For the longest time Enmore Road was made up of Thai restaurants bookended by Saray kebab shop at the station end and Sultan’s Table down the other. But now you’ve basically got the full UN dinner service on this half kilometre stretch of road. It manages to fit in Southern barbecue, pho, African curry, deep-fried mud crab, a cracker of a Margherita and properly spicy tikka chicken – but Middle Eastern food is definitely having a moment, with with Cairo Takeaway joining the felafel love-in.
In spite of the name you can eat in at Cairo Takeaway, and it’s a good time. They put a lot of care into assembling their mixed plates and given their popularity, there might be a bit of a wait on your food. A few minutes pause isn’t much of a cross to bear when Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Left Foot is blaring and you’ve got frosty tins of Young Henrys lager, hoppy Wayward’s pale ale or a sweet and astringent hibiscus cordial (imagine a sort of herbal pomegranate flavour) in front of you.
If you don’t eat meat the veg version has crisp, spiced cauliflower florets, dark green felafel and a vegetable slice, but we can’t resist the smell of the grilled chicken doused in garlic and the lamb kofte packed with diced onion that comes on the meat edition.
They pair the meats with garlic paste, tahini, a little fatoush salad, Pantone-coloured pickles and an eggplant and capsicum melange – a riff on moussaka that is so unctuous it’s almost a dip. Soft folds of flat bread and a cumin-spiced fresh salsa are the final additions to this all-star flavour cast. As for the rest of the menu, you’re looking at the same components assembled a handful of tasty ways, either in bread pockets or on smaller plates. It’s like dinnertime Duplo.
Enmore Road has carved out a solid reputation as a cheap eat destination, and Cairo Takeaway fits the bill. You can get out of here full for under thirty bucks per person, with beers; you can BYO wine and chill in the sheltered courtyard out the back if you’re in no great hurry; and the food is familiar, but with an exciting new accent. What’s not to like?