Al Aseel: Lebanese Like You’ve Never Had Before

By: Mahmoud Sherif
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With prices on the rise, we sometimes find it difficult to find food that is of good quality and loose on the wallet. But they do exist. And one joint just so happens to be in the Rehab Market, which is booming with authentic Middle Eastern outlets, primarily Lebanese and Syrian.

Al Aseel, known for its unparalleled Lebanese cuisine, has two branches at the Rehab Market: one for quick sandwiches and the other for mixed grills and manouchehs, lebanese pastry often stuffed with herbs, cheese or meat.

Rumor has it that Al Aseel has the best manouchehs in town, particularly the cheese-stuffed. As a cheese lover and food enthusiast, I decided to go try it out myself.

Upon arriving, I noticed that Al Aseel occupies a large space in the Rehab market. It has a setting of basic plastic tables and chairs. The atmosphere of the whole area is very friendly; one can often see people walking their pets or jogging on the sidewalk next to a variety of shops and cafés.

A very friendly, middle-aged Syrian man was at the cashier, ready to take my order. I asked him about their best-selling manouchehs. He very charmingly told me that I could order whatever I like since they perfect everything they make.

Sure enough, they served me the best manouchehs I have ever had. I reached my verdict after trying four different varieties, each of which was very tasty. I could barely stop myself from ordering more.

I started out with the chicken and mozzarella manoucheh, which costs only EGP 15. It had tomatoes, pepper, onions and a lot of Mozzarella cheese — so much cheese, it was oozing out of the delicious pastry.

The grilled chicken was mixed with spices that were hard to identify. However, its overall flavor was overwhelming.

While the chicken was very tender, the pepper added a nice crisp to the mix.  However, the winning ingredient was, undoubtedly, the cheese. The filling in general was pretty standard. It wasn’t, however, as plentiful as the cheese.

I next went for the minced meat manoucheh, EGP 10, which comprised of just minced meat mixed with yogurt sauce.

The yogurt sauce was sour enough to balance the heartiness of meat, which was perfectly cooked. One could pick up on the taste of the very flavorful onion-spiced blend, which perfectly complemented the sauce.

Despite its small size and poor presentation, the manoucheh was juicy and tasty, wrapped in freshly baked dough.

Not yet full, and eager to try more flavors, I ordered the halloumi cheese and spinach manouchehs, for EGP 4 and EGP 8, respectively.

The halloumi manoucheh was very creamy but I ultimately found it to be a disappointment. My theory is that either the quality of the halloumi cheese used was far below average or they used a different kind of cheese altogether.

I finally turned to my last one for the day, the spinach-stuffed manoucheh, hoping it could undo the halloumi disappointment.

While it was slightly better, it was, unfortunately, still a disappointment. The manoucheh was overflowing with filling. While the spinach was very well cooked, the garlic and onion were too strong for my liking.

In general, they were all above average, but the winner was definitely the Mozzarella Chicken. The manouchehs were very authentic, not surprising given that Al Aseel is owned and run by Lebanese natives.

But, there is always room for improvement. For one, the packaging can be improved; the manouchehs are wrapped in aluminum foil and placed inside a plastic box. They could also expand the available sides and sauces.

One filling suggestion I would definitely love to try is crispy fried chicken with cheddar cheese. With just a few of these adjustments, Al Aseel can surely be one of the most popular lebanese joints in Cairo.