Egypt Travel Blog

Our Favorite Egyptian Restaurants in Cairo

by

Abou Tarek – This institution of a koshari restaurant in downtown Cairo is the most famous of Egypt’s koshari houses. Takeaway is on the ground level while a sit-down restaurant area is located on the upper floor. No need to order downstairs if you’re dining in, as they have a full-service wait staff upstairs. The beauty of koshari is that it’s super quick and very filling. If Egypt had a national dish, this would be it! 

Prince Cafe – If you ask any local Egyptian what their favorite local Egyptian restaurant is in Cairo, this will be it. Nothing fancy here, but just solid hearty local fare in a very local neighborhood close to downtown. 

Abou El Sid – For a more refined local culinary experience, this institution of a restaurant located in Zamalek is the place to go. Make a reservation to make sure you get a table and show up hungry. It’s good not only for the food but also for the authentic local atmosphere. It’s located in one of the most tranquil and walkable neighborhoods in all of Cairo, which also happens to be right in the heart of Cairo on the island of Zamalek in the Nile. 

El Marwadia – A ground-level Egyptian restaurant in the Cairo Sheraton’s north tower. Very decent Egyptian food, but they got rid of their dining tables and now just have couches and armchairs around coffee tables, which makes eating a real meal a little awkward, it’s better for snacks and appetizers if you get the munchies during the day or evening. The large TVs throughout often broadcast big football (i.e. soccer) matches when they’re on, otherwise it’s usually catchy Arabic music videos. 

Koshari el Tahrir – A quick good koshari can be had here by all at this local takeaway spot. The name comes from the fact that the original one was (and still is) located just off Tahrir Square, while another is located on Tahrir Street across the Nile in the Dokki neighborhood of Giza a few short blocks from the Cairo Sheraton. A large bowl of koshari will set you back less than a buck and fill you up completely. It’s also vegetarian, so no chance of any food-borne nasties derailing your journey. Oh, and by the way – this local dish has nothing to do with kosher food. The naming is just a coincidence, seriously. 

Other Neat Stuff

The Mystery of King Tut’s “Other Worldly” Burial Dagger Finally Solved

Although the entire field of Egyptology is only about 200 years old, dating back to the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone and the unlocking of the ancient hieroglyphic script in which the civilization’s history was recorded, the study of ancient Egyptian history and artifacts is still accelerating at an astonishing pace. With the application of […]

New archaeological finds in Egypt continue to astonish

Important discoveries out of Egypt have again been flooding the global news as archaeologists continue to explore beneath the sands of the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo, which is home to temples, burial grounds, and pyramids of the once-mighty ancient empire. Over the last year, researchers have unearthed at least 210 sarcophagi not touched since their burial two millennia ago, including the coffin of Queen Neit, […]

More Unsealed Mummies Discovered at Saqqara

If you’ve ever wandered around the rocky grounds of the Saqqara royal necropolis, the site of the Pharaoh Djoser’s famous Step Pyramid just south of the most famous pyramids at Giza, you’ve likely walked above hundreds of undiscovered treasures, mummies, and noble tombs still hidden in the ground beneath your feet. Frequent readers of the […]

Step Pyramid Interior Reopens to the Public

The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Sakkara is one of the most unique pyramids in Egypt and the oldest pyramid still standing anywhere in the world. While most of the other famous pyramids nearby at Giza and Dashur have been generally open for the public to go inside of them to explore the narrow passageways […]

Mummies on the Move

There have been quite a few recent developments about mummies in Egypt lately, including the largest discovery of mummies in over a century near Luxor, which was followed by the eruption of a minor a controversy over where those mummies will now be housed (national officials prefer the new Grand Egyptian Museum while local Luxor […]

Pet Mummies

We all know that the ancient Egyptians mummified the dead bodies of their loved ones with elaborate rituals and scientific rigor, whether they were a revered pharaoh or, if non-royal Egyptians could afford it, a beloved family member. But even in modern times, we can understand that human love and affection extend beyond just our […]

New Major Mummy Discovery Unveiled in Luxor

The largest new discovery of ancient Egyptian mummies in over a century has been revealed to the public by Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities at a ceremony in the southern city of Luxor, resting place to hundreds of ancient pharaohs, other royalty, high court officials, and evidently more middle class folks as well. The discovery, which […]

New Discovery Makes Pharaohs Look Modern, Sort Of

A team of archaeologists work in northern Egypt have discovered the site of an ancient settlement that makes even the Pharaohs and the Pyramids look young, relatively speaking. The discovery was made in the town of Tel el-Samara, which is located north of Cairo in the fertile Nile Delta region. Egypt’s most famous pyramids at […]

Tracing the Physical Legacy of Cleopatra

On this year’s International Women’s Day today, Egypt Travel Blog would like to pay homage to one of ancient Egypt’s most famous figures and a woman whose life and legacy are worthy of remembrance. Cleopatra is one of the most famous women in all of human history. She was a beloved queen of an ancient […]

New Discoveries

One of the amazing things about Egypt is that the entire country is still an active archaeological site. With over five thousand years of history under its sands, the slice that we know about and have uncovered so far is by no means all there is to be discovered. When you visit the Pyramids couples, […]

Ancient Knowledge and Modern Remembrance

It’s National Library Week in the United States, so it’s as good of a time as any to talk about one of the world’s most famous libraries – the ancient Library of Alexandria. After the death of Alexander the Great and the founding of the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt, the Library of Alexandria was created […]

Visiting the Pyramids of Giza

Egypt’s most popular historical site, and one of the most well known the world over, is of course the Pyramids, the most famous of which are located just outside of Cairo. The greater Cairo area is a sprawling metropolis of nearly 20 million people spread out over dozens of suburbs on both sides of the […]

Luxor Temple

Despite its prominent name, Luxor Temple is actually the second most famous temple in Luxor behind the much larger and greater Temple of Karnak just down the road. However, Luxor Temple has several unique features of its own that merit a visit and some independent attention. The first and most obvious aspect of Luxor Temple […]

The Valley of the Queens

The Valley of the Queens in the area of Luxor is a lesser visited royal necropolis in which various family members of several dynasties of pharaohs were laid to rest. As the name suggests, many queens were buried here in elaborate tombs befitting their status and wealth, but many princesses and even princes had dedicated […]

World’s Oldest Haute Couture

Anyone a fan of vintage fashion? How about 5000 year old couture? One of the neat things about Egypt is that its advanced civilization was good at both recording and preserving its own history. Unlike most other of the world’s great ancient civilizations whose moist climates caused the disintegration of its remnants thousands of years […]