish), beef kobeiba, and a lamb shank with vermicelli. The arancini surprisingly held themselves together, and packed a flavorsome punch. The kobeiba was well-seasoned, and the portion was just right with five large pieces.

It was the lamb shank that ultimately stole the show, proving that there are fewer pleasures in life than watching slow-cooked lamb fall off the bone. The meat was tender and earthy, and the bed of vermicelli on which it was laid was soft with butter and spice.

WHERE TO FIND IT- You’ll find Mazeej Balad at 11 Mahmoud Bassiouny, Downtown Cairo. The rooftop is open daily from 10am to 1am. Reservations can be made through this link.

💵 Per person: EGP 1.2 – 1.5k

🪑 Outdoor seating: Yes

🍺 Alcohol: Yes

🦽 Accessibility friendly: No

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