Eating in Cairo: koshari and the street
2 h route4 stopsBest: Koshari at midday. The souk and tea at nightUpdated July 2026
Koshari, the national dish, is a 19th-century street invention and one of the best things you can eat anywhere for what it costs. The cooking here is among the cheapest and most honest in the Mediterranean, and it resembles neither Moroccan nor Turkish: pulses, pita bread and the street rule.
We won’t give you a restaurant list: we give you the dishes and where they’re eaten. And a practical warning: tap water isn’t drunk, and for that reason be careful with ice and washed salads in the more informal places.
The route, stop by stop
4 STOPS- 01
The koshari
The national dish and a glorious oddity: pasta, rice and lentils in one bowl, with chickpeas, spiced tomato sauce, garlic and vinegar, and a mountain of crisp fried onion on top. On paper it makes no sense. In the mouth, it’s addictive.
It was born in the 19th century from the mix of communities in colonial Egypt (the Italians brought the pasta, the Indians the lentils) and today it’s what everyone eats. There are places dedicated to nothing else, with the onion machine by the door.
It costs what a coffee does.
- 02
Ful, taameya and breakfast
Egypt’s breakfast comes down to two things: ful medames, a fava bean stew with oil, lemon and cumin eaten with bread since pharaonic times. And taameya, the Egyptian falafel, made with fava beans instead of chickpeas, greener inside and juicier than the Lebanese kind.
They’re eaten at any street stall for very little, at any hour, with freshly baked pita.
If you try one street thing in Cairo, make it a freshly fried taameya.
- 03
Tea and shisha in Khan el-Khalili
In Egypt the café (the ahwa) works as a male, social institution where hours pass over mint tea and a shisha. In Khan el-Khalili stands El Fishawi, open since 1773 and, they say, never shut for a single day in 250 years. Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian Nobel laureate, wrote there. It’s touristy, yes, and still worth it: antique mirrors, a narrow alley, hawkers every thirty seconds, and a mint tea that tastes better for the place.
- 04
The water, and your stomach
Tap water isn’t drunk in Egypt: buy bottled and check the seal is intact. It’s cheap and it’s everywhere.
Two knock-on cautions in the more informal places: ice (made with tap water) and salads or peeled fruit washed in it. Hot, cooked street food is safe and everyone eats it: what to watch is the raw and the cold.
Frequently asked
What is koshari?
Egypt’s national dish: pasta, rice and lentils in one bowl, with chickpeas, spiced tomato sauce and crisp fried onion on top. It was born in the 19th century from a mix of communities and it’s one of the cheapest and best meals in the country.
Can you drink tap water in Cairo?
No: always drink bottled water and check the seal. For the same reason, mind ice and salads or peeled fruit in informal places. Hot street food, by contrast, is safe.
What is taameya?
Egyptian falafel, made with fava beans instead of chickpeas: greener inside and juicier than the Lebanese kind. It’s eaten at any street stall with pita bread, and it’s one of the best cheap things in Cairo.