Akleh: The New Cairo Kitchen Specialised in North African Cuisine
Akleh is the Syrian shawarma spot adding a dash of 70s retro to your favourite comfort food.
To many of us, shawarma is more than just a food. It’s a nostalgic reminder of sports club picnics in Ramadan, an ode to age-old family outings, an easy go-to at the office, the designated post-class food and a celebratory gourmet dish (when the situation calls for it) all in one. Honouring all that shawarma has become, Akleh is the Syrian deli taking it back to its very roots: pan-Cairo stores that serve the classics with a modern twist.
If the eyes eat first, Akleh makes for a full-course meal. Actualised by the masterful hands of internationally-recognised design firm Kymera, Akleh provides the perfect shawarma environment, merging blank simplicity, Levantine symbolism and the retro chicness that makes it so Instagrammable.
The eatery gives you a caesar twist on some of our favourite sandwiches, the chicken & lamb shawarmas as well as shish taouk and crispy treats, allowing you to mix & match flavours when you just can’t pick. For more filling options, you can also opt for a fajita saj or, for the experimentalists, the scrumptious fried sajis. For a lighter snack, we recommend the shawarma fries - a delicious concoction combining shawarma, fries, cheddar sauce and muhammara. Le piece de resistance, however, is Akleh’s manakish. Covering everything including cheese, herbs, chicken and meat, Akleh’s manakish menu is a feast for sharers. We suggest covering the table with whatever flavours truly excite your little shawarma-crazed heart and digging in longitudinally, from the za'atar to the halabeya to the turkey kiri and then back to the zaatar. Perhaps even more appetising is Akleh’s dessert menu; one that features manakish’s sweeter sisters with lotus, nutella, dates and even basbousa variations.
