Egyptian Desserts in Cairo (2026): Where to Eat Them

Quick answer: If you only try five Egyptian desserts in Cairo, have konafa (kunafa) and basbousa at El Abd on Talaat Harb Street, Downtown, roz bel laban (rice pudding) at El Malky, om ali at Mandarine Koueider in Zamalek, and an ice cream at the same Zamalek shop. In Ramadan, look for the street ovens selling fresh baladi konafa and qatayef dough. Around the Prophet's birthday (Mawlid), every sweet shop fills its windows with halawet el mawlid.

Checked 17 October 2026 against the shops' own menus and Egyptian press. Every price is dated; dollars are approximate, at about 52 EGP to the dollar.

For savoury food, see our guides to where to eat in Cairo and authentic restaurants in Cairo.

Egyptian desserts at a glance: what to try and where

"~" marks approximate dollars. El Abd does not say what weight or portion its online prices buy, so ask at the counter.

The classic Cairo sweet shops

One naming trap: Mandarine Koueider and Abdel Rahim Koueider are separate businesses and are no longer connected (Cairo 360).

Konafa (kunafa, kunefe)

Konafa is fine shredded pastry layered with butter, filled with cream or nuts and finished with syrup. Egypt Independent calls it, with qatayef, the most popular Ramadan sweet in the country, though you can buy it all year.

• El Abd, Downtown and branches. The easiest classic konafa to find all year. Its own menu (17 Oct 2026) lists konafa with nuts at EGP 255 ($4.90) and with cream at EGP 200 ($3.85).
• Konafany El Gomhoureya, Darb El Ahmar. A konafa maker on Ahmed Maher Street, run by one family for four generations and renamed from Konafany El Malek to El Gomhoureya (the Republic) after the monarchy ended (Youm7, February 2026). It is best known for konafa el sha'r, the fine-hair kind, and sells konafa ready to eat (Youm7, February 2026); we could not confirm prices. It is near the sights in our Islamic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili guide.
• Mandarine Koueider. Cream kunafa is on its own product list, and Cairo 360 names konafa among its must-orders.
• Grand Kunafa, Mohandessin. For hot, coal-grilled cheese konafa, Cairo 360 reviewed this shop at 25 Syria Street in August 2014. That is the latest review we found, and we found no sign it still trades in 2026, so check before you cross town.

Basbousa

Basbousa is a soft semolina cake made with yoghurt and coconut, soaked in syrup and topped with almonds or pistachios.

• El Abd. Plain basbousa EGP 140 ($2.70) and hazelnut EGP 165 ($3.20), own menu, 17 October 2026.
• Mandarine Koueider also lists plain basbousa on its own product page.

Om ali (umm ali)

Om ali means "Ali's mother". It is a bread pudding of puff pastry or phyllo baked in milk with nuts and served warm. Egyptian Streets traces the name to a Mamluk-era legend involving Shajarat al-Durr and calls it one of the nation's most popular desserts.

• Mandarine Koueider, Zamalek and branches. Om ali is on its own product list; there is a branch in the Grand Egyptian Museum area.
• El Abd, Downtown and branches. Cairo 360's Ramadan desserts round-up (March 2023) says you can find om ali at El Abd.
• Abou El Sid, Zamalek. A 2010 Cairo 360 review called its om ali the pick of the desserts. We found no 2026 menu or branch list, so check it is open first.

Roz bel laban (rice pudding)

Roz bel laban is Egyptian rice pudding, the standard order at Cairo's old dairy shops and a Ramadan regular (Ahram Online).

• El Malky. A dairy dessert shop founded in 1917 in the El Hussein area of Old Cairo and known for its milk desserts (Egyptian Streets). Scene Eats says it has branches all over Cairo, and Cairo 360 featured it as a working family business in February 2026. We found no 2026 price.

Feteer meshaltet (sweet)

Feteer meshaltet is a paper-thin, many-layered butter pastry baked in a very hot oven. Eaten sweet, it comes with honey, or with cream and honey (The National).

• Desoky & Soda. A casual Egyptian cafe from Maadi known for feteer; a 2017 Cairo 360 review ordered a sweet Kinder chocolate one. It was active on Instagram in October 2026, and its own branch page lists Uptown Cairo, City Centre Almaza, Cairo Festival City, Maadi and 6th of October.
• Awlad El Hussein, Sayeda Zeinab. A family-run kitchen of about a century, known for oversized feteer meshaltet (Curly Tales, July 2025). That is our latest source, so check it is open and ask for it sweet.
• Mandarine Koueider lists feteer meshaltet on its own product page (checked 17 October 2026).

