Egyptians are obsessed with food, making Bellies En-Route food tours Cairo’s love letter to travellers.

To Laila Hassaball, co-founder of Bellies En-Route, a trip to Cairo would be incomplete without experiencing the city through its vibrant cafe culture and diverse traditional and world cuisine.

Laila Hassaball says Egyptian food is incredibly underrated, for obvious reasons. Travellers come to Cairo for the city’s rich history but as anyone from the city will tell you, Egyptians love food and meals are an occasion.

My love affair with Egyptian food unfolds at my grandmother’s house. Conversations that focused on food were a daily affair. She’s always been so proud of her creations and she’s still my go-to person for the recipes of those tasty dishes I grew up devouring, like Mesa'aa (Moussaka), which has always been a favourite of mine and one of the first recipes I ever asked my grandma for. It's a delicious dish that requires some preparation but becomes very worth it as soon as you take the first bite. The main ingredients include eggplants, minced beef, tomato sauce and bell peppers. The eggplants cook to perfection and melt in your mouth, while the beef adds texture and depth of flavour provided by ground cinnamon, smoked paprika, ground cumin, chilli powder and garlic cloves. Finally, the tomato sauce brings it all together. My grandma’s Mesa'aa is usually gone before you can count to three.

When we travel, food is what shows us the soul of a place and its people beyond touristic experiences. Food brings everyone together and is something everyone has in common. Cairo is a complex city with so much to see and do. It’s loud, gigantic and sometimes overwhelming for first-time visitors. Our experience combines food, culture, history, walking and people watching into one, to get our guests to immerse themselves fully. I started Bellies En-Route with my best friend from college, Mia Nezar because we both believe there’s so much more to food than just eating.

Our Downtown Cairo Food Tour takes four to five hours, stopping at 8-10 authentic spots ranging from street food stops, to a historical coffee roaster, mom ’n’ pop eateries, casual dining restaurants and go behind the scenes at a breakfast spot that makes our favourite Falafel. We sample everything from Egypt's national dish, Koshari, to slow-cooked ful (fava beans) and taamiya (Egyptian falafel) sandwiches, along with hearty roast chicken and home-style vegetable stews. We also offer an optional stop for the adventurous to sample fried cow brains with tehina. It's like fried chicken that melts in your mouth. It’s an incredible introduction to Downtown Cairo and Egyptian cuisine.

Cairo is an ultimate food and foodie destination because isn’t full cultural immersion the reason we travel? Food plays with your senses, first you eat with your eyes. A combination and new, and familiar smells that get you excited for what’s to come. In Egypt, food is a stranger turning into a friend. It’s an expression of pride and hospitality that connects visitors to our culture on a deeper level.

I'm always excited about how quickly the culinary scene is growing. It’s a huge city with tons of hidden gems, and the good ones last. There’s also variety from all around the world. You can get good sushi at Izakaya with their one-of-a-kind menu and brilliant service. What the Crust is Africa's first and only pizzeria outside Italy with a seal of approval from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Their Napoletana pizzas are rated among the top 10 made outside Italy. Reservations are required. For the best Latin food in town, head to Gracias Latin Kitchen in Capital Business Park. They make killer enchiladas.

Food also leads to physical encounters with places travellers might miss. For an unforgettable taste of Cairo, I recommend:

Eating with a view of the Pyramids view, whether you’re staying at a small hostel near the Pyramids or a 5-star hotel, that’s definitely bucket list-worthy. Nothing beats this view.
For a simple, soulful joint where the food tastes like love: head to Zahret El Bustan restaurant on Bostan street, downtown Cairo - not to be mistaken with the cafe. Their roast chicken is tender, flavourful and stands out in a city where roast chicken is a beloved staple. I also love restaurant Felfela for their Baba Ghanoug and Bessara (dried fava bean soup).
Molokhiya is definitely one of the most unique dishes found in Egypt and a must-try for visitors. It’s a green soup made with jute mallow leaves and cooked in broth. Restaurants like Sobhy Kaber and El Prince are well known for their spectacularly savoury versions. You even get a show when Molokhiya is served. The dish is brought to the table by a skilled chef who starts pouring it back and forth between two pots. Molokhiya is quite thick and viscous, so it looks really interesting as it falls from one pot to the other, especially as the distance between the two reaches 60-70cm.
Every traveller must experience Hawawshi. It’s an Egyptian flatbread stuffed with spiced minced beef and sometimes cheese and veggies. Hawawshi styles really vary but my personal favourite is the cheesy-beef one at Hawawshi El Refai in Abdeen.
The top three food to sample are Tamiya (Egyptian falafel) at any small neighbourhood joint as long as it has a long queue and serves it freshly fried in front of you; Al Sheikh’s rotisserie chicken in Bab El Khalk, and the Cairo Kaizer Shawerma at Abu Haider, and make sure to order some of their mango juice. It’s a rite of passage for all Heliopolis residents, and Cairenes from other parts of the city flock there for it.

Book your food tour of Cairo with Bellies En-Route here.