#18415 Drinking in the History of al-Fishawy Coffee Shop in Cairo

For over 200 years, al-Fishawy coffee shop has been serving mint tea and shisha pipes to the haggle-happy vendors and shoppers of Khan al-Khalili bazaar. Artists and writers—such as Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz—would also congregate here, amongst the gilded mirrors and dark mashrabia panelling. These days, most of the daytime patrons are tourists, and the café spills out into a narrow alleyway that is polluted with pharaonic souvenir kitsch. This fusion of different worlds seems appropriate for a café whose name means “the mirrors”, and the atmosphere is as disorienting as it is exotic. An endless procession of hawkers lay siege to the customers, selling everything from genuine fake Rolexes to camel bone pendants. Shoe shiners dart amongst the tables, and wizened old ladies peddle garlands of fragrant jasmine alongside the lie of eternal youth. Tourists may come and writers may go, but as long as Khan al-Khalili remains, al-Fishawy will reflect its soul.