New Cairo’s Tarab Sings a Symphony of Mashweyat & Hawawshy

Picture this: you’re on your way home from a group hangout gone south. The vibes were off, the conversation was boring and, as a result, your appetite shut down. On the way home with your bestie, you realise that, the second you left the site of the incident, you were famished, ravenous for some deliciously greasy sustenance. You, unsuspecting, pull over to a gas station to grab a boring cold-cut sandwich to get you through the night. As soon as you step out, an overwhelming smell engulfs you and your unsuspecting bestie - could you possibly be experiencing joint olfactory hallucinations? No, not this time. This time, the smell is ‘Tarab’. 

Upon locating the source of the aforementioned wafting scents, you finally get how it feels to find your knight in shining armour - only this time, it isn’t someone’s son, it’s a restaurant crafting delicious mashweyat sandwiches and hawawshy. Sandwiched in fresh baladi bread, the restaurant’s sandwiches contain everything from shish tawook to ‘pampered’ chicken to, of course, tarb. It’s safe to say we’re ordering by the dozen (which is exactly why Tarab has sharing box options). 

Besides their sandwiches and grilled hawawshy, the restaurant also offers an extensive range of salads and dips; in fact, we’d go as far as saying they give their salad bar the same care as they do their mains. Herb mayonnaise, tahini, garlic dip, pickled aubergine - whatever it is, Tarab’s sides make a meal complete.