The 6 Best Restaurants in Cairo for Noodles

You can learn a lot about life from a good bowl of noodles; sometimes things can get slippery, other times they can be a bit too firm. No matter the circumstances though, life always finds a way to be delicious. Alright, we kind of made that up to show you how much we like noodles (too much), but seeing as we genuinely love you, dear reader, we’ve compiled a neat little list of the (relatively) best Cairo restaurants to up your noodle game.

Obviously, this isn’t a comprehensive list by any means (we only have so much time to discover places), but we’ve covered a great many Asian establishments, and continue to do so. If we come across something worth adding (or if you’d like to submit an entry of your own), you’ll see it popping up here in the future.

El Amricany

One of the most authentic Chinese cuisine experiences you can get your mitts on, and it’s in Abbaseya – Cairo’s Chinatown – of all places. Odd choice of name for a Chinese place I know, but there’s a pretty long and creative story behind it; the places used to be an Internet Café called El Amricany, then it closed down, and they moved in with the restaurant and didn’t bother getting a sign. Go figure.

SceneEats Tip: Hand-pulled noodles straight from the Chinamen themselves; these things can send you straight to sleep full of psychedelic dreams after just a single serving. You can peer into the kitchen and see the guy prepping the dough and magically turning it into noodles. Dirt cheap for the quality you get.

Halal City

This isn’t your average Asian place; its cuisine options – though limited – come from the Xin Jiang Province, Turkmanistan, Kurdistan, Russia and all with a hint of Arabian spice to them. Staff are pretty adamant about quality regardless of time (although earlier, again, is best) and it’s in El 7ai El Sabe3 in Nasr City of all places.

SceneEats Tip: Waiter is kind of, well, not the most helpful. Parts of the menu are continuously unavailable. Seldom happens, but sometimes the portions can go way off the norm. Waiting time for food is immense, but always worth it.

Chinese (Siyuan) Dumpling Restaurant

We find it hard to talk to Maadi folk who’ve never been to Chinese Dumpling. The place is perhaps the oldest-running Chinese joint in the area, and it only gets finer with age. The noodles – however they’re prepared – have a distinct bite to them, and they don’t end up looking like a pile of sludge. Their selection is massive (and authentic), and the place is just chill.

SceneEats Tip: Chill spot on 233 along with Joy Luck and Ghenghis Khan. Enough tables for it not to be too crowded. Service is pretty quick and they also serve beer. Their “California Beef Noodle Bowl” has perhaps the best noodle soup you can get in Egypt. Inexpensive.

Sabai Sabai

The only (valid) noodle place to count on when it comes to the Zamalek/Downtown/Mohandessin area. Selection of either Thai or Chinese noodles is varied enough for it to stay interesting. Can’t tell if they’re handmade or not, but their variety and unusual flavour combos make up for any questionable quality.

SceneEats Tip: Nice enough atmosphere (it’s Zamalek). Noodles come in nice portions, and the ratio between noodles, meat and vegetables/other components is pretty spot on. Addition of eggs isn’t too intrusive like other noodle dishes, and the quantity of meat you get is pretty solid. Good for a bad Tuesday.

Tomato Restaurant

This eatery is the only Korean one on this list for a reason, it's easily the best one -- in the entire country, perhaps, at least when it comes to authentic, homemade Korean food. Tomato has no shortage of noodles for you. Ramen? They've got you covered. Cold noodles? Also available. In other words, they've got everything. 

SceneEats Tip: Located on Maadi's 232, the restaurant has no sign or anything whatsoever that indicates it's there, so make sure you ask anyone you find where Tomato is. 

Genghis Khan

Located on Maadi's 233, Genghis Khan offers chow mein that will ruin other chow meins for you...or most of them at the very least. They pair quite nicely with the restaurant's chicken coriander and fried garlic green beans.

SceneEats Tip: We're not going to go on and on about why it's yum af, just make sure to get the vegetable noodles.