Taika Khankhatun

 Serves food and incredible,  freshly made desserts. We ordered kanafe and fatir with custard. We also ordered my favourite hot drink, "shay blabin" hot milk and black tea and my husband ordered his regular, "kahwa" Turkish coffee. 

The kanafe was served warm, dripping with syrup, nuts and dried fruit. Kanafe can be made many ways. The Syrians or Palestinians make it with a sweet cheese and Egyptians usually with a custard. It's a favourite dessert in the Middle East,  especially around Ramadan. 

The fatir was served warm as well, presented with powdered sugar and inside warm succulent vanilla custard. Fatir is very thin layers of dough, baked like a flat bread. I was fascinated that the cafe put custard inside the layers. The custard was smooth and flavourful, slidding across my tongue.

Taika Khankhatun cafe was nestled in a hidden corner of Khan el-Khalili (Arabic: خان الخليلي‎) is a famous bazaar and souq (or souk). I just had to request kanafe and we were off on another adventure for our dessert. There was live authentic Egyptian music, tablas and singing in Arabic, playing in the background.

It was quite a unique outdoor cafe. Colourful, plush sofas and fun, mystical tables. Each table had an original painting of an Egyptian life scene. Even in the far corner of the cafe there stood an rare, antique carriage. Everywhere you looked there was something special about this whimsical cafe.

The night becoming chillier, it was time for more tea. This time we ordered fresh mint and tea. It was displayed with flecks of Rosemary and clove sticks. So warm and cozy feel, we drunk hot tea on a chilly night in Egypt.