Cairo's Secret Garden Café Only Exists if You Know Who to Ask

Usually we would tell you where to find this cafe, but this one is invite-only - tucked away in a secret location that only a select few, and perhaps their plus one, will discover. We are under sworn secrecy by Hina’s Secret Cafe. The point is not to keep people out, but instead, to grow community intentionally and organically.

Every Saturday from 1pm to 5pm, Hina’s doors open to friends and friends of friends and first timers. Event prep starts mid-way through the week - the syrups on Wednesday or Thursday to give the flavours time to develop, the food on Friday to keep it fresh, and final touches early Saturday morning to cross those final t’s and dot those last i’s. Throughout it all, the team is coordinating the guest list and confirming attendance - a task that, as we are well aware, can be a difficult feat in Cairo.Hina’s Secret Cafe was born out of a small gathering back in September, when founder and managing director Dina Eid invited her friends and told them to bring a plus one she didn’t know. It was obviously a success, and from that first soiree, the concept grew naturally. They wanted to get as many different people involved as possible. Guests were allowed to return solo, but encouraged not to. The idea was that everyone needed to bring someone new with them at least once, so the community could expand safely.

“I’ve always loved hosting and connecting people. But today, it’s harder than ever to build meaningful community,” Eid told SceneEats. “We don't really have 'third places' anymore: spaces where people frequent to recharge, meet others and engage with their community. Hina’s secret café is my attempt to bring that back. It’s a curated social space built around intention.”
 
Eid explained that the majority of attendees come to Hina’s Secret Cafe for the first time without knowing a single other person. And when everyone is in the same boat, it makes kindness a must and curiosity a plus.
“One of the reasons we encourage guests to bring a +1 is so they feel like they have a social safety net,” Eid added, “but since they're not in a group they're more likely to talk to strangers.”Hina’s Secret Cafe is a place where everyone is new, a safe ‘third space’ outside of home and work to get to know each other without pressure or expectations. Bottom line: no cliques allowed.

The layout also makes getting to know each other not just easier, but a given, in an open space divided into mini-stations to flow in and out of get-to-know-you chats or deep conversations. When you walk in, you’ll see one big high table, next to it chairs organized in small circles in a green garden. At the book corner, you can bond over favourite titles or new picks, and continue the discussion under the wooden pergola on the other side of the lawn.

Over at the bar, you’ll find the menu that matches the secret cafe’s concept - playful and experimental - and doubles as a conversation starter. You can talk about the delicious high-quality Arabica coffee or the flavours used to sweeten it—from spiced orange mocha to sea salt honey rosemary. You can take the bite sized treats with you to your seat on the grass or chair—knowing that all the food is made in-house with natural and seasonal ingredients, locally supplied and free of refined sugars or table salts.Eid hopes that people leave Hina’s Secret Cafe feeling both “energized” and “grounded.”

“I want them to feel like Hina's Secret Café is now their own 'third place',” she said, “a space they can always return to connect with themselves and with the people in their community.”

Her advice to people who want an invite is to ask around—you’d be surprised at how many people are already part of the Hina community.