The Best Coffee Houses in the Middle East

Dammam

Remedy Roasters in Dammam, on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, is a roastery and bar built around fruity filter coffee. Staff explain the flavour notes of each bean before brewing a V60 and offer a taste before payment. The selection changes every couple of weeks. The bar serves coffee only, with no desserts, has few tables and is closed in the mornings, so it suits an afternoon or evening stop.

Around Cairo

The other four bars are in Egypt, one in Cairo itself and three in the cities on its edges: Giza, Sheikh Zayed City to the west and New Cairo to the east. Two of them sit in commercial developments, Specialty Būn in Arkan Plaza and Dancing Goat Coffee at its O1 branch. Specialty Būn names its house espresso blends Sultan Hassan and Sultan Qalawun, after two Mamluk sultans, and brews Ethiopian single origins as V60. BLCK Speciality Coffee in Cairo has self-service ordering, and the music there can be loud.

Lattes and desserts

V60 pour-over is on all four Egyptian menus, next to espresso drinks such as flat whites and cortados. Regulars at Dancing Goat order honey cinnamon lattes and iced Spanish lattes. VOG Specialty Coffee in Giza is a quiet room where saffron cake and khashkhasha are frequent orders, and it has an enclosed room for smokers. Specialty Būn buys its cookies and pastries from other bakeries and has few indoor tables.