52 Best Restaurants in Egypt

A sister of the Cairo-based Felfela, this is the best place in town for a traditional Egyptian meal. The restaurant's four levels all have great harbor views. Sit down to a fresh lemonade and start choosing appetizers from the menu—tasty fuul (the classic fava-bean dish) and koshary (like a vegetarian chili). From the grill dig into kebabs or wheat-stuffed pigeon. The grilled catch of the day is another delicious choice. Specialties here are the mezze: tahini, humus, baba ghanouj (eggplant dip), cumin-spiced tomatoes, labne (a yogurt-and-mint dip), and stuffed grape leaves.

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.

Options at this local street-food favorite range from ful (fava bean stew) or ta'amiya (Egyptian-style felafel) sandwiches to beef or chicken shawarma wraps. Most customers order food to go, but seating is available if you need to take a break.

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.

This small, dark restaurant, with its English pub–like feel, seats no more than 30 people. Its full bar, an unusual facility in Ismailiya, is decorated with old signs for beer and liquor. The menu combines Egyptian and Greek staples. Dishes such as baba ghanouj and lightly sautéed calamari are hardly extravagant, but they are tasty. Beer and wine are available—or toss back a glass of ouzo.

One of the best restaurants in town allows you to go on the rooftop terrace, shaded by date palms that rise up through the floor, or to recline on pillows in the downstairs den by the fireplace. Either way, you'll enjoy traditional fare served up piping hot. The eclectic menu also includes delicious crepes, lamb casserole, and a chicken curry that would pass muster in Mumbai. The staff are friendly and attentive. Give them enough notice and they'll prepare a stuffed lamb for your party.

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.

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.

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.

Ful (fava-bean stew) carts and restaurants are a common sight in Cairo, but the customers here hail from all over the world thanks to the many nearby embassies and to the freshness and flavor of its offerings. To create the stew, which is served primarily at breakfast but also makes a filling lunch, the beans are slow-cooked in a large metal jug and then mashed and served with tahini and a flavorful oil.

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.

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.

A popular lunch stop for safari groups by day, this restaurant is often transformed into a shisha (hookah) café packed with locals watching football matches by night. There's seating indoors, but the shaded, ceramic-tiled terrace is really the place to be. The grilled chicken here is possibly the best in town and comes with the usual side dishes as well as some tasty local olives. It sometimes has dessert, too.

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.

After a day of sightseeing, this atmospheric, courtyard-style café, set amid buildings that date from the 15th century just south of al-Azhar Street, is a great place to grab a tea or a coffee and a dessert. You can only get here on foot, and it's a little hard to find, but don't worry—the area is safe, and you can ask a local for directions if you get lost.

Alexandrians swear by this place, and it's packed with families in the early evenings and an older crowd later on. It has surprisingly elegant decor and a magnificent setting next to the water, though the atmosphere can be a little manic as waiters rush around with trays full of food. The menu is wide-ranging, but you'd be best to stick with the Egyptian dishes. The roasted meats make good choices, as do the cold mezze. Try to get a table by the window for fantastic views across the harbor.

With its polished granite walls and floors, and a small outdoor terrace, this restaurant is the best of a cluster of cheap eateries around the square. It even has a "family section," really just an alcove separated by a wooden panel. There is no menu, but you can choose from grilled chicken, meat kebabs, or a rather chewy steak. All are served with the usual soup, salad, and rice. Check prices before ordering.

Tucked in an alleyway, this hip eatery takes street food to the next level by using premium ingredients in its consistently delicious sandwiches. The bread rolls are addictively soft, filled with a variety of meats and generously drizzled with tahini; they come with a side of French fries, too.

The menu at this modest eatery, run by the same family since the 1960s, focuses on thin-loaf sandwiches with meat fillings, some of which are very spicy, though you might consider trying scrambled eggs with basturma (seasoned, air-dried, cured beef). In the evening, locals flock here to share a meal with family and friends, so you might have to wait to be seated.

This air-conditioned, upscale coffee shop is the perfect refuge from the clamor of the Khan. Have a drink, a light lunch, or—at the adjoining restaurant—a proper meal. To get here, face the Sayyidna al-Husayn Mosque and turn left into the passage that begins at the level of the minaret. Follow this through a couple of archways; the café is on the right.