Something for all tastes in Mada Market’s food court

This article is part of a series we are running ahead of the second edition of our Mada Market to feature the participating vendors.

Cairo's food and beverage industry is probably the most exciting and fastest changing in the market. In the past few years we've seen some of the quickest openings and closures of new businesses, which means that while success is unpredictable, there’s also a growing potential for new players to carve out a niche for themselves.

With tastes evolving at a swift pace and competition growing, consumers have become increasingly discerning, demanding innovative ideas, high quality ingredients and, above all, consistency.

At this year's Mada Market, we’ve set out to give you a taste of some of the most inventive names in food and beverages, namely those who have worked out a successful formula to remain on top of the game.

Our Food Court vendors are offering a variety of options, from burgers and Greek gyros to Lebanese mezzas and Italian pizza. For dessert, there will be a wide selection of flavors in the form of cupcakes, ice cream, gelato and shaved ice. Not to mention hot and iced coffee, fresh juices and fruits. 

Mince and Tamara

Mince and Tamara Lebanese Bistro are two brands that have swiftly become household names and cultivated a solid customer base since opening.

Both have made a definitive mark on Cairo's thriving industry, and along with the well-loved restaurant chain Mori Sushi, both are brands of MoriCo, a company founded by entrepreneurs Hossam Fahmy, Sherif Gad and Tamer El Leithy.

At Saturday's Mada Market, Mince brings its unique gourmet take on the classic comfort food of the burger, while Tamara serves up a wide selection of its Lebanese treats made with a modern flair.

The Greek

A favorite Maadi-based restaurant, The Greek is bringing its hearty gyro combos to ‎the market.

Since its 2013 launch, The Greek has stood out for offering authentic cuisine inspired by the backgrounds of its founders — John Benakis, Julian Marriotti and Sara George — and their families. As Benakis has told Mada Masr, all the essential ingredients are sourced from Greece and when they started, he brought his mother to Egypt to teach his chefs recipes from a traditional Greek kitchen.

Over the years, The Greek’s menu offerings have maintained consistent high quality and unique flavorful taste. 

Eish w Malh

Downtown Cairo finally got a cool foodie hangout spot in 2014, and it's only gotten better with time. Pizza, gelato, and iced coffee are just some of the specialties Eish & Malh is now known for.

At Mada Market, Eish w Malh serves artisan gelato and sorbet with flavors like mountain sage, Siwa salted caramel, Earl Grey and vegan gooseberry sorbet. You can also taste their fresh, thin-crust Italian pizzas – margherita, funghi, quatro formagi and more. Try their fresh seasonal juices and finish it all off with their signature iced coffees and iced tea.

Eish w Malh has gone beyond what’s normally expected of a restaurant and has managed to build a community around its establishment. Accompanying its elaborate Italian cuisine are a range of regular events including jazz brunches, dinner and movie nights, and more. They also co-organize and host the monthly Slow Downtown: Farm to Fork Market & Menu.

Devour

Long before the cupcake craze reached Cairo, Devour Cupcakes founder Zeinab Mostafa was creating special local cupcake flavors and funky cake designs while running a dessert catering service out of her own kitchen.

She started it in 2008 but only opened her first store in 2012, located in Mohandiseen. She’s since expanded to open two more branches in Korba (Heliopolis) and 6 October City's Galleria 40 mall.

With a mission to "bake your wishes come true," this home-grown bakery and cafe brand specializes in gourmet cupcakes, cakes, cookies, tarts and cake pops. Devour was also generous enough to bake Mada's first anniversary birthday cake.

For the Mada Market, Devour is offering a special promotion: buy four cupcakes and get one jar cake for free – or buy four jar cakes and get two cupcakes for free.

Rigoletto

Like all of the Mada Market participants, Rigoletto has an interesting story to tell. Rigoletto Ice Cream and Cakes opened in the late 1980s as Egypt's first locally branded ice-cream parlor. It has a famous cameo in the movie Ice Cream Fe Gleem (1992), starring Amr Diab.

Over the years it has undergone many changes and confronted the growing competition by rebranding and maintaining consistency in their familiar flavors. They've done a rebrand, redesigned their website and become more active on social media in order to engage a new, wider customer base.

Rigoletto brought their distinctive ice-cream flavors to the Mada Market last year and we're happy to have them back with us on Saturday. 

Dancing Bean 

Originating in Australia in 1999, the Dancing Bean made its way to Egypt in 2012. Dancing Bean Espresso - Egypt was founded through an Egyptian-Australian partnership between Joseph Hannah and Johanna Freeman. 

Hannah is a coffee enthusiast and has extensive business experience while Freeman brings hands-on experience in the field across Australia and Africa.  Both were set on bringing Dancing Bean’s quality coffee product to Egypt to cater to the growing coffee demand.

Dancing Bean's award-winning freshly-roasted Arabica coffee beans are available for order and delivery in Cairo, along with a line of state-of-the-art coffee machines and barista accessories.

Dancing Bean will sell their specialty original-blend beans including a 100 percent Arabica bean espresso blend, an Ethiopian blend using Arabica Sidamo beans, and an original blend roasted dark bean.

Visit their booth at Mada Market and take advantage of special discounts on their espresso machines and accessories as you enjoy steaming hot espresso, macchiato, Americano, cappuccino, latte, flat white, mocha espresso or hot chocolate. 

Formula Onederful

It wouldn't be a proper spring day in the park without some freshly blended juices.

Since 2003, Formula Onederful has specialized in serving up an excellent selection of fruits and vegetables either whole, chopped, mixed or blended.

Visit their booth at Mada Market to get a taste of their fresh juice and vegetable blends. 

Snow Egypt

If you've never tried shaved ice, Mada Market is you chance to do so. Snow Egypt has brought the favorite summer treat from the beaches of Florida to Egypt's capital.

Shaved ice is doused with a rainbow of flavors, including banana, blueberry, pomegranate, hibiscus, mango, cherry, kiwi, cranberry, green apple, watermelon, passion fruit, pina colada, raspberry, strawberry, pineapple and green mint.