67 Best Restaurants in Egypt

Popular with locals and busy on weekends, this family-style restaurant specializes in Egyptian barbecue with the country's traditional staple dishes served on the side. The decor is a little kitschy, but the food is delicious, portions are generous, and the staff is friendly.

Though you'll find decent fish dishes in nearly every Sharm restaurant, Fares is one of the town's best seafood restaurants, with grouper and snapper that's fresh from the Red Sea. This branch is near the Old Market shopping district; there's also a branch in Na'ama Bay.

Popular with locals and tourists alike, Fatatry El Hussein (also known as Egyptian Pancake House) specializes in fiteer, Egypt's flaky pastry served with your choice of sweet or savory fillings. For one heavenly bite after another, try the mixed-cheese version; dessert options such as custard or cream and honey will surely satisfy your sweet tooth.

This popular restaurant, built into an alleyway, is a good place to try such Egyptian staples as shorbat ‘ads (lentil soup), which is tasty with a squeeze of lemon in it; ta’amiya (the local version of felafel); and ful (stewed fava beans). You can also enjoy a cold beer or a glass of wine with your food.

On the waterfront side of the Alexandria Corniche, this is probably the biggest fish restaurant in the city and sees a regular crowd of locals who know they'll get excellent but simply cooked seafood plus a great view out across the harbor. The catch is priced by kilogram, and rice and salads are included. Choose your fish and ask them to price it, so you know how much you'll be paying. There's also a decent wine list featuring local labels.

One of the most upscale restaurants in Sharm, Fish Restaurant serves a short menu of nouvelle-style seafood, and your food is like a picture on a plate. Popular choices include expertly prepared fillets, calamari, and lobster. The silver service and outdoor terrace out in the mature garden just off the beachfront boulevard let you know that this restaurant is all about image and special occasions, and accordingly, the dress code is casual-elegant. A splurge here is rewarded with a better wine list and more attentive service than you'll find at the more mainstream restaurants.

Although it's not a fine-dining restaurant, the locally beloved Five Bells has been around for decades and blends a nostalgically proper feel with an easygoing, casual atmosphere. You can sit indoors, where there's a bar, but most people enjoy their Egyptian or international dishes outdoors, under a sizable tent with a central fountain that's surrounded by five bells. The doors open at noon, but it's busier at dinner, when reservations are a good idea.

For the city's best traditional Egyptian food, head out of your resort and to this unassuming branch of a national restaurant chain. For something special, order the stuffed pigeon, though this is also a good place to enjoy ta'amiya (Egyptian-style felafel) and stellar sides of baba ganoush or hummus.

At this haty (grill room), you can order your tender, juicy meat selection with a chopped salad and a choice of dip (tahina, garlic paste, hummus, baba ganoush) for the side of fresh aish baladi (Egyptian flatbread). Abu Ashraf also serves muyyet salata (salad water), a vinegar shot that many Egyptians enjoy before a hearty meal to whet their appetites. You're sure to chuckle at the restaurant’s quirky and gaudy decor, with portraits of the owner on the wall and, most nights, the man himself behind the register.

With excellent food prepared by Swiss chef Markus Iten, a cozy indoor dining area with a fireplace, and an outdoor terrace with show-stopping views of Qarun Lake, this is the perfect place to fuel up before, during, or after a day of exploring Tunis Village's pottery workshops. The restaurant also offers both pottery and cooking classes.

Kadoura is a nationwide chain that got its start in Alexandria in 1950, and lucky for hungry visitors, it's every bit as good as its reputation. Fish is grilled with a delicious fresh tomato, garlic, and herb purée; calamari come lightly fried, tender, and tasty. Pick your seafood downstairs, grab a wood-block number, and sit upstairs. Everything else that comes to you—salads, tahini, drinks—is included in the price. It's very popular for lunch, especially on Fridays, when space is at a premium.

Overlooking Maydan Sphinx (Sphinx Square), Kandahar serves North Indian food. Consider ordering one of the set menus that include the highly seasoned mulligatawny soup, appetizers, a delicious stewed dal, a lamb or chicken curry, and rice and bread, as well as dessert. This will give you a chance to try a bit of everything. If you like your food heavily spiced, make this known—the heat has been turned down for local tastes. This is not a sign of a lack of authenticity—chili pepper is only one of the spices in the Indian culinary palette. Service is good but prices here are on the high side for quite toothsome but standard Indian fare. You can also order from the menu of the adjoined Lebanese restaurant, Raouche.