The street-side feteer shops are covered in our Egypt street food guide.

Zalabya and lokmet el qadi

Small balls of yeasted dough, fried and dropped into syrup. Cairo 360 counts zalabia among the sweets often served in Ramadan, when street vendors sell it. Outside Ramadan, Mandarine Koueider lists luqmat el qadi on its own product page.

Meshabek

Meshabek is the sweet Damietta, on the Mediterranean coast, is best known for (Scene Eats). El Abd sells it in Cairo at EGP 90 ($1.75), next to a small box of baklava at EGP 170 ($3.25), own menu, 17 October 2026.

Ramadan desserts: konafa and qatayef

Qatayef (atayef) are pancakes cooked on one side only, filled with nuts or cream, folded, and usually fried and soaked in syrup (Egyptian Streets). You rarely find them outside Ramadan. From the first day of the month, handmade baladi konafa and qatayef ovens appear on Cairo's streets; baladi konafa is just flour and water, made fresh daily (Al-Dostour). Both sold at EGP 40 a kilo in Ramadan 2024 (Al-Dostour), and in Ramadan 2026 a Kafr El Sheikh maker charged EGP 55 a kilo ($1.05, Masrawy). Masrawy also found 2026 novelty konafa trays at EGP 280 to 995 ($5.40 to $19).

Ramadan 2026 began on 19 February in Egypt. Ramadan 2027 is expected to start around 8 February 2027, subject to the moon sighting (Gulf News).

Mawlid sweets: halawet el mawlid

For the Prophet's birthday, Egypt makes halawet el mawlid: bars of nuts, sesame (semsemeya) or chickpeas (hummusiya) set in sugar, plus sugar dolls (arousa) and horses, a custom Ahram Online traces to the Fatimid era. In 2026 the Mawlid fell on 26 August; production starts about two months ahead (Ahram Online), so look for them in the weeks before. The date moves earlier each year with the Islamic calendar.

• El Abd. Its own menu (17 Oct 2026) lists hummusiya at EGP 65 ($1.25) and simsimiya at EGP 75 ($1.45), small bites from EGP 55 ($1.05), and boxes from EGP 250 ($4.80). Egypt Telegraph (August 2026) put its gift boxes and tins at up to EGP 3,600 (~$69).
• Bab El Bahr, off Ramses Square. Cairo's historic halawa district. In August 2026 one Bab El Bahr seller charged EGP 87 a kilo (~$1.70, Egypt Telegraph).

Boxed halawa or kahk makes a good gift to fly home; see our Egypt souvenirs guide for what else to pack.

Sahlab

Sahlab is a hot, thick milk drink made with flour from orchid tubers, topped with nuts and raisins. It is a winter drink (Egyptian Streets), so look for it in the cooler months.

• CAF. Scene Eats picked its pistachio sahlab as a winter drink on 12 December 2025. CAF has branches across Egypt; we could not confirm a price or that it will return this winter.

Ice cream: the Cairo classics

Cairo's classic ice cream comes from the old dessert houses, by the scoop and as cassata.

• Mandarine Koueider, Zamalek. Cairo 360 gave the Zamalek shop its 2024 Editors' Choice for ice cream. Its own locator lists 12 branches, most open 9am to 11pm Saturday to Thursday and 10am to midnight Friday (checked 17 October 2026); confirm before you go.
• El Abd. It also sells cassata: small fruit EGP 230 ($4.40) and chocolate EGP 260 ($5), with ice cream cakes from EGP 320 to 480 (~$6.15 to $9.25), own menu, 17 October 2026.

Where to go in Alexandria instead

Alexandria has its own dessert institutions, covered in our guide to authentic restaurants in Alexandria, so this page sticks to Cairo.

Eat them on a Cairo food tour

A guide is the quickest way to taste several. Per person, lowest listed price, checked 17 October 2026:

• Cairo food tour with 40+ tastings, which includes sweets among its tastings: from EGP 2,276 (~$44), 4.9 from 250 reviews.
• Taste the flavours of Egypt with a local Cairo food tour, with desserts included: from EGP 1,831 (~$35), 4.8 from 16 reviews.
• Cairo cooking class with an Egyptian family, dessert included: from EGP 2,301 (~$44), 5.0 from 123 reviews.

Browse all Cairo food experiences or our foodie Egypt collection, and see our Egyptian food guide for the dishes to eat before dessert. For a private sweets crawl on your dates, tell us on WhatsApp and we will send a quote.