The Best Places for the Water Pipe (hookah) in Cairo

If you have been in Cairo, and not smoked shisha, your experience in the capital city of Egypt is incomplete. Shisha is an intrinsic part of the Cairene culture. Also known as hubbly-bubbly, this traditional smoking device, is said to have originated in India and is also known as the 'hookah' in the Indian sub-continent.

set of water pipes

In Egypt, smoking shisha is intricately woven into the social and the cultural fabric. Politics, sports, domestic and economic woes, are all discussed, over puffs of the water pipe. Shisha joints are ubiquituous in Cairo and each of them provides a different shisha experience. Try these out!

Go for the ambience!

Al-Fishawi

One such cafe that I absolutely adore is the Al-Fishawi Cafe in Khan-el-Khalili. The Egypian Nobel Laureate for Literature Naguib Mahfouz spent time here writing. It is easy to imagine how inpsirational the cafe may have been for him. His books and characters all seem to come alive, when you spend time smoking the shisha here. Sanwiched in a narrow alley at the Khan, its walls are decorated with huge mirrors; giving the place a bigger look. For tables, there are the typical copper tops and the tea is still served in dainty ceramic tea-pots. Of course, the tea pots are chipped and the furniture creaky, but that is part of the charm. Great place for people watching while puffing away at the pipe.

Go for the flavours!

Sequoia

If you are the kind who is serious about the flavours of shisha, then Sequoia in Zamalek is the place to go to. Apart from the fact that the place has a Nile view that can takeyour breath away, you are definitely going to love the shisha flavours here like the Moroccon apple etc.  The waiter will present to you a wooden tray carrying samples of all the flavours-you can pick smell and decide the one you want. Be warned that Sequoia is not going to be easy on your wallet.

Pottery Cafe

The place, also in Zamalek has some of the most aromatic shisha flavours. I have had a very strange combination here-Lemon with Red Bull. But it is a noisy place and the wait for a table may be long. It is easier to get a table indoors, though it can get very smoky.

Arabesque

Some would call it as the best shisha place in town. I would agree with them. Why? Firstly, because  of the exotic shisha flavours that it has. Secondly, for its juice menu-it serves juices that are fresh and delicious and in such exciting combination of flavours. Thirdly, its location on the Kasr Al Aini street, which can get noisy but is a place where you can rub shouders with the old and the young, the hip and trendy, the locals and the foreigners.  

Go for the drinks, the food...and the shisha

Nile Zamalek Hotel
The rooftop of the hotel, overlooking the River Nile offers the perfect opportunity to enjoy a drink with your shisha. It can be chilly in evenings on the rooftop and the combination of a drink with shisha is sure to give you warmth.

Taboula
Located in Garden City, this place has excellent Lebanese food to complement the shisha. So also, the place serves wine, which can make the an outing to this resturant a complete shisha experience.

Go for the baladi experience!

Any of the ahwas on Bursa (stock echange) street will do well for this. Cairo's stock exchange is located here and the area has been cordoned off and made into a pedestrrian only zone. A place to enjoy your shisha without the constant honking and screeching noises.