Dig your toes into the sand at this gorgeous restaurant that's painted in bright colors and dishes up Nubian delights. It specializes in tagine dishes, which are slow-cooked in large clay pots.

As its name suggests, this restaurant specializes in koshary, the street-food favorite that generally consists of macaroni, rice, lentils, and chickpeas topped with a spiced tomato sauce and crispy fried onions. Sit outside, facing a busy intersection, so you can watch life unfold while you eat.

This eatery on the 11th floor of the President Hotel has several comfortable seating areas and is the perfect place to grab a quick coffee or a relaxed dinner with drinks. You can also enjoy a delicious lunch here, though reservations are a good idea.

Overlooking a bend on Gharb Soheil's busy market street, this rooftop restaurant offers a bird's-eye view of the action while you enjoy your lunch. The friendly staff will help you translate the menu, or you can just opt for the juicy chicken that comes with plenty of sides.

It’s hard to decide what's best here—the mouthwatering Egyptian food, the Nile views, the Khedive-style interior, or the excellent service. Indeed, La Tarbouche is one of the restaurants that Cairenes most often recommend to visitors.

Despite the arrival in Cairo of internationally recognized American fast-food chains, expats still flock to Lucille's for burgers and Tex-Mex dishes. Lucille's also serves up hearty Western breakfasts. The authentic diner interior keeps homesick Americans happy.

The backdrop for the gourmet, Bedouin-inspired dishes at the restaurant in the Remal El Rayan eco-lodge are sand dunes and Qarun Lake. All together it makes for quite a remarkable experience.

If you, like many members of the expat community, find yourself craving a warm bowl of ramen or some fresh sushi, head to this small, casual restaurant. The Japanese chefs prefer using only authentic ingredients, some of which can be hard to come by in Cairo, so menu offerings tend to change.

Makka serves such local fare as grilled meats and molokheya (a thick, green, often garlicky soup made with jute leaves). As usual, dishes are accompanied by plenty of small plates.

The sleek, Art Deco–style interior has beautiful mosaic floors and walls adorned with photographs of actors from the 1960s golden age of Egyptian cinema. The food is likewise classic Egyptian; the rice and pigeon tagine and the spicy potatoes with sausage are good bets.

A surprisingly good find at the southern end of Luxor's East Bank hotel strip, Maxime's has a menu of burgers and fries, as well as Middle Eastern staples. The relaxing atmosphere makes it a great spot to while away an evening. You can even puff on a hookah pipe in the open-air courtyard.

Although it offers delicious seafood, soups, salads, and pastas, Mo Bistro specializes in meat dishes. From juicy, tender flank steaks to slow-cooked beef shanks to bone marrow, everything is expertly seasoned and prepared. Reservations are a good idea on the weekends.

In one of the few remaining 19th-century mansions in town, this relaxed restaurant decorated with old-school photos and furnishings lives up to its name. The menu runs the gamut from respectable pasta dishes to decent sandwiches.

Thanks to the picture menu, the friendly English-speaking staff, and the free Wi-Fi for customers, this clean, convenient neighborhood restaurant is usually overrun with tourists. The Middle Eastern dishes are often given a local twist, and the menu includes vegan options as well. There are both indoor and outdoor seating areas; if you sit outside, you’ll be joined by friendly felines.

The ultra-contemporary and fashionable Italian restaurant at the Semiramis InterContinental puts a modern twist on traditional trattoria fare using authentic Italian ingredients. Signature dishes include crispy fried calamari and carpaccio with rocket salad and Parmesan cheese.

The outdoor seating area of this restaurant in one of El-Korba's historical buildings offers stellar views of the promenade below and is an especially nice place to dine on breezy spring evenings. Mouthwatering dishes on the Italian menu include burrata pizza, gnocchi, and fresh bruschetta. Although the restaurant accepts walk-ins, reservations are preferred.

While finding sushi and Japanese food isn't too terribly difficult around the Red Sea, finding Vietnamese food—and good Vietnamese food, at that—is a rarity. Saigon serves excellent roasted duck and noodle soups, and it has a good selection of vegetarian options.

Home-cooked Egyptian staples are the hallmarks of this side-street restaurant, which is sometimes called Five Ladies, as it's run by five women from the same family. Although the menu changes daily, based on what's fresh and in season, it typically includes molokhia (a dish of braised greens with chicken and rice.