Khan Farouk Tarab Cafe

You'd half expect to find prize-winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz working on a novel at a corner table in this low-key, unfancy, Old Cairo–style restaurant. Instead, there's often live traditional Egyptian tarab music in the evenings and a menu brimming with kushari (noodles, rice, black lentils, fried onions and tomato sauce), falafel and signature Egyptian dishes like grilled pigeon.