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Alexandria's culinary gift is extraordinary seafood, drawing on the best of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The preparation tends to be simple: grilled or fried, perhaps laced with garlic, herbs, or butter, and typically served with tahini (sesame paste) and a couple of salads on the side. The ingredients are so fresh that an
Alexandria's culinary gift is extraordinary seafood, drawing on the best of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The preparation tends to be simple: grilled or fried, perhaps laced with garlic, herbs, or butter, and typically served with tahini (sesame paste) and a couple
Alexandria's culinary gift is extraordinary seafood, drawing on the best of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The prepa
Alexandria's culinary gift is extraordinary seafood, drawing on the best of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The preparation tends to be simple: grilled or fried, perhaps laced with garlic, herbs, or butter, and typically served with tahini (sesame paste) and a couple of salads on the side. The ingredients are so fresh that anything more elaborate would obscure their flavors. Most places display their offerings of fish, shrimp, crab, calamari, and mussels on ice, and you pay by weight or per serving. The price includes preparation and everything else—there are no hidden costs. If you need help choosing, there will always be someone on hand to guide your selection.
Because the focus is on fresh seafood, restaurants in Alexandria (especially the good ones) tend to be informal and quite inexpensive for the quality of what they serve. Naturally, many are near the water, some of them appropriately weathered, while others consist of no more than a few tables in an alley. A few places will levy a service charge, but most will not. In all places a tip of 10% is appropriate. Do not expect alcohol to be served in most restaurants.
Off-season, Alexandrians eat meals at standard times: 1 to 3 for lunch and 8 to 11 for dinner. But in summer dinner often begins much later. There is nothing more Mediterranean about Alexandria than the pace of dinner in the summer: after an evening siesta, have a shisha (water pipe) around 11, arrive at a waterfront restaurant after midnight, then wrap up the meal with an early morning espresso at an outdoor café nearby. You don't have to eat so late, of course, but you might be surprised how seductive it is.
Ebn El Balad is the mixed grill half of the Ebn El Balad–Ebn Hamido restaurant duo sharing the same waterfront space near Gleem Bay. The maritime-meets-traditional-Egyptian decor is comfortable, classic, and unassuming. When you enter the restaurant, take a right if you're in the mood for mixed grill (the stuffed pigeon and vegetable tagine are both especially good) or take a left if you'd prefer fresh seafood (try the grilled sea bass with potatoes). Whichever you choose, you're in for some of the best fresh food on the Mediterranean.
The signature restaurant of the Four Seasons, Byblos serves excellent Lebanese and Syrian dishes that you can mix and match depending on your mood or order as a prix-fixe. Start with a selection of hot and cold mezze, then try sheikh al manshee (eggplant stuffed with minced beef and tomato sauce) or kebbeh bel laban (lamb meatballs smothered with yogurt sauce and mint). While the restaurant is beautiful and the food is delicious, it's not necessarily the best bang for your buck.
Gleem Bay is a waterfront boardwalk hangout dotted with cute cafés, pasta purveyors, seafood specializers, and burger joints. It's easy to stroll from one restaurant to another to see what the day's specialty is and who may have an open table right by the water. Given the quality of the food and the superb sea views, the prices are quite reasonable.
Glime Beach, San Stefano, El Raml 1, Egypt, Alexandria, Egypt
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