Khan el-Khalili is the heart of Islamic Cairo, and al-Fishawy is the heart of the Khan. Located deep in the maze of narrow corridors that is the Khan, al-Fishawy can be a little difficult to find, in fact you may walk right by it without even noticing, but you have to do is ask. The café, noted for being the favorite hang out of Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel Prize winning author who grew up on the streets of Islamic Cairo, is the quintessential Cairene café. Sitting just below the Mosque of Sayyidna al-Hussein Fishawy is a café seemingly carved out of wood into the façade of Khan el-Khalili. Inside people pack into the café, sitting rickety wood chairs around little tables on top of a green floor and surrounded by the magnificent mashrabiyya, ornately carved wood. Waiters all wearing the same striped sweaters balance trays of freshly squeezed juices on their palms as they weave through the crowd of customers. Shouts of "Another apricot shisha and two mango juices!" echo off the walls and mix with the murmur of patrons, the clang of glasses, and the gentle bubble of water pipes. The lack of doors or windows allows the smoke, as well as the customers, to pour out onto the surrounding alleys. The scene outside the café is even crazier than the scene inside. Tables and benches overflowing with customers line the narrow passageways that pass by Fishawy, and because Fishawy is in the heart of the bazaar, thousands of shoppers and shopkeepers, push their way by the tables. Part of the fun is sitting there and watching as the waiters scramble to fit two more patrons into an area that already seems to be at its limit.
Fishawy is truly a microcosm of Cairo. It is crowded, loud, dirty, and smoky. Fishawy, like Cairo, is organized chaos. To the foreign eye, it seems to be a complete mess, complete disorder, but somehow there is a system, and the system works. As you approach, a waiter will find some space to cram you and your party into, and then leave. Soon someone else will approach, and ask for your orders. There are two barely visible menus on the wall, both in Arabic, but it doesn’t matter, because they have the only things that matter, shisha (hookah) in both apricot and apple flavors, tea, coffee, and then a wonderful assortment of fresh juices. Your best bets are the strawberry, mango, and pomegranate juices, as well as the juice cocktail. Soon somebody will return with your drinks, and another person will bring your shishas, then you just sit back and take in the Fishawy experience. Don’t be surprised if the Egyptian next to you strikes up a conversation, and be prepared for an endless stream of wandering merchants selling a whole bunch of things you never thought you needed. Fishawy is Cairo. More than the Pyramids, more than the Citadel, Fishawy symbolizes Cairo. It would be a shame to miss.