🍽️ Few places manage to bring together unrelated parts to form one cohesive whole — Samak Laban does so with ease. The Downtown spot — part furniture showroom, part design studio, part full-service restaurant — brings a new type of experience rooted in good food and functional art.

How the cookie crumbled: Our visit to the showroom stemmed mostly out of curiosity, and it was quickly satisfied. As we climbed to the seating area atop their loft, we were met with striking furniture pieces and inventive designs scattered throughout. Settling in, we had the perfect vantage point to take in the studio’s curated design pieces.

What to expect: “Samak, laban, we tamr hindi” — the idiom rang a bell, but it wasn’t until we read the menu and the dishes hit our table that everything started making sense. Light on main dishes and heavy on starters, the menu boasts a medley of out-of-the-box combinations and re-imagined Egyptian staples.

As promised, it’s a whole lot of everything: Wasabi labneh with avocado, caramelized carrot dip, aubergine mille-feuille, and baladi sausage gyoza were just a few of the dishes we fell in love with. The gyoza was dipped in a sweet potato puree, the sweet carrot dip was met with earthy soy mushrooms, and the mild labneh was perfectly offset by the wasabi’s sharpness.

Everything stood out, but we were particularly impressed by the gochujang fried chicken sandwich — simple, homey, and light — and the restaurant’s namesake ceviche, which offered a contrast of zesty and sweet flavors. The cherry on top? Their halawa cheesecake — an unexpected combination that proved a hit.

Our verdict: Samak Laban is definitely not your everyday go-to eatery, it’s better. Don’t come expecting a heavy, stomach-stretching meal — go for a one-of-a-kind culinary experience, if not to feast your eyes on the showroom’s statement pieces. Which is to say: you won’t be disappointed.

WHERE TO FIND- You can find Samak Laban in Downtown Cairo.

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