What to eat in Cairo
Ful and ta'ameya for breakfast, koshari for lunch, kebab and kofta at night — Cairo's food is cheap, street-level and mostly meatless, and it is the best thing the city has.
- Lunch
- Koshari: rice
- Drink
- Sugar-cane and mango juice from a stall
Cairo is eaten on the street and in places without an English menu, at prices not worth converting into euros: a plate of koshari is €0.40–1.30, a breakfast of ful and ta'ameya less, dinner with meat a few euros. A white-tablecloth restaurant in a hotel costs several times more and serves the same — only colder.
Ful and ta'ameya
The Egyptian breakfast is ful medames — stewed fava beans with oil, lemon and cumin — and ta'ameya, falafel made of fava rather than chickpea, green inside. Taken in flatbread with pickles and salad, from a stall with a big pot or in a local place, from six in the morning. It is the one meal in the city that does not change from district to district, and it should not be sought in a hotel.
Koshari
The national dish without meat: rice, pasta, lentils and chickpeas in one plate, with tomato sauce, fried onions and garlic vinegar to taste. Eaten in koshari places with one thing on the menu; Abou Tarek downtown is the most famous and busiest, and every district has its own. A plate that lasts until dinner is €0.40–1.30, by size.
What else to look for in the places and at the stalls
- Hamam mahshi — stuffed pigeon with rice or cracked wheat, at the places by El Hussein. Eaten by hand, and the bones are not eaten.
- Molokhia — a thick green soup of jute leaf with garlic, with rice and chicken. A taste that is loved or not, and you know from the first spoon.
- Shawarma and kofta — along Abdel Aziz street and in the Sayeda Zeinab district, by the kilo, with tahini and bread.
- Sugar-cane juice — from a stall with a press, and mango juice in season. The ice is skipped.
- Feteer — layered pastry with cheese or honey, from the ovens in Sayeda Zeinab, for breakfast or after midnight.
Cafés
The ahwa, the Cairo café, is a male institution of tea, Turkish coffee, shisha and backgammon, open until morning. Fishawi's in Khan el-Khalili has run since 1773 and is touristy to the end, but worth it once; the cafés around Al-Azhar and in Sayeda Zeinab are the real ones. Women tourists enter all of them without trouble; Egyptian women sit in the newer ones with gardens.
Where not to
- A restaurant with pictures on the menu by the Giza plateau. The same kofta at several times the price, with a view you pay for.
- A Nile dinner cruise with a dancer. The food is a hotel buffet, the music loud; anyone wanting the Nile at night takes a felucca and brings something.
- The hotel 'Egyptian' menu. Molokhia in a hotel is diluted for foreigners; in a place in Sayeda Zeinab it is what it is.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Is street food in Cairo safe?
It is, on one rule: a stall with a queue and fast turnover, food cooked or fried in front of you. Koshari, ful and ta'ameya are rarely the problem. Water only bottled, salad and ice only in restaurants.
What do you eat in Cairo if you do not eat meat?
Almost everything: ful, ta'ameya and koshari are meatless, as are molokhia without chicken, salads, cheeses and bread. Everyday Egyptian cooking is mostly plant-based; meat is for holidays and dinner.
Where do you drink alcohol?
In hotels, in a few bars downtown and in Zamalek, and in licensed restaurants. Stella is the local beer. On the street and in most places there is no alcohol, and you do not ask for it.
Ready for Cairo?
Where to next
Cairo in 3 days
→Three days in which Giza is done at eight in the morning, the Grand Museum the same afternoon, and Islamic…
Alexandria · 180 km
→A city that was the capital of the world, of which twenty kilometres of Corniche remain, one fort where the lighthouse stood, and a library built again
How well does Cairo suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
Leave your email and we'll let you know when a new destination or story goes up.