PHAROAH'S
Egyptian Food in Itaewon

The owner of the Egyptian restaurant, Pharoahs, came to Seoul 7 years ago to work as a chef. Hassan Masry started as a chef at the Hilton hotel, then he worked for many years at the Egyptian embassy, then he became a partner at Puffin café, a popular place to eat in Hannam Dong. In fact, his experience as a chef spans 25 years and 14 different countries!
An opportunity arose when a friend of his rented a space in Itaewon. Hassan didn’t know anything about Itaewon (especially not about the dodgy corner of “the hill” where the restaurant is located), but his friend could no longer afford the space, so he took it over and created his own corner of Egyptian culinary delights.
The interior of Pharoahs is very simple. There is pleasant rose-colored wall paper and talecloths with Egyptian patterns. There are also a few scrolls and Egyptian statues on the walls. At night the tables are lit by candlelight. There’s also a small outdoor terrace which I reckon might be an interesting and surreal place to people watch on a weekend night.
However at Pharoahs, the draw is not the atmosphere or the location, it’s definetly the food. Hassan says “I started out with no investment money. All the money went into the ingredients for the food.” Indeed the food is cooked from the heart. They mix their own special blend of herbs for the receipes. They make homemade mayonnaise to top salads and falafel sandwiches and, they bake 400-500 pieces of fresh pita bread every day! When Pharoahs first started out, There were 3 things on the menu: falafel, hummus and babaganoush. Little by little Hassan started to add more receipes.The menu is still very simple which is great because you’re not overburdened with too many choices.
The falafel is one of the tastiest things on the menu. The falafel is light; unlike some other falafel we’ve tasted which are too heavy on the stomach. It’s deliciously crispy on the outside and is topped with nutty sesame seeds. It comes with a side salad with homemade mayonnaise with herbs dressing. Stuff it all in a fresh pita pocket. Yumm! The babaganoush (ground eggplant with spices drizzled with olive oil) is also highly recommended. The hummus has a tangy touch of lemon. We also tried the chicken curry. It was more akin to Japanese curry rather than India-style curry and it’s also topped with sesame seeds. Tender little chunks of carrot and potato are mixed in with the chicken.
Also on the Pharoahs menu is Koshary-lentils mixed with rice macaroni and Pharoahs special sauce. You can also have mousakka- eggplant with Pharoah’s special tomato sauce, vegetable fried rice, and chicken fried rice. There’s also the Pharoahs chicken and the Pharoah’s beef which are cooked with Hassan’s own special receipe. Main dishes run from 7000 won-8000 won. This is a real bargain considering the quality food you receive! There’s also a shwarma sandwich (slices of marinated beef stacked on a spit and grilled) and a falafel sandwich for 4000 won. Several types of salads are available to accompany your meal. A good thing to do would be to go with a bunch of people and share the dishes.
Though we didn’t try everything, everyone we asked who has eaten at Pharoahs before can vouch for the excellence of the food. Hassan also says that many people working in the F&B industry at the big hotels often come to his restaurant to eat his food. A ghost writer for the Lonely Planet guide apparently came in a few times to check out the cuisine and gave it a ‘thumbs up’, especially since the food is so very affordable.
Pharoahs doesn’t have a huge amount of people coming in for lunch, but come Friday and Saturday night, the place can get really packed due to it’s location near all the nightclubs. The greatest thing about Pharoahs is that you can enjoy food until 3AM on most nights and until 6AM on weekend nights! There’s even a breakfast set starting Friday at 4 AM. For 6,000 won you can get coffee or tea, eggs, babaganoush and hummous.

aaPharoahs is on the hill behind the Itaewon Firestation.
aaMake a left on the alley before the Foreign Foodmart.
aa02)798-5827

aaHours: Closed Monday
aaTuesday-Thursday, Sunday 11:00AM-3AM
aaFriday-Saturday 11:00AM-6AM

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